The first scene I have decided to analysis in Terminator 2 is the first time we come across Sarah O’Connell. The scene starts with a close up on a sign which reads in bold writing ‘Pescadero State Hospital’ so it tells us we are about to enter the hospital. It then zooms out and we see big silver fencing with barbed surrounding it and a red stop sign on the fence, this gives the effect that we shouldn’t be here and there are things we shouldn’t see, so has mystery to it. We then see a window that has been secured with metal fencing, we now know we are inside the hospital and how big their security is. The camera moves towards Sarah O’Connell and you can hear quite muscular groans, the camera then shows Sarah O’Connell doing pull ups, put her hair is covering her faces. I feel this shows mystery, the camera then draws our attention by closing in on Sarah O’Connell its ask us to focus on her arms that are showing her muscles and strength and I feel her determination. You can see the sweat on her arms which could be a sign of hard work. The lighting is on her arms which is another sign of James Cameron wanting us focus on them. The camera when zooms out into a long shot showing all of Sarah and her room. She has moved her bed to create a way to do pull ups, which could be a sign of her knowledge. The room is all white which to me shows there is nothing fun or exciting going on her life it is all dull and boring.
It then cuts from Sarah and her room to a corridor with a man speaking about Sarah calling her a schizophrenic. You can see Police officers holding other patients. It then cuts again to Sarah O’Connell doing pull ups and it’s a close up on her face this time, the lighting Is on her face. Another scene were the lighting is effective is when Sarah has visitors. She has yet to show her face and when she turns around still have hair over her face the light is behind her. Even though so far she seems to be scary, the lighting has always been on her maybe showing that’s she’s actually good and shouldn’t be in here. When Sarah talks she is always breathing heavily this creates tension and has her hands on her hip this shows she is strong and dominant. When visitors are looking through at Sarah it makes her look like an animal at a zoo.
We next see Sarah when she is in an interview room smoking a cigarette. She seems to be in shock as she is shaking, her hair still over her face and looks pale which could be under nutrition. Un like earlier when she talks she now talks in a hushed tone so maybe she was angry earlier. The scene when she in the interview is a good example of a two shot. When she is told she is to stay at the hospital for another 6 months, Sarah then jumps on the table and grabs Dr Silberman by the neck once again showing her strength, she is then ripped off him by security, this could show the strength of genders as they are all males.
The second scene I have decided to analysis is the end one when they enter the warehouse for the ‘final battle’. It starts with T-1000 being frozen and the Terminator standing up, loading his gun, at this time there is a backing music and a slight drum role. The camera then closes up on the terminator and you can see his gun and the cuts on his face, this shows hes strength with the gun and brave with the cuts on his face. He then says ‘hasta la vista baby’ this is an iconic part of the film. ‘hasta la vista’ means good bye as he is going to kill, and the ‘baby’ may have been added because he wasn’t any match for the terminator. When he shoots him he breaks and sounds and looks like glass. As they all enter the ware house you can see the fire but always blurred in the back ground to give the effect they are near death. On the fight scene between the Terminator and T-1000 they is a lot of red and blue likes indicating danger, there is also a lot of camera changes, changing from close up to long shots. When Sarah O’Connell battles T-1000 the music builds it up till T-1000 stabs Sarah and all you can hear is her pain.
When the Terminator saves Sarah he once again goes in to a fight with T-1000 and is pushed to a lower level, I think this has been done to show his dominance, by being the ‘bigger’ man. The camera then draws our attention by going close up on the Terminators face, at this point half his face has be destroyed showing his red eye. This is reminds us he is a robot and not human, we are being asked to focus on his gun from and over shoulder shot. When he is stabbed electricity jumps out of him, the bolts look like they are going to come out the screen as we are close up when it happens.
An affective point of this scene Is the extreme close up on the Terminators eye when it glows red again, the camera then goes into a point of view shot. All the Terminator can see is in red maybe once again showing danger. The terminator then comes back to life and the Camera then goes into slow motion and Sarah and her son dive to the slow, and the camera then focus’ on the Terminator who we can only see his red eye, shoots T-1000 who stands out as the fire is in the back ground. I think the director used slow motion as it builds up tension and is a good effect. It symbolizes that it is an important moment. When he is shot, T-1000 splits in half and the light reflects offs his silver insides. The noise he makes is like an animal, once again telling us he is far from human.
He then falls into the fire and our screen is covered at oranges whites and yellows. Once again slow motion is used and you it is like can feel the heat from the fire. The camera then closes up on Sarah her hair still covering her face like the first scene, this could show she’s still being mysterious. After all the fighting and hatred there is a scene that shows love, the Terminator about to kill himself and Sarah’s son doesn’t want him to go giving him a hug. Another iconic shot is when there is an over the shoulder shot from the Terminator and Sarah’s son is crying and the Terminators hand wipes away the tear, this maybe could be showing the Terminator feels love as well. The Terminator then gets on the chains and says ‘good bye’ through all the time hes going down you can always hear the chains. There is a contrast as this times they are looking down on the hero, the smoke gently blurring him out of sight. As soon as the Terminator hits the fire the music gets louder. The last thing we see of the Terminator is a point of view shot, once again in red, it then fades out showing us he had died.
