Stephen Muscarello

Remember the Titans: Leave No Doubt

I did my anyalysis on a particular scene from the movie Remember the Titans.. I will be talking about the obvious racial conflicts and the role that color plays in this scene. Besides the racial aspect, I will be going into deep anaylysis of the scene and how everything from the lighting to the music impacts the scene. Remember the Titans iIs one of the most well known football movies to be created. It takes place in Virginia during the 1970s, which of course is during the struggle between whites and blacks. This is one of the first schools to integrate both races into a school and also on their football team. At first, the community is iIn a riot at the thought of having African Aamericans in the same school. The town fits into the racist stereotypes that took place during that time period. The struggles of having to integrate and grow together as a football team are great, and as they become more successful they begin to bring the town closer together. In this scene there are many conflicts between white and black. One of the easiest to pick up is how the white refs treat the Titans because they have black players and a black coach. All of the penalties that the referees call are on the Titans when they were completely wrong. When Denzel tries to stand up for his team and ask that the refs call a fair game, he gets another penalty merely because of his color. The refs bias are evident by the way they talk down to Denzel when he asks the ref as respectfully as a head coach possiblye can. The ref threatens the coach and completely ignores him. These series of events put the Titans white coach in a difficult situation. He knows exactly what is going on and sees the turmoil and
Comment [r8]: Is he still Denzel in this movie? Does he effectively play his role? Try using the character names instead of the actor names in order to capture the historical context of the movie. Comment [r9]: What penalty do they call? Im sure they cant say 10 yards for being black. Comment [r10]: Which coach? Using names will help clarify this confusion. Comment [r7]: Make sure you are specific because after discussing the riot scene, it can be confusing. Comment [r6]: How? Maybe add a paragraph that gives a little background about this and why the director chose to portray the town like this before you get into the analysis of the scene youre focusing on. Comment [r1]: Impacts it in what way: positive or negative? Comment [r2]: I hope this is just to inform me about what you will be doing. If not, try to integrate this into the next paragraph to make your introduction stronger. Comment [r3]: Why? When you make broad statements like this make sure you provide a reason and evidence for this claim. Comment [r4]: What kind of struggle? Comment [r5]: Do you know the name of the school?

Stephen Muscarello disgust on not only his team and fellow coach, but also his daughter who is going bizurk in the stands. What he does next is the first sign in the scene of a white person standing up for an African American, ignoring the hatred and judgement that they had lived with for years. The coach walks up to the ref and informs him of his injust actions and threatens that if he doesnt call the game fairly the coach would turn in the ref, even if he goes down with him. This is a very significant part in the scene because it showsing the barrier between races had been broken in his eyes, that they were now ONE team. It is the little details that make the scene so powerful and also help get the message across. One of the tools used is the music. At the beginning of the scene the music is slow and faint in the background, so the viewer is focusing on what the coach and the referees are saying. As the white coach walks out to confront the ref the music comes to a dramatic halt setting the tone for what he has to say. The music then gradually begins to gain intensity and becomes dramatic has the white coach has an inspirational speech withto his team. Once the game starts back again the music is almost nonexistent really focusing on the sound of the players and the dominance they began to demonstrate. And of course with theirre success comes the joyful music at the end to show they had overcome the situation. The Titans are a high school football team therefore they play their games on Friday nights. Since the game is at night of course the lighting will be dark and cast a lot of shadows throughout. The darkness can help you really visualize the charaecters facial expressions and get the full effect of their emotions. The camera angles and views in the scene are an important tool foron getting the viewer to
Comment [r16]: What can you say about the silence and himbeing a white coach? Try comparing this to the part with Denzel trying to address the ref. How does it reflect racial discrimination? Comment [r17]: Is this now after his discussion with the ref? What was the outcome of his speech?I know you already explained this in a previous paragraph, but organizing this paper a little differently might eliminate some of this confusion and vagueness. Try movie some pieces around in order to gain a greater clarity and impact. Comment [r18]: Intensity: as in volume or pace? Comment [r19]: Do you think it is more powerful without music? What does the realistic sounds add to the battle that is raging on the field? Comment [r20]: Is this suddenly loud or does it fade in like the other music? Comment [r21]: It seems that if the scene is cast in darkness it would be hard to see the facial expressions, so how are they illuminated in darkness? Does the play on light and shadow impact the scene? Comment [r14]: What kind of music? Earlier in the movie they use classic hits like Aint no mountain high enough. Comment [r15]: Good. Comment [r11]: Is anyone else upset by this in the stands? And how do they make sure the audience focuses only on her? What makes her stand out? Comment [r12]: You dont need to keep reminding us that this is a scene from movie. Comment [r13]: Years seems to be an understatementmaybe centuries?

Stephen Muscarello really focus on what the producer wants them to see. The camera shot will either zoom in on the character or will blur out the background making the objected view point easy for the viewerreader to pick up. To me, the turning point in the scene is when the white coach calls the team in for a time out and demands complete dominance over the opposing team. He begins by trying to critique Peteys mistake at free safety, but instead of taking the criticism Peety makes an excuse as to why he cant do it. The coach has none of it and does not except Peetys excuse as a way out, however Peety doesnt respond and takes himself out of the game. Another player jumps right in as if there was no differenmce from one player to the next which can signifiesy their growth as a team. This can also be applied to everyday life. Sometimes you cant just hide behind an excuse, but instead need to make a stand and overcome the situation. The coach is adaiment that they leave a mark on this team, so that they will always remember the night they played the Titans. I believe this also can be appllied to our lives in the fact that people need to not only go through the motions, but leave a mark every chance they get. Eye contact also has a big underlying meaning in this scene. At the beginning, the white coach for the Titans stares across the field and is engaged by the opponents head coach. The oppoenents coach stares and then gives a sly smirk as if mocking the fact he is paying the refs to throw the game. Its through their eye contact that we know for sure the refs are not calling a fair game and have been influenced in some why or another. One several different occasions, Denzel Washington and his fellow coach make eye contact;, but however, it is the one that
Comment [r31]: Are they not yet seeing eye to eye even though they look each other in the eye? Comment [r32]: Which one? One of what? Comment [r30]: So what about this scene makes it the turning point? How is this visually captured. Lighting? Dialogue? Make sure you keep your focus on rhetorical choices not just the overall message. Be sure to explain how this message is depicted visually or audibly. Comment [r29]: What team? The opposing or their integrated team? Be more specific. Comment [r27]: What does this say about his views on racial integration? Comment [r28]: Black or white? Comment [r25]: Who is this? Black? White? Comment [r26]: So is he Peety or Petey? What consistency. Comment [r23]: So does this shift in focus make the scene better or worse? Comment [r24]: Name? Which team? Comment [r22]: Which is?

Stephen Muscarello takes place at the very end that has the most significance. It shows that they now have a new found respect for each other, that they are no longer having to struggle between whether or not they are on the same side. It is great to see because no words are spoken, but at the same time the eye contact says it all. The way the players react to the situation and their coach is inspiring. Instead of giving in and accepting the circumstances they were given, they overcame and displayed a heroic effort. They begin to play as a team, there is no longer white and black players. It is evident that race is no longer an issue in other ways than just their togetherness on the field. In every shot there is both a white and black player showing that they go together and are no longer separate. As the white linebacker comes off the field, he dedicates histhat performance to him showing his love and devotion to the coach, even though he is black. Also the black linebacker specificly says that they are all brothers showing their growth and achievement of overcoming the racial conflicts. You have a great foundation and start to your paper. Just be sure to use names to identify who you are talking about because it becomes a bit confusing at times. Also be sure to continue to focus on the rhetorical choices the director makes because, although you do have a lot of specific ones, you tend to stray back to the overall analysis and abandon the in-depth discussion of specifics. Also, be sure to back up all of your claims with specific evidence and examples. Good start so far.
Comment [r35]: Give an example. Back up your claims with evidence. Comment [r36]: Who? There are a lot of hes and hims and it gets a bit confusing. Comment [r37]: Is there anything specific about this position that could be symbolic because in the sentence before it is a white linebacker and now it is a black one? What is required of the position? Even try breaking down the word linebacker to see what this adds to the idea of racial unity. Comment [r33]: What is different about this one compared to the other one? How is this mutual understanding and respect captured? Comment [r34]: How explain? Does both the lighting and music help to convey this as well?