Elizabeth; Denotation & Connotation

 At the start of the scene there's a close-up shot of the Queen just before her hair was cut off. She has a blank, cold & emotionless expression & the lighting is ambient; the blue sets a poignant and cold atmosphere. We get the impression that she's willing to sacrifice her femininity, personality and life for the throne not just physically, but mentally too. This makes the audience have sympathy for her because it reminds us of all the things women have to go through just to be accepted in this 'mans world', It also shows her commitment and determination and her preparation to reign England so some may feel delighted that a woman managed to achieve such a high position in that century. In this scene there are also plenty of close-ups on her hair falling off, this could symbolise her saying goodbye to her old life and there's a close up of her gripping onto a piece of her hair which could represent her gripping onto her memories one last time. By now the audience gets the idea that she is no longer a person, but she is just the Queen of England. There's a close up shot of her hand and a maid rubbing a circle of white paint on her hand. This shot emphasises the fact that she's wearing a complete different new personality. The scissors used to cut her hair could represent all the people in her life who forced her to leave her life behind. As she walks into the court room there's a wide shot of the room to show the crowd of people waiting for her entrance. The Queens entrance was very angelic as she walked through the natural light coming from the curtains. Her entrance symbolised her transformation from a human being with desires and aspirations to the Queen of England; nothing more nothing less. In this scene her hair is short, red, her face is painted white & she's wearing a white sequined dress. Her red hair symbolised power and fierceness, also her fury and the pain she inflicted to become Queen. Her white face represents her new cold and undefeatable personality. The red lipstick adds to her fashion statement as Queen of England, she almost became a sort of icon for women in England. Her big white dress covered her from her neck to her ankles; she looks as if her old life was trapped beneath that dress, whereas in her flashbacks she wore revealing clothes, she let her hair down, and she seemed content. As she walks through the crowd of people there's a wide shot, this shot shows the people in the court as they make a pathway for Queen, this scene reminded me of Moses when he parted the Red Sea. It's also a comparison of Moses power he had over his people and it put emphasis on the power she was about to gain over England. The pathway also resembled a wedding aisle, which could suggest that she's getting married to England which is a very big commitment to make to a man let alone a Country. As she walks down the aisle an ariel shot/point of view shot  of  her looking down on her ex-lover that we saw previously in her nostalgic flashback. This ariel shot shows her power over a man she once was allowed to love and the colours used in the flashback are very golden and subtle giving the audience the impression that her memories were precious to her and that she did get the chance to live a good life. Her memories make the audience feel sorry for her because we see what she's about to let go of, but we also feel good to know that she did get a chance to experience her freedom. Like the beginning, the final scene ends with a close-up shot of the Queen which shows a big contrast of her transformation from being a regular person to becoming the Queen of England. She has the same posture and facial expression however her appearance has completely altered.