In the film Blade Runner by Ridley Scott, the Mise en Scene works as a metaphor for a post-apocalyptic world and the sense of dehumanization of the future on several different levels.
The first aspect of Mise en Scene that stands out significantly is the interesting lighting scheme. When Rick Deckard is walking through the abandoned parking complex, a constant beam of light is searching through out the set. This occurs several times like in Deckard's apartment when Air Blimps pass by shining in light. This gives the audience the feeling that everyone is being watched and nothing is sacred. In the future humans have lost all privacy.
Towards the end during the gymnast robot battle, Deckard arrives at the robot makers house. Here he finds abandoned, half built robots as well as personified objects resembling toys. The set design creates the concept that in the future there is a fine line between what makes a human being and what makes a robot and somehow that line has become blurred. It also develops the sense that people who normally wouldn't attract friends (the robot maker) can a find a personal connection in robots themselves.
Another element that solidifies these themes is the acting through out the film. There is an endless debate about whether or not Deckard's character is a robot as well. Harrison Ford brings ambiguity to his character by way of back story. Either Deckard is trained as a warrior or he is a robot, which explains his lack of emotional response.
Though the Mise en Scene in Blade Runner is widely praised for these vary films, it is because it is a classic example of how effective these elements can be. Every thought of this "Future World" is well planned and well designed and when it all comes together it creates not only a believable story but a film touching on many themes and issues in our own society.
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1 comment:
Ricky,
This post is a good starting point. I want to suggest a couple points that if followed will, I believe, lead to a big improvement on the next one (and in the final essay).
1) In trying to survey three different aspects of mise-en-scene, you end up remaining too general about all three. Part of figuring out how to write a good formal essay is judging the appropriate scale of the work. How many ideas can I put on the table and adequately analyze within the given paper length? Were you to develop this into a paper, I would suggest focusing on one of these ideas - as a result, your observations and analysis will get deeper and more interesting (which, believe it or not, is the goal!).
2) Two of your observations stuck me as good candidates for a final paper. One was your idea about the light beam that follows through the parking lot. You raise concepts such as "privacy" "post-apocalyptic" and "dehumanization", but you don't synthesize them into a solid argument. What does the beam do? It violates privacy. And what does privacy mean in this post-apocalyptic world, in which every facet of individual life is observed and controlled? Perhaps privacy equates to freedom, and the deprivation of privacy is what is specifically "dehumanizing" in this environment. Now you are into ideology, and now you are getting close to making a statement about the author/director's ideological statement with this film ...
The second idea that seemed promising:
"The set design creates the concept that in the future there is a fine line between what makes a human being and what makes a robot and somehow that line has become blurred."
An interesting idea. But HOW does it do this? Give me examples. Remember that your job is to lead the reader through the steps toward your conclusion. Essay writing is an art of persuasion. If you simply tell me the conclusion without guiding me through the examples, I won't be persuaded.
See if you can apply some of these ideas on the next post.
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