“Behind this mask there is more than just flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea… and ideas are bulletproof” 

Paradigm shift – an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way.

In James McTeigue’s dystopian London, where ‘V for Vendetta’ takes place, ‘V’ introduces a paradigm shift to the British public towards their fascist UK Government. The film follows vigilante, V, as he uses terrorist like attacks to challenge England’s oppressors based off an idea he has created. V’s actions throughout the film shows the audience what one idea can come to be which broadcasts McTeigue’s directors intention of the power of an idea. This is clearly portrayed by V in both the domino scene and in the final fight scene but, also dripped throughout the movie, enforced by McTeigue’s clever use of cinematography techniques being symbolism, dialogue, and montarging, where we see the capability of V’s notion of a revolution against the British Government.

The number five is often referred to as the number of humanity. Humans have five fingers, five toes, five appendages, five senses and five major systems of the body. As well as being the number of humanity, it is said that if you keep seeing the angel number five, it is a sign of major changes to come. Right throughout the domino scene in ‘V for Vendetta’, the audience is bombarded with the symbol of five, being both the number five and V, the roman numeral for five, as we see V’s master plan come into action. This all evolving from his original idea to challenge the British Government. First and foremost, V’s name, we then see the train tracks split off in a V, a V like logo is used for the courier company, a V spay painted through the words “unity through faith”, five different real life scenes clips from the Brixton Riots, a V plastered on a door and a fireworks display in the shape of a V. By McTeigue featuring the number fiver over and over again, the audience becomes aware that major changes are to come. That a paradigm shift will be introduced which gets the audience which gets the audience thinking and questioning, what is about to happen? Will V be able to pull through with his master plan?Not only does this get the audience deliberating, but it also helps to lay the groundwork for the viewers soon to be able to see McTeigue’s intention of the power of an idea as the audience is now aware of V’s intentions, but are left wondering if his plan will work and idea is strong enough. The most dominant symbol of five representing the change to come is the V pattern in which the dominos are laid out in through the duration of this scene. V being the roman numeral for the number five. The audience witnesses the construction of this pattern in parallel with dialog from Eric Finch as he comes to the realisation of the events that are about to take place and what has happened to lead up to this moment. He is stacking his dominos one by one with each new event all leading to his end goal; When his domino’s fall so does the government. The first domino is placed. We see Guy Fawkes masks being sent out across England and the uprising of the British public begin while they are dressed in these, this comes with the overlap of Finches dialog which helps inforce to the audience the directors intention of the power of an idea, “this is exactly what he wants…chaos”. With precise care, another domino is placed, now in a line in front of many more, Mr. Creedy marks an X on his door, signifying that he is essentially already dead to V, “the problem is that he knows us better than we know ourselves” . “I suddenly had this feeling that everything was connected, it was like I could see the whole thing” more and more dominos are being placed on a line, “one long chain of events”, more and more pieces of the puzzle are coming together, “I felt like I could see everything that had happened, and everything that was going to happen.” more and more actions are coming into place. “It was like a perfect pattern laid out in front of me, and I realized we were all part of it, and are all trapped by it”. The dominoes are now fully laid out in the configuration of a V, a five. “With so much choas someone will do something stupid, and when they do, things will turn nasty, and then Suttler will be forced to do the only thing he knows how to do, at which point all V needs to do is keep his word, and then…” the gracefull fall of the dominos. V knocks the first one and it topples over coming in contact with the second one which falls and so on, demonstrating the domino effect, a cumulative effect produced when one event initiates a succession of follow on events which in society we talk about being when one event sets of a chain reaction of similar events, when one domino falls, it knocks over the one behind it. In the film, the dominoes represent every person that V has made involved and every action and movement that has been taken to get his to this point. We can see that everything that  has happened, everything that is going to happen, has been carefully orchestrated by V for a reason, and as a whole, the dominos represent V’s initial idea of the destruction of the UK government. What one thought can become and turn into. The power an idea can have. From the audience questioning what will happen next after preparing for a major change to come, the use of dominos and dialogue from McTeigue now makes them able to see how on idea, from one person, can go on to impact many things around it. How a singular thought that they may have can influence others lives and grow to be something much bigger than ever imagined, if pursued properly, just as V has pursued his. It positions them to be able to see McTeigue’s intention of the power an idea can have as we can see V building up his plan in the public’s mind with each new thing he does, and when the dominos fall, V has succeeded, the revolution against the government has begun. As an audience it becomes easy to relate to what will now begin to happen to London in ‘V for Vendetta’ as McTeigue montarges real life clip from the 1981 Brixton Riots. These riots are cross cut into the last 30 seconds of the scene as all the dominos tumble down. It is real footage of what once took place in the South of London due to a confrontation between Police and protestors and helps to show the audience how the idea of an uprising of the public against the government can be reflected back to real life situations. It has happened before, so what’s to stop it from happening again. 

In the final fight scene of ‘V for Vendetta’ McTeigue once again uses symbolism and dialogue to broadcast to the audience the power of an idea this time in the form of V’s mask and Mr Creedy. Guy Fawkes was an English man apart of the English Catholics who planned the faital Gunpowder Plot on the 5th of November 1605 as a rebellion against their own parliament. Guy Fawkes’ face now represents protest against governments and is used by the unidentified international activist hacking group, Anonymouse. Known for cyber attacks against several governments, just like V, they wear the mask and use it as a protest where it represents their ideas and thoughts about how their country is being run. It is a symbol of anarchy and uprising throughout the film and in our real world. V’s mask is used as a symbol that conveys McTeigue purpose  because it is an object that portrays a concept. It turns V into a somewhat super natural being as the idea of the mask gives the audience a super human character to believe in and root for as it shields his true identity creating a point of interest and curiosity. This is further strengthened as we see that the mask is untouchable after creedy instructs his men to remove V’s disguise, “it’s time to have a look at your face, take off your mask”, but they fail in doing so ending with their executions. As a result this emphasizes the intention, that the mask, representing the power of an idea, when involved with a strong minded being is untouchable and unbreakable. V represents himself through the mask which the appearance of the hero, just like anonymous as they become one with the mask. The power of an idea is furthermore inforced as the symbol of the mask is accompanied by the diegetic film technique of dialogue. After V has fought off the opposing men in the final fight scene, all that is left standing is himself and Creedy. Creedy shoots from his revolver straight at V but still fails to kill him. This is because V is more than a person, he is not a human being, he is an idea. “Die, die why won’t you die” Creedy shouts at him. V can not die as he is not a person. V is more than that. As long as V is wearing the mask, V is an idea. “Behind this mask there is more than just flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea… and ideas are bulletproof”. V is bulletproof. The flesh behind the mask eventually dies but the idea never does, consequently, while V is wearing the mask he does not die until Creedy has. This is then further strengthened in the closing scene when Evey states: “He was Edmond Dantes. And he was my father; and my mother. My brother. My friend. He was you… and me. He was all of us.” Resonating with the audience that V’s idea was so powerful, it become apart of them all. V was a great orator and as a result swept people up in the movement. We can see this happen many times in history with one example being Martin Luther King Jr. A social activist who presented one of the most famous speeches of all time. He related to many and stood for the good of the people, and although held a very different notion to V, after death, their ideas still both live on with Kings legacy of civil rights still very much present 51 years after his passing. In parallel to V’s mask and the dialogue in this scene, montage is used to give prominence to the power of an idea. This is where a series of different shots of V fighting are edited into a sequence condensing the time it takes V to kill Creedys men. If V was considered to be a normal human being he would be dead by now, however, he is not, the mask drives him to win the fight therefore strengthening McTeigue’s intention, emphasising the power of an idea, and how this is keeping V alive. We can see this in ‘Lord of the Flies’ by William Golding where a group of school boys get trapped on a deserted island. Just like V, all the odds are stacked against the books narrator, Ralph, in their bids to survive. His friends disown him, he has no water, and minimal food, but the idea of getting back to england and seeing his family again keeps him alive with the will to survive. Both V and Ralph are not in favourable conditions to survive and could simply surrender to their circumstances, but their belief in their own cause pushes them to fight, and eventually succeed in their different ways. These three film techniques work in conjunction to broadcast McTeigue’s intention of showing the power of an idea. They display how the power of V’s idea keeps him alive even in the most unfavourable circumstances and positions the audience in awe of his superhuman character with such motivation and drive. 

James McTeigue uses the cinematography techniques of symbolism, dialog and montarge to portray to the audience the directors intention of the power of an idea in his science fiction film, ‘V for Vendetta’. In the domino scene the number five, dominos and dialogue begin to set into the audience’s mind the power of V’s idea in his quest to start a revolution against the British Government. He does this by showing every cleverly orchestrated action V has taken, and how they all come together creating the fall of parliament. McTeigue then strengthens this in the final fight scene by the symbol of V’s mask, dialogue once again, as well as montage, by emphasising that “ideas are bulletproof” and even if the flesh behind an idea dies, if powerful enough, the notion will not.