The analysis then enables us to put the short sequence in a wider context; we will be able to find broader social and artistic aims. .
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Drama on the Quarterdeck - The Execution.
A few sailors are to be executed for complaints about rotten meat. The firing squad (the marines) is lined up in front of them. The captain showed his brutality by chasing some of the crewmen away from the escape route. He orders to bring in tarpaulin. The sailors are now covered in tarpaulin. The lined up guardsmen stand with the battleship cannons in their back. We have some signs of the marines being disoriented: one of them looking away, later on we see the whole group one of them is clearly agitated, while some of them look down. We also get a chance to see the other side of the battleship in a reverse shot. Two cannons are gazing straight into the camera. This is followed by an overview shot of Potemkin floating in calm sea. We also meet the priest, rather a caricature figure. .
A Shot-by-Shot Analysis.
The officer gives his order (close up). Before we saw him in almost identical shots. He stands set against the sea line, touching his moustache and smiling. It seems that carrying out the order gives him pleasure. Cut to. .
The intertitle reads "At the tarpaulin - Fire!-. It is very symbolic: the poor crewmen now become tarpaulin; they ceased to be human. This is how the higher ranks perceived them all the time and that is how they demand the firing squad to see them. Just tarpaulin. As Swallow documents, Eisenstein treated intertitles as extremely significant (Swallow 1976, p.53). .
The marines, shown in a low mid shot (their heads cut out by the frame) lift their rifles. They seem to be machines strictly obeying orders. The conflict here is within the frame - not showing someone's face stirs up curiosity of the audience. .
In the next shot taken from above the marines load their rifles. The distance of the camera and the characters is the same but the combination of the two different shots is quite significant.