Pick any two of the following visuals (from a choice of 3) and examine how its form and content (refer to visual language techniques like composition, framing, music, etc.) express the themes of the mini-series and its global concerns.

a – Esty in the taxi cab on way from berlin Airport to her mother’s house (43 minutes remaining)

This scene is right after Esty arrived in Berlin from NY and in the cab on way to her mother’s house. In her ride, Esty is smiling with some tears in her eyes which evokes the audience’s emotions. The camera captures Esty’s face from inside the car and her face covers almost half of the entire screen which suggests that maybe the series wants to take our attention to Esty’s emotional appeal rather than the view itself. While she is crying, she is looking outside of the car from the opened window and seems like she’s looking around many places. The scene transfers into a first-person view capturing the city of Berlin. This first-person view is Esty’s and the series is showing us what exactly Esty is looking at. This particular scene has three different cuts and each of them focuses on different buildings. I’m not sure about what those buildings are but at least two of them are seemed old and traditional which suggests that she recognizes them and there might be a connection between Esty’s religion. As her eye level is at a very low position (she is sitting inside the taxi), the buildings are all captured from very low eye level which allows them to seem a lot bigger than Esty. It physically is but also it also looks like it might be a metaphorical symbol of the challenges that she will face in her life in Berlin. The global issue raised in this clip is strong cultural binding formed by the environment. By looking at Esty’s facial expression, we can see how she is really happy about being released from her previous place. She was suffering due to forcible cultural binding given by the older generation of the Hasidic community. Their community is especially extreme as Esty didn’t have basic human rights such as singing in the public or access to the internet. In such an extreme community, people who have born there will have no other choice but to stay with them as they don’t have any connection with the outer world. The cultural binding should be resolved as it violates human rights.

b – Grandmom crying in memory of her dad (40 minutes remaining)

In this scene, the grandmother is listening to the music which her father used to sing and she is crying because her father died in the war. Esty comes to sit with her at the table. The grandmother explains how they lost a lot of people due to the war and also how Esty will have a precious baby in the future. The camera is at the same height as the eye level of the grandmother. It is also the same height as the Esty’s as both of them are sitting on a dining chair. It is pretty close cut as well. This particular camera positions allow the audience to observe their facial expression clearly and also assist to have sympathy towards them as they are at the same eye level. Global issue sealed here is the effect of incidence, meaning that historical events which are especially extreme such as the holocaust are well remembered nowadays and still suffer a number of people. To not repeat such incidence again in the future, it is crucial to deliver the story to generation after generation.