#mis-en-scene

In my humble opinion, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) is one of the greatest movies of all time. The film, directed by Michel Gondry, is about the rocky relationship between the introvert Joel (Jim Carrey) and the outspoken, always vibrant Clementine (Kate Winslet).

The following scene takes place at the beginning of the film where Joel and Clementine meet for the first time.

I think, there is so much information in this short scene. We are just getting to know the two characters and the director makes it clear that Joel is a timid, soft-spoken man while Clementine is his mere opposite; a spontaneous extrovert who does what she wants without being afraid of the consequences. Everything in this scene, from the lighting to the costumes, is a reference to the two characters personalities.

The colors of the train and the lighting in the scene is very dull and grey. Nothing stands out, everything is white, navy, almost grayish, even the outside. Through the window we can see that it is a foggy and rainy day. Joel sort of blends into this setting with his dark drench coat and black hat which covers all of his hair and forehead as if he wanted to hide or be invisible. Clementine, on the other hand, is clearly a striking figure with her orange hoody, purple bag and her blue hair. We can see that while Clementine wants to be different and wants to stand out, Joel has a more conventional, reserved personality. 

The composition is mainly symmetrical, Joel on the left, Clementine on the right, however we can see that Clementine is the dominant of the two, as she is always positioned higher than Joel, which tips the symmetry out a little.

Except for Clementine’s purple bag, there is only one other prop which is Joel’s scratch book. He is drawing a sketch of Clem, where everything is black and white except for Clementine’s orange hoody and blue hair. Although he is shy his attraction to Clem is evident.

Life of Pi is a marvelous shot film by Ang Lee (2012) that exists somewhere in between the worlds of fantasy and adventure. Adapted from the Yann Mantel novel of the same name, revolves around a young Indian teenager stuck adrift on a raft with a tiger, hyena, orangutan, and zebra. It was considered for years that the film was almost impossible to film. They finally found its bold director in Ang Lee, who decided to shoot digitally and shoot 3D, and the result was a breathtaking combinations of colorful and an amazing visual experience that looked nothing like anything that came before it. With all the creative voices and endeavors, the film summoned the most awards in Oscars in 2012, including Ang Lee for Best Director and Claudio Miranda for Best Cinematography. In this entry, the film is analyzed with filmmaker's use of mise-en-scene. From the auteur’s 4 elements of Mise-en-Scene: Setting & Location, Make-up, Props, and Costumes, Lighting and Color, Character and Figure. Setting & Location  The production of the film was generally built as a constructed location. At the production’s heart was a massive tank of water that was used to produce the ocean-set settings. It was built inside an abandoned airport, the 1.7 million gallon behemoth was the world’s largest self-generating wave tank. Miranda himself had a hand in its construction, he made sure it was built around the lighting needs of his crew. A giant door was even built to allow the actual sunset to light the tank every day at dusk, allowing the indoor ocean to be shot during the magic hour.  he money and effort spent on the tank underlines how important the ocean setting was to Life of Pi. For many shots of the film, the frame would be almost entirely water. As such, Lee decided to shoot the film in 3D, a technology still unproven effective and not as well-respected at the time, back when Avatar had yet to been released and revolutionize the medium. By adding depth to the image, Lee felt the power of the ocean and the subtleties of its movements could be more accurately captured. 

Make-up, Props, and Costumes With all the computer generated shots doing all the magic, the film holds a minimal approach when it comes to Make-up. Although, it instills an authentic establishment with having less is more. Same goes to their costumes, Pi was dressed entirely with only a bandana, paired with white pants and a necklace. It only took few, minimal yet well-thought out ensemble to make the character, Pi an icon and a memorable one. Furthermore, Life of Pi contains a bevy of advanced special effects shots, with a good deal of the movie, including co-protagonist Richard Parker the Tiger, heavily generated by computers. They had the difficult task of photographing much of a film that didn’t exist in reality, yet capturing its epic essence in a way that would match the unbelievable CGI being prepared and as well as capturing its versimilitude. The props itself can be the main standpoint of the film. Much of the likes of Richard Parker the Tiger, it became the limelight and an important innovation to the film. The finesse and the techniques used to create the life-like Richard Parker was beyond impressive. It is indeed another success tribute to films that holds a magnificent machines and robotic creations throwback such as the first ever Jurassic Park (1993) that gagged all the viewers who first witnessed the magic of 3D. Lighting and Color  Because of the prominence of both actual and digitally created water, lighting was especially important to the film. It was also especially difficult to the particulars of the shoot. With huge waves and water moving constantly, any light would reflect and refract in every direction. In a wide flat ocean, with nothing else but the occasional bioluminescent plankton, the sun was the film’s chief source of light. Furthermore, Life of Pi is considered one of the best colored film of all time. The most dominant color of the film was the color of Orange. The color orange symbolizes hope and survival. If we are going to be in particular and details of the scenes, there are several allusions and suggestions using the dominance of the color. Just before the scene in which the Tsimtsum sinks, the narrator describes visiting the adult Pi at his home in Canada and meeting his family. Pi’s daughter, Usha, carries an orange cat. This moment assures the reader that the end of the story, if not happy, will not be a complete tragedy, since Pi is guaranteed to survive the catastrophe and father children of his own. The little orange cat recalls the big orange cat, Richard Parker, who helps Pi survive during his 227days at sea. As the Tsimtsum (the name of the ship) sinks, Chinese crewmen gave Pi a lifejacket with an orange whistle; on the boat, he finds an orange lifebuoy. The whistle, buoy, and tiger all help Pi survive, just as Orange Juice the orangutan provides a measure of emotional support that helps the boy maintain hope in the face of horrific tragedy.

Character and Figure.  Life of Pi establishes many characters and figure with its own interpretation and symbolism all throughout the film. For an instance, the main protagonist, Pi or also known as Piscine, denotes an irrational mathematical number, used to calculate distance in a circle. Often shortened to 3.14, Pi has so many decimal places that the human mind can’t accurately comprehend it, just as the book argues, some realities are too difficult to face. These representations establish the character Pi as more than just a realistic protagonist; he also is an allegorical figure with multiple layers of symbolism. Another main character to film would be Richard Parker the tiger. With a name like Richard Parker, most probably wouldn’t be expecting a tiger. The character known as Richard Parker is actually a Bengal tiger, trapped aboard the main character, Pi's, small lifeboat. There is significance to Richard Parker throughout the tale.There is much symbolism surrounding faith in the story. We learn fairly early on with this quote, 'I have a story that will make you believe in God,' that spirituality is going to play a strong role throughout the story. Richard Parker, himself, may be symbolic of God or faith. We discover throughout the story that Pi both loves and fears the tiger. Let's be honest: how realistic is it to be trapped on a small lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with a tiger and not be turned into a food? Pretty hard to believe, but for many who are religious, there is both a love and a fear, or reverence, of God. There are actually more than meets the eye and a lot more to unlock about the film’s symbolism and representations. 

Hero (2004) is a story of storytelling told with elements of two on-the-surface opposites: the softness and elegance of beauty and poetry, and the harshness of vengeance and martial arts.

Mis-en-scene or the art of arranging the position of the actors, lighting, décor, props, costumes is a critical aspect of filmmaking. How audiences interpret your film largely depends on how you frame and shoot your scenes. One cant really evolve as a filmmaker if one doesn’t understand framing and how it can be used effectively.The best of…

  1. In this long establishing shot we can see Mills and Somerset walking behind the cars to their police offices. For one of the first times in the film it is not raining and so the lighting is relatively high key for the film. However the misery made synonymous with the weather is apparent from the puddles at the road side and the sound of car's splashing through them as they pass our protagonists. Cutting above the sound of the passing car's is the dialogue between Mills and Somerset.

2. The establishing shot (1) is cut by the entrance of a taxi from the left, turning the shot into a medium close up as a man steps out of the taxi. As he does the tense music that has so far been almost unnoticeable playing in the background is amplified above the background noise creating a great sense of tension. The man stepping out of the taxi has smart trousers and shoes which makes him seem, for the moment, fairly unremarkable.

3.The shot is then cut to a long shot of the police offices as Mills and Somerset are tracked as they walk. The scene is relatively busy with many people walking by in the foreground of the shot and the sound is mostly just the chatting of police staff but the tense music remains in the background to keep our guard up. The lighting is quite high key but it is coming in from the windows so it casts a lot of dramatic shadows.

4. The camera is then changed to a medium close up of the back of the man from the taxi as he walks through the building. We can now see on his unremarkable white shirt that there is a very remarkable amount of blood splashed across his back in a violent pattern. The lighting is high key so it forms violent contrasts of shadowing under the creases. This makes the character seem dark and mysterious. Over the hustle and bustle we can hear the man muttering detective coldly in the direction of Mills and Somerset.

Lord Lion Frenzy believes this a brilliantly and beautifully constructed scene.  On the surface we experience a man's death at the hands of a woman who knows her shit.  She karates him, then shoots him, then he dies a ridiculously slow and rather comical death.  But Lord Lion Frenzy would like to take a quick analytical look at the political message that is being conveyed within the scene.  With that said, let's deconstruct this shit (ps Lord Lion Frenzy ain't just trying to be funny here or jerk your chain, Lord Lion Frenzy is 100% serious about what you are about to read).

Lord Lion Frenzy truly believes this is a scene which portrays the exchange of power.  Lord Lion Frenzy will keep this short and not give a frame by frame analysis but instead a general reading of the entire scene.  First one must examine the historical context of the scene and realize this is a Turkish film and Turkey is not exactly a gender neutral country.  It's a male dominated society that looks down upon women and treats them as if they were property (Lord Lion Frenzy realizes things have changed a little bit in Turkey but this film was made in the 70's).  What we can see here is the abolition of patriarchy and the installation of empowerment.  The dams have broke on gender inequality and have allowed for a extremely linear yet very complex creation of feminist dialogue.  Power has been transferred both physically and metaphorically within the scene.  The long drawn out death of the male antagonist is the death of patriarchy.  Lord Lion Frenzy believes it is drawn out for so long because it symbolizes the death of the long time reign of male dominance and their role as custodians and oppressors to women.  Finally the ridiculousness of the scene, Lord Lion Frenzy believes, is a political statement on the absurd treatment of women and the completely irrational idea that males are a dominant gender. The scene bravely breaks the barrier of stereotypes and the normal passive behavior usually depicted of women in film.  Lord Lion Frenzy will stop here.