Conor Ward

Professor Erin Dietel-McLaughlin

WR13300 Multimedia Writing and Rhetoric
Monday 23rd February 2014
The March Continues: How Ava Duvernay Uses Film To Encourage Present Day Action

Selma, a film directed by Ava DuVernay, tells the story of Martin Luther King Jr and the
Southern Christain Leadership Conferences efforts to protest the disenfranchisement of African
Americans in the American South. The film focusses on the marches from Selma to
Montgomery, which were led by Dr. King and the SCLC in an effort to protest laws that made it
difficult for African Americans to vote. The film introduces this struggle with a scene in which
Annie Lee Cooper, an elderly African American woman, attempts to obtain and is subsequently
denied her voting registration. This scene displays the prejudice that African Americans faced
when trying to obtain their voting registration, by having the white registrar ask biased questions
in an effort to make Ms. Cooper fail the required test. The movies plot continues to progress
with Dr. King meeting with President Lyndon B. Johnson in an effort to get him to pass a voters
rights law. This law would help to protect the rights of African Americans attempting to vote.
Once President Johnson refuses, King begins to organize a march from Selma to Montgomery to
protest. The march is met with violent opposition that is filmed and displayed for the whole
country to see. King then organizes a second march, but quickly turns it around because he
believes it is a trap. He then proceeds to organize a third and final march, which successfully
arrives in Montgomery. Soon after the completion of the third march, the Voting Rights Act of

1965 is passed. The film ends with Kings speech in Montgomery and then proceeds to roll to
credits with rapper Commons modern day protest anthem playing in the background.
The events that took place at Selma are displayed to show many parallels with current
events, such as Ferguson, Missouri. Duvernay tries to show how the protests of Ferguson, which
are in response to the death of Michael Brown, and those of Selma are similar and thus tries to
encourage action similar to what occurred in Selma. Through its use of rhetorical imagery
techniques, such as reframing and mobile framing, subtle imagery, and modern music at the end
of the film, Selma strives to evoke the emotions of the viewer in an effort to encourage action.
Thus, the film uses these rhetorical devices to convey the idea that the story of Selma is not over
and needs to be continued to this day.
Before beginning to discuss how DuVernay attempts to use rhetoric and rhetorical
imagery to persuade the audience, it is first necessary to explain what rhetoric and rhetorical
imagery are. The University of Notre Dames Writing Program defines rhetoric by saying,
Rhetoric we define broadly as the art, practice, and study of human communication
(Lunsford). In this view, rhetoric is the more inclusive category, accounting for all forms of
communicative activity, and argument is the sub-category, one of the forms of communicative
practice. (University Writing Center) Therefore, rhetoric is simply any form of communication
between people. In addition, rhetorical imagery or visual rhetoric is simply any medium of
imagery that is meant to convey a message. Thus, the medium of film can be used as a rhetorical
device to convey a message to a specific audience and it is through this medium that Duvernay
attempts to convey her message.

One of the first instances in which Ava DuVernay uses rhetorical imagery to achieve
certain emotions from the viewer comes during the first protest, when Annie Lee Cooper is
thrown to the ground for defending another protester. In this scene, Jimmy, another protester, is
about to be struck by an officer, when Ms Cooper defends him by striking the officer. This leads
the officers to arrest her. During the sequence of her arrest, DuVernay uses the technique of
reframing to give the audience a slow motion close up of Ms Coopers face. Reframing is a
process in which certain elements of a scene are focussed on. This technique can then provide
closeups of images in order to bring less noticeable details to light. (Lancioni 106) Thus, the
technique is used to emphasis the violence of the arrest, in addition to the pain she suffers as a
result of it. The effect this action has on the viewer is described by Judith Lancioni, when she
states, The close-ups achieved through mobile framing and reframing enable viewers to
experience the past on the intimate terms they have been conditioned to regard as reality
(Lancioni 107) Thus, the reframing causes the viewer to experience the scene differently from
how they would normally. The reframing used in this scene helps DuVernay evoke emotions
from audience that subsequently make them feel compelled to act and stand up for people like
Ms Cooper. In this scene, Duvernay focuses on Ms. Cooper, because she is meant to represent
those who can not stand up for themselves against injustice. Additionally, DuVernay may focus
on Ms. Cooper, because she represents the long years of oppression that African Americans had
faced. Thus, when DuVernay focuses on Ms Cooper, she attempts to encourage the audience to
stand up for defenseless people like Ms. Cooper, while also encouraging them to stand up against
the years of oppression that African Americans had faced.

In another powerful scene, a family of protesters takes refuge from the attacks of the
police by hiding in a restaurant. The family is soon found by officers, who then proceed to beat
them. The scene comes to a climax when Jimmy, the son of the other two protesters, is fatally
shot by one of the police officers. To depict this momentous event, DuVernay uses reframing to
show the distraught faces of Jimmy and his mother and then framing out to show the whole
restaurant as Jimmy falls to the floor. Lancioni gives an explanation for why the director would
do this, when she says, In reframing, filmmakers show viewers part of a photograph and then
the whole of it or the whole then the particular parts. Creating several separate frames from a
single photograph calls attention to a part of the whole photograph that might otherwise be
missed (Lancioni 111). Thus, DuVernay is attempting to call attention to the pain caused by
Jimmys death. This scene is meant to evoke great emotions from the viewer, who then, just as
with Ms Cooper, feels compelled to act. The audience will feel compelled to act, because the
emotions that DuVernay evokes, can make the audience feel as though Jimmy could have been
one of their family members. By using the reframing and closeups, DuVernay makes the
audience feel as though they are a bystander who just watched a member of their family die.
Thus, DuVernay uses this form of rhetorical imagery to make the audience more likely to stand
up against these types of injustices, because the audience now views acts like this in a much
more personal light.
In addition to using reframing to provide closeups of scenes involving individuals,
DuVernay also uses the technique to give character to larger groups of people. For example,
during the first march, DuVernay provides images of the scene as a whole and then provides
closeups of individuals. In this scene we are given a closeup of the marchs leaders and then a

shot of the group as a whole. During the closeup, the audience sees the stern, yet ominous, faces
of the leaders of the march. After the closeup, the group as a whole seems to take on a different
persona. Instead of steadfastly marching through adversity, the group suddenly takes on a sullen
persona as they march towards impending doom. According to Lancioni, when viewer is
provided with a closeup of a member of a group, they will change the way the perceive the
individual as well as the group as a whole.(112) As a result, the viewer is now more likely to
empathize with the protesters, because the way they perceived each individual, as well as the
group as a whole, has changed. Moreover, DuVernay perfectly utilizes the technique of reframing
to provide insight into specific images, that otherwise would have gone unnoticed, in order to
evoke the emotions of the viewer. It is these emotions that DuVernay relies on to encourage
viewers to act and support modern day protests against perceived injustices.
Additionally, DuVernay also uses the technique of mobile framing to portray the events
that take place during the first march. Mobile framing is the use of panning and tilting an image
to create a three dimensional scene for the viewer. (Lancioni 105) During the march, DuVernay
uses mobile framing to give a panoramic view of the bridge. As the marchers approach the
bridge, the camera gives a full outlook of the bridge, marches, and the police waiting for the
marchers. This view makes the viewer feel as if they are witnessing the events that are unfolding
first hand. DuVernay uses mobile framing to pan over large areas to give the viewer a sense of
the surrounding area. This technique makes the scenes that are being portrayed feel more real to
the viewer, because they feel like they are there. Thus, the viewer is more likely to display
empathy towards the marchers, which then in turn may cause them to feel empathy for modern
day protesters.

Duvernay also uses the techniques of mobile framing and reframing to emphasize subtle
images, which are placed in the scenes to evoke specific emotions from the audience. For
example, in the scene where Dr King and his wife Coretta are discussing the harassing calls they
receive from the FBI, there is a statue of Gandhi situated on a table in the back of the room. The
statue only becomes apparent after a panning shot of the room. The statue of Gandhi is important
to the scene, because he is considered an icon who stood for non-violent peaceful protests, just as
King did. According to Martia Sturken and Lisa Cartwright in the Practices of Looking, An icon
is an image that refers to something outside of its individual components, something (or
someone) that has great symbolic meaning for many people. Icons are often perceived to
represent universal concepts, emotions, and meanings. Thus, an image produced in a specific
culture, time, and place might be interpreted as having universal meaning and the capacity to
evoke similar responses in all cultures and in all viewers (Sturken andCartwright 37) Moreover,
the placement of the statue is important, because it is meant to be interpreted as a symbol of
peace by all viewers. Furthermore, the statue of Gandhi is not a symbol of peace, but of nonviolent protest. The idea of non-violent protest is echoed in the scene, because even though King
is being harassed and attacked he does not fight back. In the scene he calmly states that the
accusations are untrue and then continues to go about his business. Thus, DuVernay uses mobile
framing to emphasize Gandhi with the goal of evoking the idea of nonviolent protest in the
audience.
While DuVernay heavily relies on different camera techniques to provoke the emotions of
the viewer throughout the majority of the film, she also incorporates different styles of music
into the film in order to achieve the same results. Throughout the film, music accompanies many
different scenes and transition sequences. These songs are either songs written to mimic the style
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of the era or songs actually written around the time of the march. However, this trend of using
the music style of the era changes, when the credits begin to the role and the modern rap song
Glory begins to play. This song is meant to be a powerful protest anthem aimed at calling the
viewer to act. The lyrics of the song discuss new events, such as Ferguson and events that had
taken place during the Civil Rights Movement, such as Rosa Parks. This song connects the
events of the movie to current events and gives the viewer an outlet for the emotions that were
evoked through out the film. This outlet is a call to action and protest against perceived modern
day injustices. The song has such a strong impact on those who hear it, because it changes the
connotative meaning of the film for the viewer. According to the Practices of Looking,
Connotative meanings rely on the cultural and historical context of the image and its viewers
lived, felt knowledge of those circumstances--all that the image means to them personally and
socially (Sturken and Cartwright 19).Thus, the music makes the viewer feel differently about the
film they have just watched, which leads them to be more likely to support DuVernays cause,
which is to encourage people to stand up against modern day injustices.
On the other hand, there are some people that may argue that DuVernay is not trying
encourage action from her films viewers, but simply making a historical narrative to document
and spread the story of a very important moment in United States history. From the outside
looking in, this movie seems like one that accurately portrays the history as it happened and for a
member of the audience that does not know the true history of the event, it is very likely that they
would take all the facts and ideas presented as fact. While the idea that DuVernay was simply
making a historical narrative is possible, it is unlikely, because why would she change facts of
what happened, if the goal of the film was to share and document a historical event. John Herrick

explains why one may do this when he says, Creating a message involved thinking critically
about the facts available to you (Herrick 20). Here Herrick shows that if the viewer is only
given certain facts, it will influence the message that they take away. Moreover, it is possible that
DuVernay made an effort to influence the message viewers would walk away with by leaving out
certain facts. However, without being well versed in the history of the event, it is difficult to
discern weather these criticisms are true and therefore we can not truly know whether DuVernay
was attempting to influence the viewer by changing the facts or if she thought this version would
better appeal to audiences.
The film Selma ends on a powerful note and leaves the viewer with the sense that the
story of Selma is not over and the struggle it worked against continues to this day. As John
Herrick stated best, Rhetors address audiences with goals in mind, and the planning and
adaptation processes that mark rhetoric are governed by the desire to achieve these goals.
(Herrick 10) DuVernays goal for this movie was to evoke emotions that would encourage action
and support from the audience. Throughout the film, Duvernay did a masterful job of influencing
the viewer and changing the way the audience thinks about this historical event. She used
different rhetorical devices to connect modern events with those of the past, which resulted with
her achieving her goal of creating a film that would encourage the viewer to act and give support
to her cause. Thus, Selma is a strong example of how rhetoric can be used to achieve certain
goals.

Works Cited
Herrick, James A. The History and Theory of Rhetoric. 2nd ed. Boston: Allyn and Barn, 2001.
Print.
Lancioni, Judith. "The Rhetoric of the Frame: Revisioning Archival Photo Graphs in the Civil
War." Western Journal of Communication (1996): 397-414. Web.
Sturken, Marita, and Lisa Cartwright. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture.
Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.
"What We Teach." // University Writing Program // University of Notre Dame. N.p., n.d. Web. 12
Apr. 2015.