An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

I really hate the music. It’s so distracting! The camera dude gets a little carried away with showing all the leaves and insects if you ask me. I do understand the point that they are trying to make though. They are trying to show Farquhar’s new found appreciation for all life and ground since he just had his near-death experience. I would be happy to see a bug too, if I had almost died!

This producer really doe not like music! I understand that he probably wanted the audience to focus on Farquhar and just listen to the bubbles, but i really think that some other sounds would greatly benefit the scene. I like how the camera pans from the surface to him. This shows what he sees when he looks up and also him and his expressions of agony. The actors expressions are great and really bring the viewers into the film as if they were there in the water with him. I guess if they were in the water with him, there wouldnt be any sounds other than bubbles, so it is accurate, but not very pleasing for the audience to listen to.

Its interesting that the camera follows the plank all the way up to Farquhar. He has his eyes closed to show that he is trying to escapre from reality. Other folks were right about the blurred edges of the dream scenes of his wife and how that affected the audience’s view and interpretation of the scene. The clock speeding up is cool since his wife is moving so slowly and it shows that he feels the crunch of his time on earth coming to an end more quickly than planned.

Its odd that there is no talking or other noise that is not from the movements of the rope or the soldier. This makes it seem very systematic and detached. He also looks around to see what his surroundings look like which is kind of described as the scenery in the text.

I like how it starts with the drum roll. I know that we are not supposed to know that it is repeated throughout yet, but it ties it all together once you know the rest of the movie clip. I also think that it is interesting that it is shot from an outside source– like someone hiding and watching the whole thing take place. Maybe that could foreshadow how Farquhar has his out of body experience to see his house and wife.

It is funny that before this, he thought that the cannon would not be wasted on him again since it had missed the first time. Maybe they moved the cannon assuming that he had made it down stream and that he had gotten out somewhere not far. They were correct. Another thought is that it really is a farewell shot and thet were giving it one last chance to kill him or to let him know that they were giving up on him after this last one. He must not have done something that bad that they were really wanting to kill him or considered him a threat.

Now Farquhar seems to be more conscious and he realizes his chances for survival are slim. He expects that all of the soldier’s will now be shooting at him simultaneously and there will be too many bullets to dodge by going underwater. It is interesting that his thoughts are in quotes. Normally only dialog is in quotes and thoughts are just added as normal text.

It is interesting that he thinks time passed quickly when he was underwater. Normally when you are in a high-tense situation everything seems to slow down so that you can comprehend everything. Again, the soldiers do everything uniform and yet they still miss the target.

Proves how rythmic and standard it is to aim and try and kill someone. It does not seem natural to be that disconnected from humanity that shouting another human being is so routine.

Now Farquhar could not see the enemy and his sense of hearing became more alert. He not only heard the words that came out of the lieutenant’s mouth, but also the tone and he linked this tone back to his prior knowledge of hearing this same thing at the camp. This can be linked to what you might think of as the chant to walk the soldiers through the motions of aiming and firing at the target.

Its amazing how keen his senses are that he can actually focus so closely on the man’s eyes how are aiming at him. The fact that he did not know that it was a bullet that missed him at first shows that he was focused on escaping and that his other senses were dulled up until this point. Could he really be that lucky to have not been shot by the “famous marksman”?

He is trying to figure out if it would be worth the risk to try and do his part to protect his lands from the invading Yankees. Interesting dialog, but it really is not all that important I don’t think.

I told you he was a Yankee! It is interesting that it refers to the man that is going to be killed as her husband. Normally not said like this especially in a time when males dominated society. Might be referring to him dying since then you would relate him to the living widow.

Who is this talking? They say a soldier, but it is not the guy being hanged since he has not served and I doubt that it is the man asking for water since he probably has not been here all that long.

Just by saying that the Yankees are so close to his home is going to put him on edge and make him want to do something about it. Definite foreshadowing to his hanging off the bridge.

Sorry, this was supposed to go here, but the box was already there from the last paragraph and it threw me off.

Just by saying that the Yankees are so close to his home is going to put him on edge and make him want to do something about it. Definite foreshadowing to his hanging off the bridge.

I think that this might be a spy for the North. This shows foreshadowing to what might happen. This man might want to make him mad so that they have a reason to imprison him and not allow him to fight for the South.

I don’t think that this paragraph is all that different from the ones ending the first section. Those were describing the scene and this describing his character and his passions. These are very strong and it really shows just how devoted to his homeland he was. This remind me of how my grandfather felt when WW2 came around and he wanted to fight for his country. He didn’t necessarily want to join for the honor, but rather just to be a part of the cause.

It is interesting that the narrator think it important to write and say the man’s thoughts of escape instead of just leaving it that he said these thing in the paragraph before. I do not know why he would do this. Any ideas? This section also flashes back to reality with the sergeant stepping off the plank.

The man to be executed is now slipping in and out of consciousness. He is thinking comforting thoughts of home and his family to keep himself distant from reality. The metallic sound could possibly be a train coming with the echo through the landscape. It would sound choppy and like it is stopping and starting since he is slipping in and out of consciousness.

The last line shows that he has convinced himself that if he fell into the water, that he would be able to survive it and swim to safety. The description of the hanging proves that this was common and that there was a routine to the practice of slaughtering people. This represents the brutality of the war.

It mentions that he is a farmer, but he does hold a higher status in society since it describes him being clean-shaven, slicked back hair, and a gentleman. This also proves that the war and the enemy were ruthless no matter who you were. The small grin on his face, might be foreshadowing the plans that he has for escaping.

Not only is this describing the scenery, but it is also showing the thoughts going through this mans head about how he can get free. He is surveying the area to see how he could escape and what would happen–could the Yankee’s shoot him, or was he safe once he got out of the noose?

There are soldiers from the North that are guarding the bridge since they recently took over it. There is a Southerner that is going to be hung off the bridge for his actions against the North. It shows how awkward the situation is by describing the soon to be murdered man’s posture and the soldiers stances of just doing what they are told.