1. I would like to describe the range of the narrative structure as a combination of restricted and unrestricted. In the film, we generally follow a chronological sequence of Chiron's life story, but we know a little bit more than what Chiron knows. About the depth, I think the film utilizes both objective and subjective narrations. The overall story is objective, but I remember some scenes, such as the one in which little Chiron faced his mother in front of a room with red lights, are shown by the point -of-view shots from Chiron's perspective. The film separates the story into three major sections: Little, Chiron, and Black. These three sections are arranged in a way as time passes and they all represent nicknames, a motif, of Chiron. Between every two sections, there is a time gap, in which we do not know what exactly happens to Chiron.I think this is an effective structure while telling a story with a long duration. With such kinds of the time jump, we could better focus on the most important events in Chiron's life without being distracted by many other details. Moreover, I think the POV , together with the narrational structure, creates curiosity for the audience and eventually satisfies the curiosity in the later timeline. For instance, little Chiron's mother shouted at him in front of the room with red lights, but the words she shouted were muted. Then in the beginning scenes of the adult Chiron section, the event repeated as a dream, with sound in it. I think in this way, the audiences could better share the feelings of Chiron and be better engaged in the film.we could better focus on the most important events in Chiron's life without being distracted by many other details. Moreover, I think the POV, together with the narrational structure, creates curiosity for the audience and eventually satisfies the curiosity in the later timeline. For instance , little Chiron's mother shouted at him in front of the room with red lights, but the words she shouted were muted. Then in the beginning scenes of the adult Chiron section, the event repeated as a dream, with sound in it. I think in this way, the audiences could better share the feelings of Chiron and be better engaged in the film.we could better focus on the most important events in Chiron's life without being distracted by many other details. Moreover, I think the POV, together with the narrational structure, creates curiosity for the audience and eventually satisfies the curiosity in the later timeline. For instance , little Chiron's mother shouted at him in front of the room with red lights, but the words she shouted were muted. Then in the beginning scenes of the adult Chiron section, the event repeated as a dream, with sound in it. I think in this way, the audiences could better share the feelings of Chiron and be better engaged in the film.creates curiosity for the audience and eventually satisfies the curiosity in the later timeline. For instance, little Chiron's mother shouted at him in front of the room with red lights, but the words she shouted were muted. Then in the beginning scenes of the adult Chiron section, the event repeated as a dream, with sound in it. I think in this way, the audiences could better share the feelings of Chiron and be better engaged in the film.creates curiosity for the audience and eventually satisfies the curiosity in the later timeline. For instance, little Chiron's mother shouted at him in front of the room with red lights, but the words she shouted were muted. Then in the beginning scenes of the adult Chiron section, the event repeated as a dream, with sound in it. I think in this way, the audiences could better share the feelings of Chiron and be better engaged in the film.
2. I think the appearance of the characters is really important in this film. Moonlight is divided into three different time periods with a long time duration, which requires the audience to follow up quickly. Therefore, with the changing appearance of the characters, the audience could understand the time changing in one second. For example, in the first section, Chiron is a little boy playing paper soccer, which indicates that all the stories indicates that all the stories in this section happen when Chiron was young. Then when shifting to the second section, Chiron appears in an organic chemistry or biology class and looks like a high school student. Therefore, the audience could quickly realize that Chiron has grown up. Then in the last section, Chiron is a sculptured man with gold chains and a more aged face. Therefore,the audience could easily sense the age change. Moreover, Chiron becomes better-camouflaged as indicated in his more and more chilled facial expression. The blocks and street views change together with the characters' social position or economic status. Personally, I think the overall location of Atlanta is really interesting. When I saw the cars pass some highways and views, I felt familiar with them and then found out that it was Atlanta, which made me felt more linked to the film. Ocean and beaches are also important locations in the film. The title moonlight is from the story about a black man looking blue under the moonlight near the sea told by Juan on the beaches. It is also the place where Chiron relaxed and had the first kiss with Kevin.I think the beach under the moonlight actually is a place where Chiron reveals and enjoys the true himself, which contributes to the implicit meaning of facing and looking for the true self. Therefore, the normal beach night becomes more meaningful in this film.
3. I think the color of a scene is important in the film. Between every two sections, there is also a scene with a colored light shining. I remember especially the blue lights before the second section. I think it is also the most important color of visual appearance throughout the film, or at least the most repetitive. In the film, blue represents black men under the moonlight as a referential meaning. The relationship between Chiron and the storyteller, Juan, is symbolized by the color blue. Moreover, the relationship between Chiron and Kevin is also related to blue. I remember that their first kiss was under the moonlight, and the entire scene was in a blueish tone. I think these two relationships are sharing the same motif of finding true oneself. Red and black are also important colors. Red is the color of the lights of Chiron's mother's room.I think the red or pink color of that scene reveals Chiron's feeling of fear and uncertainty to his mother at that time. Black, as the nickname of Chiron given by Kevin, is a darker blue. I think it represents the toughness of the outside Chiron as well as sealed emotional feelings hidden inside Chiron. Therefore, I think the visual appearance, especially the color, is used to represent the emotional changes of the main character in the film.is used to represent the emotional changes of the main character in the film.is used to represent the emotional changes of the main character in the film.
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