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Shot Breakdown & Use of Music in Dracula

The final sequence of Bram Stoker's Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppolla, concerns the release of Dracula (D) from his supernatural curse by his true love, Mina (M). The sequence consists of 26 shots, running a total of two minutes and 41 seconds. It concludes the narrative of the film, finalizing the relationship between M and D, lovers destined throughout history to have been separated who finally come together in this sequence in the only way that a romance with a vampire can be resolved.

The sequence provides a clear connection with the opening prologue, set four hundred years before the main story, in part by returning the action to the precise location of the prologue. The sequence also seeks to provide an emotionally satisfying conclusion to the story, allowing D to regain his humanity before his final death and M to declare her eternal love. Finally, it reinforces the film's suggestion of religious connections both to D's curse and to his ultimate redemption. Unlike much of the rest of the film, this sequence consists of fairly straightforward filmmaking, both in terms of individual shots and in the editing of the images, music, and sound.

D's castle, the altar. This sequence begins with D lying on his back in front of the altar and huge stone cross within his castle where he and his bride spent their last mortal moments together before he went off to battle and she committed suicide, thinking he has been killed. M is seated beside him, trying to give him comfort and find an answer to their dilemma. He is partially impaled on a large, ornate sword.

Shot (1) 2 secs.: LS of ornate, round ceiling painting above them. The painting is shown in dim light and the figures, a man and a woman floating within the veil of their intertwined cloaks, are not clear. The music is soft, dramatic, and respectful of the setting.

Shot (2) 3 secs.: Overhead LS looking down on M and D sprawled on the floor in front o...

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Shot Breakdown & Use of Music in Dracula. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 01:54, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1695327.html