Spop Season 4 - Tumblr Posts
Person: so what kind of stuff do you like?
Me: Complex antagonists with rich psychological backround that eventually leads to their mental break down.
And you?
Breaking Down Catra’s Breakdown in Fractures
I really love Catra’s breakdown scene. Every shot has a purpose and meaning behind it and so does the music. I don’t think there was a wasted moment.
It starts on a closeup shot of her face making sure we can’t really see her surroundings and it’s clear from the get go that her smile and words don’t completely match up with how she feels by the obvious bags under her eyes. There’s more going on here.
Then it cuts to a shot of the screen with Hordak on it. There is a small screen in the lower left corner that is cracked once again hinting at everything not being “under control”. The cracks in Catra’s facade are becoming harder to hide from the people around her and the full extent of her deteriorating mental state is hidden from the audience.
The transmission ends and immediately the camera zooms out to reveal all of the destruction around Catra. The music swells to what is a sinister note then fades to a quieter decidedly more tragic tune. The full extent of Catra’s emotional decline isn’t shown until Catra is completely alone. Catra is framed rather small in comparison to the large, destroyed room. Her pain is bigger than she can handle and everything is starting to become collateral.
The shot changes to a closeup view once again but this time it’s of Catra’s profile from the middle of her chest to the bridge of her nose, her eyes are out of frame. Catra removes her mask right now both literally and metaphorically, but we still can’t see her eyes. Her full emotions aren’t completely clear yet. We’ve only seen the destruction and anger.
The mask falls to the ground and Catra quickly follows. She falls to her knees with her head bowed to the ground and starts crying.
It cuts to her face and we finally get to see her eyes again and all we can see is her emotional anguish. The sad/tragic music swells as Catra’s breakdown continues mirroring the outpouring of emotion. It went from soft when Catra initially removed her mask and the more Catra’s facade slips the louder the music gets until the facade is completely gone and the music crescendos. The shot is a close up, nothing else is in frame. Catra is so alone and in denial that her real feelings, the sadness and pain, can’t be seen by anyone else. She makes sure that it can’t be seen by anyone else. All anyone else will see once this is done is the outward destruction.
This whole scene is so powerful from the framing, to the music, to the dialogue, to the animation. Everything about this scene is amazing. It’s framed so tragic. This is Catra’s low point. She is hitting her rock bottom.
Destiny - Conflict of Feelings through Juxtaposition
Adora breaking the sword is a perfect example of showing conflicting feelings through juxtaposition in scenes. This moment of victory and triumph is followed quickly by sadness.
It starts out with loud, intense music that sounds similar to the music that plays during the revelation that Adora doesn’t get to refuse firing the heart of Etheria in Destiny part 1, which usually conveys a sense of inevitability or lack of control. The main difference between the two is the end in the original one the music fades to a quiet, somber note, but in the one used during this scene the music cuts off completely when Adora breaks the sword. Adora has stopped the heart. She has broken free of her destiny symbolized through the music breaking off. The scene is also brightly colored matching the triumphant tone, but is quickly followed by a sad, quiet, empty scene where Adora is left alone with the broken shards of the sword.
The stark juxtaposition this scene has from the loud, epic, colorful scene just prior puts the conflicting feelings Adora must be feeling on full display. Yes she just broke free from her destiny, yes she just stopped a universe destroying weapon, but she also lost everything that she felt gave her worth in this war. She just lost she-ra and her power and it happens just when Horde Prime has discovered them and set etheria in his sights. The lack of music in this scene is for a very different reason than in the previous one. This is a deeply personal moment for Adora. Adora has effectively “killed” she-ra (as far as she knows). This is her moment to grieve before she has to face the hardships to come.
Breaking Free of the Vines - Telling an Emotional Journey Through Music
The music starts out sad and loud while the vines are covering her. She is still fighting and the music becomes louder the more of her allies get taken by the vines while she still fights.
It quiets as the fight in Adora starts to die down and it almost completely goes away once Adora gives in and says “I can’t do this on my own”.
The music is still soft, but it shifts to Angella’s leitmotif and flashbacks to her sacrifice and everything that came after. Angella’s sacrifice is a huge motivating factor in this season and, while for most of the season it has been a source of Adora and Glimmer’s rift and respective spirals, in this moment Adora is realizing she can’t let it be in vain. Adora can’t give up on the people she cares about or herself because Angella’s last speech to her was about how Adora is the one who inspired her not she-ra and that it is Adora who makes she-ra a hero not the other way around. It’s Adora finally realizing what Angella really meant with her final speech instead of her guilt clouding her interpretation.
The music grows in volume and turns triumphant when Adora snaps out of it and overcomes the signal to transform and save her friends. The music isn’t she-ra’s theme. It’s Adora’s theme because, while Adora does transform into she-ra in this moment, Adora’s own will is what overcomes the vines not she-ra’s power.
