Full Metal Jacket - Bootcamp

Our response to a film is determined by how we are made to identify with a character. How far this has been true for Full Metal Jacket?

When watching Full Metal Jacket I felt sympathy for Pyle, however I was aligned with the group as their training is slowed down because of one person who does not belong at bootcamp. Although i felt sympathy for Pyle as he is trying to fit in somewhere that he doesn't belong, I thought that he was a threat to the group therefore i had empathy and allegiance for them.

I was immediately aligned with the group during bootcamp of Full Metal Jacket as Kubrick deliberately singles Pyle out through cinematography and the performance of the actor. The actor of Pyle was told to gain 30 pounds in weight for this role and used physicality to move differently to the other characters which automatically made him stand out from the group. When the soldiers are climbing over the obstacle course they are filmed on a static camera, however when Pyle tries he is filmed on a hand held camera. This suggests that the filming technique has had to be changed to suit Pyle and helps to align us with the group, also a handheld camera helps to add realism and makes the audience see Pyle as more pathetic.

Editing is used during bootcamp to cut between scenes of Pyle conformed as part of the group and scenes of Pyle failing to complete tasks at training which shows that he is slowing the group down and stopping them from progressing.