How does the movie "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (2013) cinematically and stylistically convey the feeling of freedom, independence and a great journey? (PDF)

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2014 im Fachbereich Anglistik - Literatur, Note: 2,0, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, Veranstaltung: Travel Writing, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: In the year 2013, actor and director Ben Stiller adapted the popular short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" from James Thurber for the big screen. In order to bring the story about a chronic day-dreamer who sets out to experience amazing adventures to life, Stiller uses almost every resources modern cinema has to offer. This term paper enters into the question with the help of which stylistic and cinematic devices the movie "The Secret Life Walter Mitty" (2013), in its moments of the protagonist's travels, conveys the feeling of a great journey and furthermore gives the viewer a sense of independence and freedom. It was created as part of the seminar "Travel Writing" in the winter semester 2013/14 at the University of Bamberg.

To first outline a theoretical basis for the analysis, the relevant methods of film analysis, with a strong emphasis on the individual construction elements of film (camera, music, lighting, etc.), are explained. Since a movie, according to Faulstich, is always an "aesthetic product" and is therefore considered as being "literature", sub chapter 1.2 concludes the ideas of the literary genre of travel writing so that an analogy between recurring motives and themes from the genre can be highlighted in the movie. In chapter 2, the previously presented subject matters of film analysis are displayed and analyzed in selected scenes of the movie which aim at the creation of the before mentioned sentiments. Chapter 3 summarizes the results of the analysis.