Approach of the Study

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CHAPTER 2 DISCUSSION

This chapter discusses two problems, namely the literal meaning of Kowalski’s presence for Dr. Stone in the Gravity film and the deeper meaning of Kowalski’s presence for Dr. Stone in the Gravity film through mise-en-scène film study analysis.

A. The Literal Meaning of Kowalski’s Presence for Dr. Stone

Matt Kowalski is a veteran astronaut planning to retire after the Explorer expedition. Meanwhile, Dr. Stone is a mission specialist that will flight on her first mission. This film tells about the struggle of those two astronauts to survive the catastrophe. The writer found a literal meaning of Kowalski’s presence for Dr. Stone while watching the film. Case and Marshal 2009 noted that a literal approach in learning is the tacit acceptance of information and memorization and does not promote understanding for long term retention of knowledge. Dr. Stone was there to get things done and leave. She did not take a moment to gasp at the beauty surrounding her. In fact, she seems kind of uptight. She wants to finish what she was there for and get on with it. Meanwhile, Kowalski floats around exchanging life stories with the space station in Houston. He is a free-spirited and a type of person who lives every day to the fullest. Besides, he is also a guy with a million stories to tell. When they heard that meteors potentially shooting their way, he reassuringly tell Dr. Stone to let the crew back in Houston worry about it. Dr. Stone lives to work, while Kowalski, on the other hand, works to live. After the impact, Dr. Stone ultimately floated uncontrollably into blackness. She floated uncontrollably because she was not in control of her life. Kowalski, on the other hand, was in complete control. He came to her rescue and dragged her back to the scene. The journey continued as they voyaged to another space station. Kowalski asked about Dr. Stone’s past and if there was anyone back home looking up at the sky, wondering when she would return, and finally he knew why she seemed to have given up on life. No one was waiting for her. Dr. Stone used to have a daughter but lost her in a playground accident. She had been grieving ever since. Coping with grief is the most painful of all human emotions. For how long one gets stuck in sorrow depends on gravity of the situation. Grief comes in many forms, and Dr. Stone was going through the worst kind of grief, the death of a loved one. The first time Kowalski saved Dr. Stone’s life was earlier, when he told her to detach. The second time was in another post impact scene that mirrored the first, only this time the roles were reversed. He was the one about to drift into infinite blackness. He was dragging her with him and the only chance for any of them to survive was if Kowalski cut off the rope. In other words, Kowalski saved her life again through detachment. It was not by preventing her to float with him into space, but by teaching her that sometimes it was okay to let go, both literally and metaphorically. After several scenes, just as Dr. Stone was about to accept the fact that she would be stuck in that state forever, Kowalski returned in the form of Dr. Stone’s vision. Kowalski here wa s merely Dr. Stone’s mind pushing her to do what he tried to teach her when sacrificing his life for hers. Eventually she decided to fight for it. She guided herself through Kowalski. Her subconscious mind dug deep into her memory of what she learnt in boot camp. She got the thing working as she shot towards Earth. In the literal mea ning, Kowalski’s presence was generally an instrument for Dr. Stone to chose to move forward and let go of her sorrow that had eclipsed her life for far too long.

B. The Deeper Meaning of Kowalski’s Presence for Dr. Stone

After analyzing the literal meaning of Kowalski’s presence for Dr. Stone in Gravity, the writer concludes that the presence of Kowalski is an instrument for Dr. Stone to help her moving on and letting go her sorrow that had eclipsed her life for far too long. Since this study applied the formalism approach, the writer conducted the analysis on its deeper meaning of Kowalski ’s presence for Dr. Stone by applying the staging analysis of type of angle, object placement in the frame, and color values on the each frame selected below.

1. “Not one second, now”

Figure 2.1 Kowalski warns Dr. Stone about the incoming debris The Figure 2.1 above appears on 00:10:35 and lasts for 10 seconds. The frame portrays Kowalski’s help for Dr. Stone for the first time. The camera reduces the angle slowly to the slightly lower than before. Giannetti 2014 says that low angles heighten the importance of a subject. It means that the person or subject shot with low angle is given the sense of power and respect. At this point, the low angle of both Kowalski and Dr. Stone reveals its meaning as two main characters that will have the greatest impact on the plot. Kowalski’s presence is also considered important here in this frame because it has great impact to Dr. Stone’s life. Based on the staging analysis, both of Kowalski and Dr. Stone are placed in the center of the frame. According to Giannetti 2014 the central portion of the screen is generally reserved for the most important visual element. The central area is instinctively regarded by most people as the intrinsic center of interest. The audience is deliberately invited to focus on Kowalski and Dr. Stone. This will support that Kowalski ’s presence has an important role to Dr. Stone. The white dominant color of the frame also signifies the meaning of Kowalski’s presence. According to Ferber 1999, white color means “sincere” or “faithful”. This supports the meaning of Kowalski’s presence to Dr. Stone that he is sincere to teach her to move forward and let go her sorrow that has eclipsed her life for far too long. This also portrays that Kowalski faithfully accompany Dr. Stone through their hard times in the space. From the analysis above, the presence of Kowalski to Dr. Stone which is framed in the Figure 2.1 is considered important for her because Kowalski help her to carry on her life. The placements of the characters in the center also strengthen the statement that their role throughout the story is important. The dominant color of the frame represents Kowalski’s sincerity and faithfulness which can be related to his presence to Dr. Stone.