Star Wars: Rouge One Darth Vader Analysis.

While the orthodox thing to do is to analyse the beginning of the film, I decided to analyse a scene near the end of Rouge One. I did this because I believe that the scene has a great amount of power behind it, and it really captures the immense and terrible strength of Darth Vader.

I took screenshots of the video on this link: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x55mw7v




















The scene begins with a black screen with a siren and some loud breathing. Darth Vaders breathing is very iconic and memorable, and this film was made years after Darth Vaders introduction in a new hope. Even if you don't recognise the breathing, it is still an indicator that someone is on the way, and the darkness combined with the breathing does induce some anticipation in both the audience, and the rebels in the scene.

 Here, Lord Vader activates his lightsaber, illuminating the room with a red colour. The blood-red colour with his intimidating silhouette creates a strong atmosphere of terrible power.
 For this shot, one of the rebel yells "open fire" and the rebels start shooting at Darth Vader. The rebel who gives the command sounds panicked and desperate, which is understandable, considering Vaders reputation as a powerful general.
For this shot, Vader effortlessly reflects the blaster shots with his lightsaber. He appears to find this very easy, as if reflecting enemy fire and cutting down enemy troops is an easy feat for him.
This rebel appears to be under the affects of Vaders force powers strangling him, OR a deflected blaster bolt hit him. His face is twisted into an expression of immense pain regardless.
Darth Vaders clenched fist is an indicator that he is using his force powers. Considering how he has used two fingers to choke someone, a clenched fist must be of far greater strength, and definitely something you don't want to be the victim of. The dark room and sparks add to the dark lords intimidation.
Here is the rebel on the receiving end of Darth Vaders powers. His hands at his throat indicate asphyxiation. This, in combination with Darth Vaders silhouette and the red lighting make this scene even more terrifying and/or awesome.
In this shot, Darth Vader easily cuts through metal door and a rebel body with his lightsaber, showing us the unstoppable power of the Lords weapon.
Seeing the incoming Lord cleave through half the squad sends the remaining rebels in a retreat for their lives. Considering who they are running from, this is not surprising.
The rebels simply decide to abandon that ship and take a different one to escape Lord Vader. This means that the rebels didn't think they could kill Vader while outnumbering him with several gun-users. This scene does a lot to re-inforce Vaders terrifying power.
Vader watches the rebels escape. He doesn't take any measures to prevent it (aside from slaughtering everyone who didn't escape) This might show us that Vader is confident that he can catch the rebels later, meaning that he knows his own power.
We get one last look at Vaders intimidating mask. While this shot is very short, it firmly tells us that Vader is STILL a threat to the rebels, and he is coming for them, and that they should be afraid. (Although the whole scene already let us know that, as he slaughtered rebels left and right.)

All in all, I think that this scene displayed Vaders power very well, and serves as a good introduction to him if you have never seen him before, meaning that this is an establishing character moment. (Or at least it would be if Vader wasn't in films made years before this one.)

Alex Harris 01/01/2017

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