I chose the scene where gen goes to the kids house and says that he should keep playing but the mum says nah your crazy and he goes to his car and get the chess out and the dad goes and punches him lights out.

‘Dark Horse’ directed by James Napier Robertson, is a Biography of the unique life of Genesis Potini (Cliff Curtis), a brilliant yet troubled man trying to better the lives of unfortunate kids in the Gisborne area. I will be discussing a scene that includes and tracking shot, an over the shoulder shot as dialogue happens, a mid shot and also

The scene is set in a driveway and on the street in front of houses. Genesis pulls up in his car and makes his way to the house of a distressed mother concerned about her son’s safety in genesis’s chess program. James Napier Robertson uses a tracking shot to follow Genesis. This shot is used to show Gen’s movement and his surrounding as he approaches the house. We see two children playing in their yard and a bunch of blokes chilling in the driveway, as Gen knocks on the door we see a broken window covered by cardboard. This shot gives the viewer the feeling of being behind Genesis, of the cold morning on the streets of Gisborne. Gen knocks on the on the door and the mother answers, Robertson uses an over the shoulder shot as the two talk. This makes the viewer feel as if they are eavesdropping on the conversation. Genesis pleads with the Mother to allow her child to carry on playing chess, however, the Mothers stand is firm and denies Gens’ plead as she is concerned about Genesis’s deteriorating mental health and how it could be harmful to her child. This triggers Gen and he has an episode. Genesis heads back to his car distraught, He starts acting frantic as he pulls out a chess board and puts it on the hood of his car, this can be seen in the mid shot. We feel the helplessness of Gen as he starts having his breakdown clearly shown in the shot. He then starts making a scene telling everyone to join him and play chess, the camera pans to show that people have gathered around and are watching him, during this time Gen is spewing nonsense at everybody and nobody. The camera sets on Gen in an over the shoulder shot while the father of the child that was taken out of the program comes out and walks over the Gen and lays him out with a hard right hook. Again the over the shoulder shot put the viewer in a better perspective of Genesis and lets us feel more empathy for him as we are closer to him.
I think that this scene displays the entirety of the film, how Genesis is just misunderstood and at the end he pays for his wanting to help.

I conclude that ‘Dark Horse’ by James Napier Robertson, is a unique and special story about a remarkable person. Robertson made an outstanding film that uses expert shots with flowing dialogue so show the true, gritty nature of Potini’s story. The scene that I spoke about is the most notable in the film as it shows Gens eagerness to help and how it ends in trouble for him. I think that this is a cool as film and every kiwi should watch it.