Scene Analysis: Terminator 2

The final scene from the second instalment of the terminator series is, in my opinion, an extremely intense scene of action and emotional crippling, where I used to believe that this scene was all down to the story I now pick up on several camera and lighting choices that make the scene an even more intense experience.

One part of the scene sees one of our heroes, Sarah Conner, in a close call with the T-1000, the villain. This part sees the camera switching between the two characters in close ups of the faces. As we switch between we see each face bathed in a colour, a red colour covers the villains face at an angle which leaves sinister shadows across his face where Sarah’s is completely covered by a blue light that continuously flickers during the encounter which, to me, seems as if it’s trying to show that Sarah is losing this battle and is close to giving up. This technique is utilized again later in the scene when our villain stands on an edge and so close to defeat when we lose hope and he stands and repairs before molten metal again which shows him surrounded by flames and covers him in an orange colour, we then in turn see another of the heroes that we previously thought dead rise up through a blue and white light.

A part that takes on a more emotional side is when our heroes finally triumph over the villain and he falls into a smelting chamber. This part now gives us camera shots that are further away from the characters, making use of long shots and medium shots and also angles which again add more to the scene for me. As our villain is finally defeated we watch as he melts into the molten metal we see a medium shot from his level which then changes to a close up from above and finally it becomes a medium low angle shot of our heroes standing above him. This to me shows that the villain has become less and less until his final death which allows our heroes to stand tall and finally have hope.

Something which I adore in this scene is the use of the main theme for different uses and emotional needs. To begin with it’s used in an uplifting side when a character I believed had died comes back to life and then it is slowed and completely turned around and, in my opinion, adds an immense amount of feeling to a scene that already had an immense weight to it. A scene where we watch a machine that has learnt the value of humanity in a final act gives his life so that humanity can continue to exist.