ANSWER: 1.\"Apocalypse Now\" film overall form: It is the height of the war in Vietnam, and U.S. Army Captain Willard is sent by Colonel Lucas and a General to carry out a mission that, officially, \'does not exist - nor will it ever exist\'. The mission: To seek out a mysterious Green Beret Colonel, Walter Kurtz, whose army has crossed the border into Cambodia and is conducting hit-and-run missions against the Viet Cong and NVA. The army believes Kurtz has gone completely insane and Willard\'s job is to eliminate him! Willard, sent up the Nung River on a U.S. Navy patrol boat, discovers that his target is one of the most decorated officers in the U.S. Army. His crew meets up with surfer-type Lt-Colonel Kilgore, head of a U.S Army helicopter cavalry group which eliminates a Viet Cong outpost to provide an entry point into the Nung River. After some hair-raising encounters, in which some of his crew are killed, Willard, Lance and Chef reach Colonel Kurtz\'s outpost, beyond the Do Lung Bridge. “This is the end, beautiful friend… This is the end, my only friend, the end Of our elaborate plans, the end Of everything that stands, the end No safety or surprise, the end I\'ll never look into your eyes...again The End...” 2.Primary Techniques in Apocalypse Film: Runtime 3.Techniques: Although many scenes are unusual since the movie begin an unusual journey in the midst of an alien world, some of the scenes still stand out.One of the most effective techniques used in the movie is the usage of very long dissolves. Many scenes are dissolved on each other until they become a montage of their own in one shot itself and say something completely distinct from their individual meaning. This was used in the beginning of the movie, in the middle when the journey enters the final realm and in the end again giving the seemingly untying themes a thematic unity. Many times, the war is superimposed on Willard’s face as if he is living it & re-living it long after it has gone or perhaps long before it has happened...! (Slow Dissolves) When the boat is finally entering the waters of Cambodia and we know that it is a point of no return for this boat and especially Willard, a few images are superimposed on each other to create a heightened sense of an altered reality. The boat is passing through the gates of the underworld and right in the center of all of this is Willard trying to look, listen and comprehend. (Slow Dissolve To Gates Of Hell1, Slow Dissolve To Gates Of Hell2, Slow Dissolve To Gates Of Hell3, Slow Dissolve To Gates Of Hell4, Slow Dissolve To Gates Of Hell5) Another highly unusual shot worth mentioning is Visual Constancy Or Horror. When I saw this shot, I thought that if my eyes did not have visual constancy and did not fill in Willard’s body automatically, the body-less face in this scene would be part of the true horror genre...! 4.Techniques and patterns: a)Lighting: Lighting is the key element in the film. Along with fogs and shadows. The general lo.

1. ANSWER:
1."Apocalypse Now" film overall form:
It is the height of the war in Vietnam, and U.S. Army Captain Willard is sent by Colonel Lucas
and a General to carry out a mission that, officially, 'does not exist - nor will it ever exist'. The
mission: To seek out a mysterious Green Beret Colonel, Walter Kurtz, whose army has crossed
the border into Cambodia and is conducting hit-and-run missions against the Viet Cong and
NVA. The army believes Kurtz has gone completely insane and Willard's job is to eliminate
him! Willard, sent up the Nung River on a U.S. Navy patrol boat, discovers that his target is one
of the most decorated officers in the U.S. Army. His crew meets up with surfer-type Lt-Colonel
Kilgore, head of a U.S Army helicopter cavalry group which eliminates a Viet Cong outpost to
provide an entry point into the Nung River. After some hair-raising encounters, in which some of
his crew are killed, Willard, Lance and Chef reach Colonel Kurtz's outpost, beyond the Do Lung
Bridge.
“This is the end, beautiful friend…
This is the end, my only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again
The End...”
2.Primary Techniques in Apocalypse Film:
Runtime
3.Techniques:
Although many scenes are unusual since the movie begin an unusual journey in the midst of an
alien world, some of the scenes still stand out.One of the most effective techniques used in the
movie is the usage of very long dissolves. Many scenes are dissolved on each other until they
become a montage of their own in one shot itself and say something completely distinct from
their individual meaning. This was used in the beginning of the movie, in the middle when the
journey enters the final realm and in the end again giving the seemingly untying themes a
thematic unity.
Many times, the war is superimposed on Willard’s face as if he is living it & re-living it long
after it has gone or perhaps long before it has happened...! (Slow Dissolves)
When the boat is finally entering the waters of Cambodia and we know that it is a point of no

2. return for this boat and especially Willard, a few images are superimposed on each other to
create a heightened sense of an altered reality. The boat is passing through the gates of the
underworld and right in the center of all of this is Willard trying to look, listen and comprehend.
(Slow Dissolve To Gates Of Hell1, Slow Dissolve To Gates Of Hell2, Slow Dissolve To Gates
Of Hell3, Slow Dissolve To Gates Of Hell4, Slow Dissolve To Gates Of Hell5)
Another highly unusual shot worth mentioning is Visual Constancy Or Horror. When I saw this
shot, I thought that if my eyes did not have visual constancy and did not fill in Willard’s body
automatically, the body-less face in this scene would be part of the true horror genre...!
4.Techniques and patterns:
a)Lighting:
Lighting is the key element in the film. Along with fogs and shadows. The general look of the
film is dark and shadowy in keeping with the theme of war and the dark journey that the soldiers
undertake therein. As the journey begins, the lights are still high, Willard begins his boat ride in
dusk (Journey Begins) but as the journey gets deeper and deeper, the film gets darker, the
shadows get pronounced and light is dimmed (Journey Deepens). The lighting of the film is
highly representative of the perils of the war in the jungle as well as metaphorical journey that
the soldiers undertake in the spiritual realm. The boat, aptly named “Erebus” (i.e. the dark region
of the underworld through which the dead must pass before they reach Hades; the underworld
itself), is not lit at all, yet is the only sanctuary in the deep jungle around (Ship Of Death). The
lights are garish and painful to the eyes (Hells Fire) where as the blacks are so demanding that
they are equally tiresome (Journey To Hell).
Some of the day light scenes are very high in contrast where the light is coming from the
background and we need to squint our eyes to see the details in the foreground. It creates a
realistic effect as if we are present during the scene. (Contrast In FG And BG).
b)Color:
Colors in Apocalypse Now mirror the emotions and the journey itself. The movie begins with
deeply saturated colors, putting us in a different realm of our imagination. The hues are very
deep, almost reminding us that we are still on earth, still connected, and although in a war zone,
we are possibly still alive as we can see these bright colors (This Is The End, Saturated Colors).
As soon as we begin our journey, one of the first colors we encounter is the color of fog, it stays
with us throughout the journey and by the end it is so thick that neither Willard nor we can see
anything clearly any more (Multi Colored Fog, Fog And Haze). As we go further and deeper in
the journey, the colors start getting muted. Some of the scenes are in sepia tone and give a
representation of an altered reality (Sepia Tones And Unearthly Colors). This is the other world;
the colors of this world are different. Even the fog is devoid of those rich colors that we are used

3. to in the beginning (Fog Gets Deeper). When they finally reach Kurtz’s post, the colors are
completely altered and the palette is in various shades of orange imitating the fires of hell.
(Underworld Fire And Orange).
c)Interior and Exterior:
The film mostly takes place inside the boat, which is the safe haven of the soldiers. The jungle
around them is a metaphor for the savage and the animal side of human’s nature. Every time the
soldier leave their boat and go in the “jungle”, something horrific or life altering happens that
takes them one more step away from “home”. It is on the boat that Willard (& us) meets the crew
for the first time and it is on the boat that they all die (with the exception of Lance). We come to
recognize and accept Willard on the boat. We meet the various manifestations of the jungle and
the war when we get off the boat such as Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore, the tiger in the mango
jungle, the total mayhem of the Dulong Bridge outpost and the final destination of Kurtz’s
outpost. In the end, when Willard leaves the boat, we are unsure as to whether he will come back
or if he will completely give in to the savagery just like his other-self Colonel Kurtz. After
killing Kurtz, Willard is revered by the denizens of Kurtz's tribe, but instead of taking Kurtz's
place he departs, suggesting that he may yet be capable of escaping the horror of war and he
comes back to the safe haven of the boat which may this time take him back “home”.
d)Camera Movement:
The journey in the film is marked by slow camera movement. Most of the times the camera is
stationed right on the boat, and we see what the soldiers, mostly Willard sees. Film has slow
tracks, slow pans and generally slow movements. There is not much that is exciting about a slow
journey through the jungle. An interesting tracking shot happens in the beginning of the movie
when Willard gets the assignment of killing Kurtz. As the General is giving Willard his orders,
camera slowly tracks over the food, and through this movement we explicitly see that no one is
able to eat the food except for the man from CIA. He is not confused, nor tormented as the other
men who are part of the same unclear war and are divided by the same conflicts of morality. He
then utters his one and only sentence to Willard “Terminate with extreme prejudice...!” Most of
the times, camera is positioned at a close up to Willard and we watch him breathing, sweating,
looking at his dossier. Since camera position does not change often, we start living and breathing
in the same environment as the other characters. They have no respite out of the situation they
are in and we don’t either. There are few pronounced camera movements such as the one on
Kilgore as he starts talking about Napalm. We always see him in full company of his soldiers but
the camera marks a strong change when Kilgore starts talking about Napalm and the war, we
start with seeing his whole team and the camera keeps tracking towards Kilgore, leaving out
everyone else and ends on his one and only medium close up. This is pretty much how close we

4. can get to this man (Kilgore Selection In Frame, One Close Up Kilgore). Another highly
effective tracking shot is when Willard is in Kurtz compound and is hearing how divided Kurtz
soul has become. Till this point, we have seen Willard on the left side of the screen in his every
interaction with Kurtz (including his dossier). In this scene, we see one shot of Willard on the
left, then as he contemplates his actions we see him in the center and in the next shot, as Willard
makes up his mind about killing Kurtz, we see him at the right of the frame. Not only that, this is
the first place when the camera tracks back and out of Willard’s close up and we see him looking
at his hand preparing to kill Kurtz with his bare hand. It is a very powerful camera movement
since for the first time, as Willard decides to kill without judgment a.k.a. Kurtz fashion, we are
taken out from his frame of mind, from his memories, from his heart and given a chance to have
a perspective of our own, apart from him.
e)Lenses:
The lenses are used in accordance with the movie themes. Most of the times while dealing with
Willard, extreme long lens is used with emphasis only on his face and his emotions allowing us
to connect with him at every level (Flat Perspective, Extreme Close Up Willard). There were a
few other scenes where the patrol boat is seen in extremely long lens and gives a very constricted
feeling, as if there is nowhere to go and we feel as trapped in the journey as these soldiers
(Telephoto). Some of the scenes are aerial shots that bring us back to the reality of the expanse of
the jungle surrounding these soldiers (Aerial, Aerial2). Most of the scenes that portray actual war
are shot with Wide Angle Lens giving a definite meaning to the devastation that occurs during
such a time (Destruction In Wide Angle, DOF).
Another interesting thing that caught my attention was the ellipses caused by lights or their
reflections as a result of using Anamorphic lenses. (AnamoprhicLens)
2 hr 33 min (153 min)
3 hr 22 min (202 min) (Redux)
4 hr 49 min (289 min) (workprint)Sound Mix70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby Digital
(Redux version) | Dolby (35 mm prints) | DTS (Redux version)ColorColor (Technicolor) |
ColorAspect Ratio2.00 : 1 (DVD version)
2.20 : 1 (70 mm prints)
2.35 : 1CameraArriflex 16 ST (newsreel scenes)

5. Arriflex 35 BL, Technovision/Cooke Lenses
Arriflex 35-IIC, Technovision/Cooke Lenses
Mitchell BNCR, Technovision/Cooke LensesLaboratoryTechnicolor, Hollywood (CA), USA
(prints)Film Length4,205 m (Sweden, 35 mm)
5,255 m (Sweden, 70 mm)
5,533 m (Sweden, 35 mm) (Redux version)Negative Format16 mm (newsreel scenes)
35 mm (Eastman 100T 5247)Cinematographic ProcessTechnovision (anamorphic)Printed Film
Format35 mm
70 mm (blow-up)
Solution
ANSWER:
1."Apocalypse Now" film overall form:
It is the height of the war in Vietnam, and U.S. Army Captain Willard is sent by Colonel Lucas
and a General to carry out a mission that, officially, 'does not exist - nor will it ever exist'. The
mission: To seek out a mysterious Green Beret Colonel, Walter Kurtz, whose army has crossed
the border into Cambodia and is conducting hit-and-run missions against the Viet Cong and
NVA. The army believes Kurtz has gone completely insane and Willard's job is to eliminate
him! Willard, sent up the Nung River on a U.S. Navy patrol boat, discovers that his target is one
of the most decorated officers in the U.S. Army. His crew meets up with surfer-type Lt-Colonel
Kilgore, head of a U.S Army helicopter cavalry group which eliminates a Viet Cong outpost to
provide an entry point into the Nung River. After some hair-raising encounters, in which some of
his crew are killed, Willard, Lance and Chef reach Colonel Kurtz's outpost, beyond the Do Lung
Bridge.
“This is the end, beautiful friend…
This is the end, my only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again
The End...”
2.Primary Techniques in Apocalypse Film:
Runtime
3.Techniques:

6. Although many scenes are unusual since the movie begin an unusual journey in the midst of an
alien world, some of the scenes still stand out.One of the most effective techniques used in the
movie is the usage of very long dissolves. Many scenes are dissolved on each other until they
become a montage of their own in one shot itself and say something completely distinct from
their individual meaning. This was used in the beginning of the movie, in the middle when the
journey enters the final realm and in the end again giving the seemingly untying themes a
thematic unity.
Many times, the war is superimposed on Willard’s face as if he is living it & re-living it long
after it has gone or perhaps long before it has happened...! (Slow Dissolves)
When the boat is finally entering the waters of Cambodia and we know that it is a point of no
return for this boat and especially Willard, a few images are superimposed on each other to
create a heightened sense of an altered reality. The boat is passing through the gates of the
underworld and right in the center of all of this is Willard trying to look, listen and comprehend.
(Slow Dissolve To Gates Of Hell1, Slow Dissolve To Gates Of Hell2, Slow Dissolve To Gates
Of Hell3, Slow Dissolve To Gates Of Hell4, Slow Dissolve To Gates Of Hell5)
Another highly unusual shot worth mentioning is Visual Constancy Or Horror. When I saw this
shot, I thought that if my eyes did not have visual constancy and did not fill in Willard’s body
automatically, the body-less face in this scene would be part of the true horror genre...!
4.Techniques and patterns:
a)Lighting:
Lighting is the key element in the film. Along with fogs and shadows. The general look of the
film is dark and shadowy in keeping with the theme of war and the dark journey that the soldiers
undertake therein. As the journey begins, the lights are still high, Willard begins his boat ride in
dusk (Journey Begins) but as the journey gets deeper and deeper, the film gets darker, the
shadows get pronounced and light is dimmed (Journey Deepens). The lighting of the film is
highly representative of the perils of the war in the jungle as well as metaphorical journey that
the soldiers undertake in the spiritual realm. The boat, aptly named “Erebus” (i.e. the dark region
of the underworld through which the dead must pass before they reach Hades; the underworld
itself), is not lit at all, yet is the only sanctuary in the deep jungle around (Ship Of Death). The
lights are garish and painful to the eyes (Hells Fire) where as the blacks are so demanding that
they are equally tiresome (Journey To Hell).
Some of the day light scenes are very high in contrast where the light is coming from the
background and we need to squint our eyes to see the details in the foreground. It creates a
realistic effect as if we are present during the scene. (Contrast In FG And BG).

7. b)Color:
Colors in Apocalypse Now mirror the emotions and the journey itself. The movie begins with
deeply saturated colors, putting us in a different realm of our imagination. The hues are very
deep, almost reminding us that we are still on earth, still connected, and although in a war zone,
we are possibly still alive as we can see these bright colors (This Is The End, Saturated Colors).
As soon as we begin our journey, one of the first colors we encounter is the color of fog, it stays
with us throughout the journey and by the end it is so thick that neither Willard nor we can see
anything clearly any more (Multi Colored Fog, Fog And Haze). As we go further and deeper in
the journey, the colors start getting muted. Some of the scenes are in sepia tone and give a
representation of an altered reality (Sepia Tones And Unearthly Colors). This is the other world;
the colors of this world are different. Even the fog is devoid of those rich colors that we are used
to in the beginning (Fog Gets Deeper). When they finally reach Kurtz’s post, the colors are
completely altered and the palette is in various shades of orange imitating the fires of hell.
(Underworld Fire And Orange).
c)Interior and Exterior:
The film mostly takes place inside the boat, which is the safe haven of the soldiers. The jungle
around them is a metaphor for the savage and the animal side of human’s nature. Every time the
soldier leave their boat and go in the “jungle”, something horrific or life altering happens that
takes them one more step away from “home”. It is on the boat that Willard (& us) meets the crew
for the first time and it is on the boat that they all die (with the exception of Lance). We come to
recognize and accept Willard on the boat. We meet the various manifestations of the jungle and
the war when we get off the boat such as Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore, the tiger in the mango
jungle, the total mayhem of the Dulong Bridge outpost and the final destination of Kurtz’s
outpost. In the end, when Willard leaves the boat, we are unsure as to whether he will come back
or if he will completely give in to the savagery just like his other-self Colonel Kurtz. After
killing Kurtz, Willard is revered by the denizens of Kurtz's tribe, but instead of taking Kurtz's
place he departs, suggesting that he may yet be capable of escaping the horror of war and he
comes back to the safe haven of the boat which may this time take him back “home”.
d)Camera Movement:
The journey in the film is marked by slow camera movement. Most of the times the camera is
stationed right on the boat, and we see what the soldiers, mostly Willard sees. Film has slow
tracks, slow pans and generally slow movements. There is not much that is exciting about a slow
journey through the jungle. An interesting tracking shot happens in the beginning of the movie
when Willard gets the assignment of killing Kurtz. As the General is giving Willard his orders,
camera slowly tracks over the food, and through this movement we explicitly see that no one is

8. able to eat the food except for the man from CIA. He is not confused, nor tormented as the other
men who are part of the same unclear war and are divided by the same conflicts of morality. He
then utters his one and only sentence to Willard “Terminate with extreme prejudice...!” Most of
the times, camera is positioned at a close up to Willard and we watch him breathing, sweating,
looking at his dossier. Since camera position does not change often, we start living and breathing
in the same environment as the other characters. They have no respite out of the situation they
are in and we don’t either. There are few pronounced camera movements such as the one on
Kilgore as he starts talking about Napalm. We always see him in full company of his soldiers but
the camera marks a strong change when Kilgore starts talking about Napalm and the war, we
start with seeing his whole team and the camera keeps tracking towards Kilgore, leaving out
everyone else and ends on his one and only medium close up. This is pretty much how close we
can get to this man (Kilgore Selection In Frame, One Close Up Kilgore). Another highly
effective tracking shot is when Willard is in Kurtz compound and is hearing how divided Kurtz
soul has become. Till this point, we have seen Willard on the left side of the screen in his every
interaction with Kurtz (including his dossier). In this scene, we see one shot of Willard on the
left, then as he contemplates his actions we see him in the center and in the next shot, as Willard
makes up his mind about killing Kurtz, we see him at the right of the frame. Not only that, this is
the first place when the camera tracks back and out of Willard’s close up and we see him looking
at his hand preparing to kill Kurtz with his bare hand. It is a very powerful camera movement
since for the first time, as Willard decides to kill without judgment a.k.a. Kurtz fashion, we are
taken out from his frame of mind, from his memories, from his heart and given a chance to have
a perspective of our own, apart from him.
e)Lenses:
The lenses are used in accordance with the movie themes. Most of the times while dealing with
Willard, extreme long lens is used with emphasis only on his face and his emotions allowing us
to connect with him at every level (Flat Perspective, Extreme Close Up Willard). There were a
few other scenes where the patrol boat is seen in extremely long lens and gives a very constricted
feeling, as if there is nowhere to go and we feel as trapped in the journey as these soldiers
(Telephoto). Some of the scenes are aerial shots that bring us back to the reality of the expanse of
the jungle surrounding these soldiers (Aerial, Aerial2). Most of the scenes that portray actual war
are shot with Wide Angle Lens giving a definite meaning to the devastation that occurs during
such a time (Destruction In Wide Angle, DOF).
Another interesting thing that caught my attention was the ellipses caused by lights or their
reflections as a result of using Anamorphic lenses. (AnamoprhicLens)

9. 2 hr 33 min (153 min)
3 hr 22 min (202 min) (Redux)
4 hr 49 min (289 min) (workprint)Sound Mix70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby Digital
(Redux version) | Dolby (35 mm prints) | DTS (Redux version)ColorColor (Technicolor) |
ColorAspect Ratio2.00 : 1 (DVD version)
2.20 : 1 (70 mm prints)
2.35 : 1CameraArriflex 16 ST (newsreel scenes)
Arriflex 35 BL, Technovision/Cooke Lenses
Arriflex 35-IIC, Technovision/Cooke Lenses
Mitchell BNCR, Technovision/Cooke LensesLaboratoryTechnicolor, Hollywood (CA), USA
(prints)Film Length4,205 m (Sweden, 35 mm)
5,255 m (Sweden, 70 mm)
5,533 m (Sweden, 35 mm) (Redux version)Negative Format16 mm (newsreel scenes)
35 mm (Eastman 100T 5247)Cinematographic ProcessTechnovision (anamorphic)Printed Film
Format35 mm
70 mm (blow-up)