Here is my analysis of the use of mise-en-scene in various opening sequences of films:
TASK 1: Analysis of Fish Tank "(2009)
Dir - Andrea Arnold
Questions to consider:
Q. How would you describe the environment?
Housing estate. Low socioeconomic status. High rise buildings. Not very well kept. Old fashioned. Lighting is naturalistic and uses a hand held camera.
Q. What can you infer about the character(s) based only upon the location/setting?
Mia (main character) dresses in a typically 'chavy way' and is a very isolated person, which is shown throughout the opening sequence and when she gets into a fight with the four girls dancing.
Q. Is the location indicative of genre?
Coming of age meets melodrama. Realist aesthetic. The location shows a more modern setting that looks like it could be anywhere in the suburbs.
Q. What can you read/interpret from the mis en scene?
It shows a teenage girl who lives in an estate and seems to have a lower economic background, who is presented as very different to the people who she interacts with as she is in less revealing clothes than them, making her stand out more, but not to an enormous extent because she still wears slightly 'chavy' attire, which is stereotypical for young teenage girls who live in estates.
TASK 2: Analysis of "Moon" (2009)
Dir - Duncan Jonor
Questions to consider:
Q. What do the props reveal about the character and the time leading up to this moment?
Treadmill/ health/ wellbeing, robot - futuristic prop, ping-pong table, moon, satellite, display (lunar industries - not working), lots of futuristic equipment , red cap - maybe American (Southern states) - Same Bell (MC) contrasts his surroundings.
Q. Do any of the items have symbolic significance or connotations?
The board/ display stood out to me because it had an error message written on it, which foreshadows that something is going to go wrong in the future involving the company lunar industries. The robot that walks past is actually a significant character.
Q. Which props signify the genre?
Sci-fit = robots, moon, satellites.
Task 3: Analysis of Far from Heaven" (2002)
Questions to consider:
Q. How has colour been used to create a nostalgic, melodramatic tone? Hyperrealism used, autumnal colours (lots of them), woman wearing blue dress - makes the MC stand out as the others blend in. The warmer colours are easier on the eye than say a neon green and so it creates a relaxed, nostalgic feeling and a homage to Douglas Sirk and previous other melodramas.
Q. What does the rich colour palette tell the audience about the characters and their emotions towards each other?
Woman is wearing blue and fancier clothes, where as the man is wearing brown workers clothes and this paired with the height difference (because the woman is on a platform) creates a gap in social class level and hegemony.
Q. How does the high key lighting give meaning to the story?
High key (hard to figure out where its coming from) lighting outside and almost low key lighting inside (very flat) lady in green blends in with surroundings.
TASK 4: Analysis of Sin City (2005)
Questions to consider:
Q. Is the hair, make up and costume naturalistic or expressive? The mis en scene is expressive hair and makeup (female fatale) and the lighting is used to help portray this because it comes from the front and the back, sandwiching the and creates a memorable description of the characters. Q. What about the position & expression of the characters in the scene? All 5 women are looking at the man. Q. What is the impact of the make-up, hair and costume upon the audience’s reading of this scene? The women are all in very sexualizing outfits. Q. How does the low key lighting give meaning to the narrative? Uses film noir aesthetic, mixed lighting set up. B&W. Comes from expressionist art movement.
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