Vivid Images Evoked by John Misto’s The Shoe-horn Sonata

Through the important elements the responder is placed in a position to experience the different impacts and emotions associated with the texts. These techniques allow the distinctively visual to have the power to manipulate the audience’s expectations and strong feelings towards the texts. The Shoe-horn Sonata written by John Misto and the short film, ‘Lovefield’ directed by Mathieu Ratthe allows the responder to experience both positive and negative themes associated with the texts such as power, war, friendship and bravery which therefore enables them to explore new emotions and experiences that may be unfamiliar to them. Elements such as effective visual and distinctive techniques have been used to create vivid images associated with strong emotions which allow the distinctively visual to have dramatic impacts on the responder.

Through the elements used to create the distinctively visual the responder is able to gain knowledge about a particular historical event or time period and experience the effective visual impacts created in the text. In the Shoe-horn Sonata, the distinctively visual creates a sense of empathy as the responder experience the fear and humiliation in which the women of the prisoner of war camp had to endure. An effective technique that enables the responder to envisage this harrowing place is the use of the projected images of a fierce and terrifying Japanese solider followed by a moment of silence after they expressed their feelings of how the Japenese were beating them for the fun of it when their babies were crying of hunger. The distinctively visual gives the responder the opportunity to witness the horrid conditons the women had to endure as they were deprived of many basic requirements of life and therefore allows them to gain a further understanding of the inhumane conditions of the Prisoner of War camp.