Call to arms

This scene takes place between 120 and 122 minutes into the movie.

Here is an audio clip of most of the scene http://www.hark.com/clips/zpkckwxthm-with-your-permission-i-will-speak-now#?clip=zpkckwxthm

This scene starts off with Jake morning over the loss of Grace at the tree of souls. The music is a soft, quiet, minor tone mirroring the sad body language of Jake. He stands up and says "With your permission, I will speak now" to the character on the far right above. This has significance because earlier in the plot, Jake and the character on the right (who's name I can't remember) were against each other, but have now been united under a common enemy. During his speech the body language of the four characters above is almost identical. There is visual difference like there was earlier in the movie, it is as if Jake has actually become one of the Na'vi. He also now refers to his race as "sky people" and "they" even though he is biologically one of the "sky people". This shows his departure from the human race and acceptance into the Na'vi society. One last thing that stuck out at me during this scene was how much Jake moved his tail. It moved in a similar manner to Neytiri and the other Na'vi. This visually solidifies that Jake has become one of the Na'vi not just by appearance (being big and blue) but by his actual movements.

Now let's take a look at what the scene did. This scene was a "call to arms". Jake, now being a Na'vi, had the credentials to call the other Na'vi to arms and well it worked on me. It is an archetype that is used very frequently in movies. The main character, facing a great challenge, will call on the help of his peers to battle and conquer that undertaking. This can be seen in many popular movies like troy, lord of the rings, and transformers.

The last part of the scene ends with Jake concluding his speech, picking up tempo and a sense of power during the end. The music parallels this in increasing in volume and adding drums at the end. Jake finishes his speech and rides off into the night on his huge 'pet dragon' with a beautiful redish orange sunset in the background, giving hope to the viewer that his call to arms has a chance.

All in all this scene is very unoriginal but it works. The 'call to arms' archetype is used all to often but it works. It allows me (and viewers in general) to imagine myself being in a challenging situation, builds my emotion with the progressive speech, and gives me hope by ending the scene with a sunset. The scene goes from sad to hopeful in a matter of two minutes, it is toying with my emotion which is ultimately why people go to see movies, right? This movie may not be the most original plot but it has so many opportunities for the viewer to become lost in fantasy of what is reality and what could be reality that makes it so effective.