Free Write #9

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvtxOzO6OAE

The speech I chose is from the movie The Pursuit of Happiness. Will Smith (the main

star of the film), struggles with money and is trying to sell his invention for a bone density

scanner. He is also looking for jobs in the big city. In the clip, Will Smith takes his son to play

basketball and he is telling his son if he ever has a dream that he should never give up no matter

what. This film was made in 2006 so the visuals aren’t the clearest. Although, while Will Smith

is giving his speech to his son, you can feel the emotion because of the words he is using and the

tone he is using. I think the son will always remember the speech his father gave him and the son

will look up to him (this was based on a true story). Visual and audio elements come together

with this speech to make it more effective in relation to the speaker’s purpose by giving those

closeups and different angels. This scene made it up close and personal. For the audio, they made

it to where the audience can hear the characters clearly and they presented motivational words to

the audience. Even though the speech was meant for the son, the audience can take in that advice

too. When watching this scene, you get goosebumps because of the fact that it touches your hard.

I always find this movie very inspirational and emotional, with the words and actions that are

used. Without the visual and audio elements, I think this speech would simply be boring. There

will not be any emotion and the tone would be changed in ways that there wouldn’t be any kind

of effect on the audience. With the background music that is present in this scene, I think the

speech is a lot more moving. If there was not any background music, I think it could still be

inspirational because of the way that Will Smith is saying it and how he is gesturing. The music

just add more emotion to the scene because it is soothing and almost emotional. I don’t think the

audience needs too much context because of the characters appearance. Their clothes aren’t the
cleanest, the son carries his basketball in a plastic bag and the looks in the dad’s face says that he

isn’t the happiest. Context is always a good thing to have just in case people do not understand it

but if I was watching this for the first time, then I would get the point that there isn’t happiness

and there is a chance there is poverty amongst them. I believe the music in the background and

the father’s words are what tell the audience the whole point of the scene and ultimately the

movie.