The Documentary Whale Rider By Witi Ihimaera - 962 Words

Nikki Caro Whale Rider Speech Hello Year 8, my name is Nikki Caro and today I am going to talk to you about the film Whale Rider. I directed Whale Rider in 2002. I did not write the plot by I was adapting he book ‘Whale Rider’ written by Witi Ihimaera. When I was directing the film I wanted to keep the traditional Maori culture as a main feature of the film and also represent the changes to the culture through generational differences. Today I will be talking to you about how I used filmic techniques to represent the strong sense of Maori culture and to show the generational differences between the Maori elders and the modern world. I will show the use of filmic techniques through two short film extracts from Whale Rider The ancient†¦show more content†¦I then showed Nanny Flowers talking to Koro saying ‘No good to you, you reckon?’, Koro then shh’s her. This scene shows how Nanny flowers sees Pai potential and how she can adapt to the modern world of women’s leadership. This is the first time we can see the changing cultural traditions in this clip. When the children are performing, we can see how they have less respect for the culture by mucking up and not concentrating. I showed this disrespect by doing a full length shot on all the kids and then zooming in on Pai’s face showing her in shock. I also added in a scene showing the community laughing. This scene shows how the whole community isn’t committed to their culture. Pai is the only child who doesn’t find this disrespect funny. This scene shows how Pai is fully committed to her culture and the generational differences between the elders and the new generation. The new generation in the film do care about their culture which is the complete opposite to the elder generations who show full respect to their ancestors. When Pai’s father, Porourangi arrives, the mise-en-scene of their surroundings is important because it connects them with their culture. Their surroundings include carvings and cultures of their ancestors and their ‘Gods’. In the second film extract, I started the scene by doing an establishing shot on the whale rider, Paikea and then on the ocean and then finally on Pai