“Remember The Titans” Directed by Boaz Yakin Essay

In the film â€Å"Remember the Titans† an important scene is at the Gettysburg battle location. Here, Boone makes an impacting speech to the players on overcoming their racism. Boone is the head coach of the mixed coloured football team he is speaking to. The film is set in the 1970’s, when racism is common. The Gettysburg scene has some visual techniques which helps one understand why it is important. One example is the silhouette with Boone the background. A verbal technique is the Boones voice is serious. Gettysburg is the turning point in the film, where the players over come their racism. At the football training camp in Gettysburg, the head coach Boone, takes them on a run at three o’clock in the morning. He takes them to the scene of the Gettysburg battle. The weather is foggy and damp. The mist from the fog, gives a softening effect on the cemetery behind Boone, when he gives his speech. The gravestones in the cemetery resemble the men killed in the battle. The gravestones also give the scene a serious effect. When Boone is speaking, one knows that what he’s saying is important because Boone is talking in a very serious and flat tone. â€Å"50,000 men were killed fighting the same fight you’re fighting.† The fight is the fight of racism. The men in the battle fought over political issues, including the use of the black slaves. The quote means that the players are fighting over racism, when the fight has already been fought with a drastic outcome. The tone of Boone’s voice is very serious, because it is clear and does not change tone. His voice impacts one because the only thing that can be focused on is the words. His voice helps me understand why it is important because he asks rhetorical questions and the words are powerful. â€Å"I don’t care if you don’t like each other, but you will respect each other.† When Boone speaks at the scene, he is standing in front of everyone, and the assistant coach, Yoast is standing with the players. This shows that Yoast connects with the players. During Boones speech there is a silhouette of Boone and the cemetery behind him. This gets the viewer to focus on the words he is saying, and the cemetery behind him, not on what he looks like saying them. â€Å"Did the die for nothing?† When he says this, the viewer is taking in what he says because one is focused on Boone himself and his words. When they get back to the camp, during a training session, the two captains shout the mantra, â€Å"left side† â€Å"strong side† to each other. This shows a new understanding and respect towards each other. They impact the rest of the team, which then come together as well. On the bus ride too the camp, the players are not talking to each other. In comparison to this, the bus ride on the way back to school, the players are all singing together. This is the turning point which shows me that Gettysburg is important. Overall I think that Gettysburg is an important scene because through Boone’s speech, the cemetery and the reactions after the speech, it shows that it affected the players because they changed from disliking and not trusting each other, to trusting and respecting each other. This shows that it must be important because of the result.