A Knight’s Tale Essay

One important character in the film ‘A knight’s tale’ directed by Brian Helgeland is William Thatcher. William helped me understand the idea of following your dreams. William dreams of one day becoming a knight. He grew up in a place called Cheapside London with his father John Thatcher until he was sent away to work for Sir Ector. Sir Ector said that he had a spirit. When Sir Ector died, William thought that he could ‘change his stars’ at that point so he jousted in his place. He then decided that with some training he could win money to feed all his friends. As he did this he followed his dream of becoming a Knight. One Visual technique used to help me see that William is important is ‘close up’. Brian uses a close up in the first joust when William says ‘I have waited my whole life for this moment’. This shows me that he has followed his dreams and he is doing what he has wanted to do his whole life. Another technique used in this film is lighting. This technique is effective to show he is an important character because he is never in the shadows. William is always dressed in light clothing and has fair hair giving the impression that he was a good person, unlike Adhemar who always wore darker clothes and was more in the shadows than William. An example of this is when William was in the jail room and Adhemar walked in, William was standing in the only light in the room and Adhemar was in the shadows. In conclusion, the character of William Thatcher was important because he teaches us to follow our dreams no matter how big they are and that anything is possible. The techniques that helped me to understand this idea were ‘lighting’ and ‘close up’s’. A Knights Tale Essay In the movie A Knights Tale the main character William Thatcher has dreamed of being a Knight ever sense he was a boy. The one overlying problem this tale is that â€Å"A man can’t change his stars†, other wise saying that William was not born of noble birth. This story takes place in the middle ages where to compete in jousting tournaments you had to be born of noble birth. William overcomes this with his hard work, his loyalty and perseverance. In the beginning of the movie, William is only a squire to a Knight. He helps tend to Sir Olrick Vonlictensteins needs and wants. But soon he dies and with no other way to get money decides that he should step up and joust for him under his name. William ends up winning his joust and gets the gold needed for him and the other squires. After the first win he convinces his squires that they could keep doing this at other tournaments to make money for themselves. So after a long debate and a little fighting they decide to help train William. There is a scene in the movie that shows them all working together to help train William to become a better knight. This shows his hard working ethic because even though what they are doing is quite trying, he still manages to pull through and become sucsessful. After they have won they’ve first tournament William had damaged his armor in the joust. As they make it to the next joust they don’t have enough money to fix his armor so he has to joust with his damaged armor on. Even though his arms are almost immoveable because of the damage he still takes the risk to joust so that he can win more gold for them to get new armor made. This shows his willingness to work harder to make the money he needs to fix his armor. Near the end of the movie in his last joust he is against his enemy, Count Adimar. Count Adimar was using pointed lances and ends up wounding William by showing a pointed lance deep in his shoulder. But through his hard work he choose to take all of his armor off and joust, putting himself at great risk. But in the end he ends up knocking Count Adimar off of his horse and winning the joust. William showed his perserveence when he was following his dream of becoming a knight. When his Knight died at the beginning of the movie he ricked everything when he stepped in as a knight. If he were to get caught he would have suffered great consequences. By doing this I believe he showed his perseverance to purse his dreams. William shows his perseverance when, even after he is injured while jousting he chooses to take off all of his armor to joust even though it is a great risk to himself. This shows that William is persevering because he takes the risk of injuring or killing himself to defeat Count Adimar and achieve his dream. He is also persevering when, as a young boy his father sent him away to be a squire. Even sense William was a boy he was working towards becoming a knight by getting as close to the lifestyle as he could. Throughout the movie William shows a lot of loyalty to him men. This helped him to achieve his dream very much so. When Jeff, his announcer and the man who helped him forge documents to make him appear to be of noble birth, gambles and looses, William had to pay to get him free. If it were not for William and his loyalty to him men he would have been stripped of his clothes, beaten and been paraded around the village, but William pays his debt for him to get him free. He also showed his loyalty when his girlfriend tells him that in order for him to prove his love for her she must loose the joust. So he takes a brutal beating for her by deliberately loosing and hurting himself in the process. But then after she has seen enough, she tells him that if he really did love her than he would win all of his tournaments. So even after he had fallen so far behind for her in the tournament he strives to win for her and ends up doing so. This proves his loyalty to her because he is willing to even endanger himself for her. His loyalty is also shown when the Prince of Wales is jousting and everyone else is withdrawing because he is of royal blood and is technically not allowed to joust in tournaments, but William still jousts him because he realizes they are both in the same boat. They both want to be jousting, but they are both now allowed to do so according to their birthrights. In the end of the movie, after everyone finds out about William, knowing that he isn’t born of noble birth he is cast out and let out to be stoned. The Prince of Wales Knights him because of his loyalty. He says, â€Å"even if I were not to have known you well, I could tell you were a good men because of how loyal your friends are to you. But I would know better now wouldn’t I? Because even when you knew who I was you still jousted with me and that is knightly too†. In the end William ends up changing his stars and becomes the knight he has always wanted to be. In this movie point of view played a great roll. If we wouldn’t have had the â€Å"flashbacks† of William and his childhood we wouldn’t have know the depth of his want to be a knight. We also wouldn’t have known that his father has sent him off as a boy to become a squire, which also helped in leading him to his dream of becoming a knight. If we didn’t have the various points of view that a movie can deliver to us this movie would have been flat and would have lost some of its meaning. The point of view gives this movie depth. A Knights Tale Essay Describe a character or individual in the text whom you found interesting. Explain how the director used oral/or visual features to make the character or individual interesting to you. An interesting character or individual in the film A Knights Tale (2001) directed by Brian Helgeland is (Sir) William Thatcher. William is interesting because he is not a typical peasant, he has much more drive and ambition than normal peasants. Helgeland uses oral and visual features to support the points that make William interesting. He uses lots of close-ups and high-angle shots when needed to show Williams enthusiasm and leadership towards what he does. First, William is interesting because he is a brave character and is motivated by ambition. William first starts to bravery when Sir Ector dies, he declares â€Å"I’ll ride in his place.† When the director has a close-up on Williams face, he shows the determination and drive that William feels. It is his desire to rise above is position in the social status, he makes his decision, â€Å"We are the champions†. Helgeland choses this dialogue to show that William is different from most peasants and that makes him an individual. Another interesting part about Williams’s character is that for most of the film he is someone who he is not, ‘Sir Ector and Sir Ulrich Von Lichtenstein’. This brings tension into the audience. The audience thinks when will his true identity be revealed? When William shows up to the jousting match as Sir Ulrich, the spectators of the match think of him as anybody. But through on the matches, he turns into a celebrity. William was unbeatable in the sport of jousting. It was difficult for William to hide the fact that his real name was not Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein. Finally, William’s tone and oral features are strong, powerful and brave for a peasant. He is straight up with what he says and is a good leader to others. Helgeland uses great visual techniques for William, in the beginning of the film William is an untidy, poor, unshaved, immature, he had dread locked hair and dirty clothes. In the middle of the film, he is cleaner he is more clean and tidy; he is properly shaved, strong, healthy, excited, calm, supportive and enthusiastic person. His looks change, his attitude changes and he becomes a little responsible. In conclusion, William is an interesting, enthusiastic and brave guy, he is also a great leader. He is motivated by ambition. Is also unbeatable in the sport of jousting. Helgeland uses oral and visual features to support the points that make William interesting. William is a role model for the people in society today.