There is lots of audience response in this extract due to tension and suspense created by micro elements. The lighting creates tension as the setting is in the jungle and it is very dark. It needs to be dark for the job that has to be done by Martin Sheen's character. After slowly bringing just his head out of the murky water, Sheen is never fully lit up enabling us to have a good look at him. With a caribou sacrifice set in the background there is an obvious contrast between the bright happy colours of the sacrifice and Sheen's own personal hell represented by the shadows he lurks in. Sheen's movements are monkey like as he slowly rises up from his crouched position as lightning strikes. This illustrates the power he has over this situation. Only the glint of his machete is visible as he sneaks deeper into the shadows. The area where the guard is standing is very well lit, but Sheen stays in the shadows. The guards weapon and ammo is visible, but when he is dragged into the shadows and killed it is representative of two different worlds, the light and the dark. This shows how strong Sheen is in the dark world. When he reaches Marlon Brando (colonel Kurtz) the victim is once again well lit. This again shows the difference between these two people. However unlike the last victim, Brando stumbles into the shadows and receives his death. There is an honour and dignity about it, the motif of Brando stumbling into the dark is because these two men are equal on the plain of battle.
The use of crosscutting in this extract is very valuable. The barbaric slaying of the caribou and the assassination of Brando alternate, this is done to embody the similarities and the differences between the two situations. The clever use cross-cutting in this extract allows us to think we've seen something we haven't. In this way it is very similar to the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcocks "Psycho". Due to censorship reasons, the director would not be allowed to show a graphic "butchering" of a human.
