I Heart Huckabees - Elyse Stefanowicz

I Heart Huckabees (2004)
Director - David O. Russel
Written by - David O. Russel and Jeff Baena

A man goes to a husband and wife existentialist investigation team to help him make sense of a coincidence that has been plaguing him. They interfere in all aspects of life and see the world that is crashing down on him. He is losing his coalition to his arch enemy who wants to dispose of it anyway. He makes friends with a man who is trying to make sense of the world as well and they both decide to ditch the detectives and believe in another competitor's belief in life. It turns out that the competitor and the detectives are actually working together and the coincidence that he wanted investigated was merely a coincidence--and that is all.

Scene 1
Shot 1 - Tracking shot of Jason Schwartzman - The shot begins with a long shot to a medium close up. It is a tracking shot with a pan at the end. The lens is a telephoto lens and the framing is loose. The character moves through the axis and the lighting is a natural high key.

Shot 2 - Shot of crowd clapping - Medium long shot with no movement. The lens is a normal lense and there is tight framing. The lighting is natural high key. There are some extras in the background a different distance from the focus characters which shows different lengths from the camera.

Shot 3 - Jason Schwartzman talking - Shot reverse shot - Medium close up with a telephoto lens. There is no movement and the framing is loose. The lighting is yet again, natural high key and there is no movement through the axis.

Shot 4 - Protest dude - Shot reverse shot - Close-up with a telephoto lens. No movement and the framing is tight. Lighting is the same. There are people in the background which gives the idea that they are different distances from the camera, but the lens is telephoto so the distance isn't really know.

Shot 5 - exactly the same as shot 3

Shot 6 - exactly the same as shot 4

Shot 7 - Jason Schwartzman saying "Exactly, What Aftrican guy?" - The distance of the shot is a medium close up and the lens is telephoto. The camera is stationary and the framing is loose. The lighting is exactly the same. The distance from the camera changes at the end when Schwartzman moves from where he is standing diagonally off the screen.

Scene Analysis - The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight
Directed By: Christopher Nolan

Scene Description: The Joker "brings Harvey down to [his and Batman's] level" by introducing him to a little anarchy while Harvey recovers in the hospital room from an explosion that destroyed the left side of his face. (About 23 shots)

Camera Angle: In the beginning of the scene, the camera is below eye-level signifying the Joker's manipulation of Harvey and the fact that he intimidates him. It helps that the Joker not only pins Harvey's wrists down, but also that Harvey is helpless in the hospital bed as he looks up at the crazed clown. From the two-shot aspect, they appear to be stacked -- Harvey on the lower diagonal gazing upwards at the Joker. This shifts with Harvey's shift from insecurity to confidence as the Joker manipulates him and by the end of the scene, Harvey and the Joker are level with each other and the camera reflects this by showing them from the same height.

Camera Distance: We begin with a medium long shot of the Joker from the waist up as he pins Harvey's wrists down. From there, most of the shots in this scene are medium shots from the chest up and close-ups of their faces. We get two more two-shots, one of the Joker leaning in towards Harvey as his lies and manipulation intensify and one of the Joker pulling a gun from the pocket of his nurse's uniform. The close-ups also allow for the camera to exploit Harvey's emotions -- the closer we get, the more the Joker's words start making sense to Harvey until finally, he and his double sided coin are right up in our faces as he takes the bait and leaves Joker's destiny in the hands of fate.

Camera Movement: The camera remains stationary save for a few adjustments on the faces in the close-ups as the actors move around. We get a little tilt when the Joker goes out of the frame to retrieve his gun. We also get a tilt when Harvey tosses his coin up in the air to decide the Joker's fate.

Lighting: Motivated; The source appears to be coming through the window as though it were the fading orange sunlight. We get a bleached glow on the Joker's face and deep orange with yellow highlights on Harvey. A severe shadow cuts a diagonal right across Harvey's face in the two-shots which symbolizes not only the actual division of his face by the burns but also the conflicting emotions running through him as he mulls over the Joker's words. We see hard shadows and bleached light even though this scene takes place in a relatively plain hospital room -- the lighting helps amplify the situation thereby voiding the neutral hospital setting.

Color: The colors pop -- the red upon Joker's Glasgow smile, the pink trim of his uniform, Harvey's golden hair and bright blue eyes, the green in Joker's blonde hair -- we get all this even in the bleached lighting.

Lens: Normal. Nothing is distorted, stretched, or smushed.

Mise-en-Scene/Depth of Field: The encounter is shown with Harvey's pillow out of focus and the background hospital equipment out of focus in certain shots. We care about Harvey and the Joker, who are in the middle layer.

Framing: We are framed by the pillow on the left-hand side, but other than that, the camera serves as the main frame.

Film Scene Analysis

The Squid and The Whale (2005)

Writer/Director : Noah Baumbach

The film surrounds a dysfunctional family in 1986 Brooklyn. The parents, both writers, are going through a divorce while the children take sides and suffer abnormal social effects. The scene I chose to analyze is short and simple. It involves the mother Joan, played by Laura Linney, and the youngest son Frank, played by Owen Kline, son of Kevin Kline and Pheobe Cates, in the bathroom of their home looking into a mirror discussing their physical similarities.

1st shot: Both characters are balanced in the shot, one on each side. Frank is moving in the two axes. The lighting is high key. The framing is somewhat tight. The camera movement is stationary. The shot distance is medium. The lens type is normal.

2nd shot: Frank is in the foreground and Joan is in the background. The lighting is high key. The framing is tight. The camera movement is stationary. The shot distance is close. The lens type is normal.

3rd shot: Both characters are balanced in the shot, one on each side. The lighting is high key. The framing is somewhat tight. The camera movement is stationary. The shot distance is medium. The lens type is normal.

4th shot: Frank is in the foreground and Joan is in the background. The lighting is high key. The framing is tight. The camera movement is stationary. The shot distance is close. The lens type is normal.

Theresa Corvino - Iron Man

Iron Man
2008
Director: Jon Favreau

Synopsis:
Rich and cocky playboy, Tony Stark, is forced to build a suit of armor after he is captured by terrorists. Returning to his previous life, he fully develops the suit into Iron Man to fight evil.

First Shot:
LS of Tony Stark entering his living room taken with a wide lens. The shot is static. There is low-key lighting (high contrast) to display nighttime and a shift to a darker place in the film. The framing is very loose with Tony set to the far left with not much else in the room. Depth in the shot is created by having Tony walk towards the couch in the background, further into the frame.

Second Shot:
MS shot of Tony Stark answering his phone. Tony is slightly more defined in a frame by the lines of the window though no true frame is created.

Third Shot:
CU of cell phone. It is high key (low contrast) lighting that is rather neutral. The frame is tight, not even displaying the entire cell phone.

Fourth Shot:
CU on Tony Stark looking at his phone. There is low-key lighting on his face and much of the background of the shot is blurred. He is set at the edge of the frame to not reveal a key plot point.

Fifth Shot:
MS of Tony Stark on the couch with the villain. The shot tracks out and upwards to reveal the villain into the frame.

Sixth Shot:
CU of Tony Stark, straight on his face, looking at the villain. The lighting is still low-key but has shifted to more normal to normal as the shots are now more intimate.

Seventh Shot:
The shot flips to a CU upward angle of the villain, Obadiah.

Eight Shot:
Cuts back to the CU of Tony on the couch.

Ninth Shot:
The shot is a canted angle MS of Tony and Obadiah with strong angles creating depth and dimension.

Tenth Shot:
Cuts back to CU of Tony.

Eleventh Shot:
Cuts to CU of Obadiah.

Twelfth Shot:
Cuts to MCS from the side canted angle, though a little closer than before.

Thirteenth Shot:
Cuts to CU of Obadiah with very low-key lighting and a strong directional lighting coming from the device off screen.

Fourteenth Shot:
Cuts back to CU of Tony Stark.

Fifteenth Shot:
Cuts back to MCS of Tony and Obadiah side canted angle, a little closer still. As Obadiah sits on the couch beside Tony, the shot tilts and tracks in towards the actors as it squares off to a normal, flat angle. The shot ends with very tight framing on the two actors.

Sixteenth Shot:
CU of Obadiah and Tony straight on.

Seventeenth Shot:
Cuts back to side MCU of them on the couch.

Eighteenth Shot:
The shot zooms in from a CU to a ECU on Tony’s Face to show emotional trauma.

Nineteenth Shot:
WS of Tony and Obadiah and the living room as Obadiah leaves. The shot mimics the opening shot of the scene, but pans over as Obadiah walks towards the camera (creating depth to the frame) as he walks out of it.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Brian Herron

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)

Director - Sergio Leone

Scene - The Contest

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a Spaghetti Western film about three men who are hunting for a a box of gold. The film takes place in the American South West during the time of the Civil War. The three main characters of the film are represented as "the good" (Clint Eastwood), "the bad" (Lee Van Cleef), and "the ugly" (Eli Wallach). In the scene "the contest," which takes place in a cemetery, the three men face each other for a dual to see who will get the burried gold. This scene does not contain much dialog so it relies heavily on the cinematography to tell the viewer whats going on.

Camera Angle - For most of the shots the camera is angled eye level except when on Clint Eastwood the camera is low-angle to make him more majestic than the other two characters. When Lee Van Cleef is shot, Leone uses a high-angle shot on him when he is on the ground to emphasize his defeat in the battle.

Camera Distance - Leone uses mostly close ups shots to emphasize the facial expressions of the characters who are about to do battle. He mostly cuts to close up shots of each character to build tension between the three of them. Leone has one high-angle extreme long shot to define the position of each character within the setting. There are also extreme closeups of each characters guns and their hand to show that the battle is one step away from actually happening.

Camera Movement - Leone decides to keep the camera still throughout this scene and relies on editing to create movement.

Lighting - The scene is filmed outside and uses natural lighting from the sun. However, Leone decides to film this scene in the middle of the afternoon when light is the strongest to emphasize that they are in the middle of a hot dessert climate, which explains why the characters look sweaty.

Lens and Depth of Field - Leone uses what appears to be a telephoto lens on the close up shots to blur out the background and put more attention on the facial expressions of the three characters. For the one extreme close up shot that Leone uses in this scene, it is apparent he uses a wide-angle lens because the depth of field is so strong and the viewer can see the detail of the cemetery they are in.

Brian Herron

The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather (1972)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Screenwriter: Mario Puza and Francis Ford Coppola

The scene of Michael Corleone talking to Carlo Rizzi, the husband to his sister, Connie Corleone. Carlo was abusive to Connie and received a beating from the now deceased Sonny Corleone, Connie’s brother. For revenge, Carlo had Sonny murdered and Michael finds out telling Carlo he’s been expelled from the Corleone business. Carlo looks at Michael in fear knowing his death is coming very soon.

- In the composition, the light is darker in the bottom of the shot and to the left of Michael, the daylight rests on one side of his body. The top of the shot is lighter and you’re able to see all the character’s faces within the frame.
- The depth of the shot is dark, where all of the characters are also wearing dark colors. In the background, the furniture is dark and the background of the shot shows a wall with an amber color. The dining room has a shade of light brown. One of the character’s standing in the background doesn’t blend in because of his dark suit. The character’s body covers the light through the window. In the foreground, there are three characters all in dark colors. As the scene goes on, you can see all of them within the frame.

- The movement in the scene is steady while Michael talks to Carlo. Michael intimidates Carlo by peering over him. Carlo’s shoulders are hunched over as if he’s embarrassed by what he’s done. Carlo is nearly in tears and Michael never takes his eyes off of Carlo. The other men in the scene stand there as if they were soldiers.

- The shot is low key, high contrast because everything surrounding the characters are seemingly dark, even though technically some of the colors are bright like light brown and amber. The high contrast primarily focuses on Michael’s face.

- The light comes from the window’s natural light, which explains why the background looks somewhat dark.

- The shot distance goes from close-ups of Michael and Carlo engaging in a conversation. When the scene comes to a close, the scene turns into a wide shot of Michael standing up and placing a chair behind the table. One of the men help Carlo put his coat on and walks out of the house.

- The scene was used with wide lenses because of the vastness of the shot. The director wanted to make sure the audience could see all of the characters and scenery.

- The camera stays in one angle through the entire scene. The framing stayed tight through the whole scene moving only once to see Michael grabbing a chair and taking a seat.

Fellini-Satyricon

Dir. Fellini
1969

This film is a take on Petronius's Satyricon during the reign of Nero in Rome. Fellini's original intent was to create a, "profound sense of estrangement throughout the film", and that certainly came through.
The very first scene depicts a man named, Encolpio talking to himself about how his friend, Ascilto, stole his lover, a boy named Gitone. The Camera opens on a wall, but backs away revealing what looks like graffiti. A silhouette of Encolpio is seen, and then the dialogue begins. The Camera angles cut back and forth between medium shot and close up on Encolpios face. The Camera backs away pretty far once he sits on the ground for a moment with his back to the lens. This particular shot is framed so that Encolpio is sitting with his back to us, on the left side of the screen.
Most of the film is shot in a studio, you can see by the closed space and the lighting Fellini uses. He doesn't stress the lighting, the viewers attention is strained enough by the bewilderness of the plot. Fellini also chose not to match up the dubbing exactly in order to help with the off-beatness of the film. The backgrounds of the scenes are decorated with a high sense of what Rome must have felt like. It depicts a time without sanitation and little humanity. A sweet scent of decay looms every set.
Once we leave Encolpio, Ascilto is shown coming out of a dark space with fog looming over the ground. He monologue takes place while he crawls on the floor. The two meet in what follows in a serious of long shots depicting their fight. The fight is obviously well rehearsed, very acrobatic. There seems to be a sexual undertone with every movement of these characters.

JOSH COHEN

Stroszek: The Fourth Post by Davis Rivera

“Stroszek”
Written and Directed by Werner Herzog
Released in 1977

Synopsis: In Berlin, an alcoholic man, recently released from prison, joins his elderly friend and a prostitute in a determined dream to leave Germany and seek a better life in Wisconsin.

Scene: The main character, Bruno, a Berlin street singer, has just had his home towed away.

Shot distance:
Camera angle: High-angle shot. The camera is positioned above Bruno and aimed downward, minimizing Bruno in a humiliating way. He is never depicted as in control of things in the film and never is it more evident than in this scene. This is also an aerial shot probably filmed from the top of a building. Herzog’s decision to not reveal Bruno’s face as his home is being taken away from him creates a sense of foreboding, emphasizing the isolation of the Wisconsin landscape where he is trapped.

Camera distance: Long shot. The camera captures the figure of protagonist Bruno from behind in his entirety. It could also be considered an extremely long shot as Bruno does appear very small in relation to the surrounding environment (a rural field in Wisconsin). This only occurs once his home is driven out of the shot by the repo man encouraging the viewer to step back from the character, though instead of distancing the viewer, we’re made aware of the distance this has created between Bruno and his dream, creating an even closer bond with the German.

Lens shot: Normal lens. In this shot, Herzog has chosen to approximate the vision and perspective of the human eye to great effect. No spatial distortions are apparent and the range of acceptable sharpness before and behind Bruno remains apparent and clear throughout the entire scene. Had he chosen to use a wide-angle lens, the viewer may have interpreted this as a foreshadowing of rapid progress coming Bruno’s way and it wouldn’t have had such a heartbreaking effect. A telephoto lens may have been effective in creating a shallow depth isolating Bruno even more from the background had Herzog had the money to afford one, but given his limitations, the scene works brilliantly.

Camera Movement: Crane shot. Though he almost certainly didn’t have access to a crane, the implication that this is supposed to be a crane shot is made apparent by what we see as sweeping, three dimensional movements. Only a crane shot could create such an unforgettable sight; Bruno left alone to stare at the forbidding winter Wisconsin landscape.

Color: Desaturated. The gray, pale and washed out colors of the shot suggest the alienation and confusion of Bruno at what is happening around him. Even from behind, his posture reveals that he is the type of man who has long been expecting the worst to happen.

Lighting: Natural-key. Because this scene occurs right after the auctioning off of Bruno’s home, high-key lighting would have been inappropriate due to the extraordinary amount of misfortune Bruno has had to deal with and low-key lighting would have diminished what the viewer sees in the shot, Bruno excluded, so important to establishing an atmosphere of emotional and psychological discomfort.

Framing: Extremely loose framing. There is a great deal of open space around Bruno suggesting his intense isolation after having been left by his girlfriend, Eva, after she has had enough of his drunken ramblings and after losing his most important possession, his home.

Foreground/Background relationship: Herzog does not attempt to put any emphasis on anything other than Bruno in this scene, whom is neither in the foreground nor the background but rather in the middle. If one had to choose, it would be more correct to say he is in the foreground and the imposing Fleetwood trailer home, briefly, is in the background. Once the trailer leaves, we do see a solitary black dog roaming around some unrecognizable rubbish in the background. Though this is probably merely a coincidence, for a director as hands-on as Herzog, the viewer can only be appreciative for this moment as cutting away from this scene any earlier would have diminished the visceral impact of this remarkable scene and hampered the film’s power.

Jose Saca - The Battle of Algiers (Fourth Post)

The Battle of Algiers is a black-and-white historical drama released in 1966 and directed by Gillo Ponticorvo. The film chronicles the period from 1957-1962 when Algiers was in the midst of a war for independence against its French occupants.

The following post will look at formal elements in the film’s opening scene in a shot-by-shot analysis. Camera distance, lens types, camera movement, lighting (high vs. low key), framing (tight vs. loose) and foreground/background relationships will be covered for each shot.

OPENING SCENE

Algiers 1957. A handful of French soldiers surround a shivering thin man in a room used for torturing. The man has cracked under pressure and “finally come clean.”

Shot One

A wide-shot, the subject (thin man) is seen at the center of the frame as soldiers surround him in a half-circle. A wide-angle lens is used to create a sense of distance from the action, furthering the intimidating power of the half-circle. The camera is still throughout. This gives the film a documentary look and feel. Natural-key lighting is used to emphasize the documentary feel given off by the static camera, and perfectly balances the differing contrasts caused by high- and low-key lighting. Through small flourishes in the lighting, the thin man is brightest lit, while the French soldiers, though not smeared in darkness, hover over their victim with faint shadowing emphasized by the decision to keep them under lit. Tight framing emphasizes the cramped room and the smallness the thin man feels against the towering, intimidating soldiers. Rusty metal tools, a metal bed, a dirty faucet, and cracked walls are present in the background. The items and the soldiers forming the half-circle appear slightly out of focus to convey the staggered feeling of the subject after being tortured. A large washing bucket is emphasized in the foreground as a visual indication of the means by which the thin man was tortured (one would assume water torture, since he is shivering and only wears a towel around his waist).

Shot Two

A medium-shot, the subject is now fully surrounded by a cluster of soldiers as he is offered a cup of coffee. A telephoto lens creates a tighter relationship between the soldiers and the subject to emphasize the supposed offering of peace symbolized by the coffee. A still camera and natural-key lighting still emphasize the documentary feel. In the last seconds of this shot, the camera tilts upwards in unison with the French soldiers as they lift the thin man and have him standing up. Tight framing captures the subject in the center of a cluster of soldiers and heightens the intimidation and hopelessness he must’ve felt prior to the scene taking place. The tightness captured in the frame also helps victimize the subject, succeeding in earning the audience’s sympathy along the way. Two standing soldiers are in focus from the waist-down in the background, heightening the intimidation and looming force the soldiers have against the subject. In the foreground, however, are the out of focus shoulders of two soldiers. The subject is seen between these two shoulders, creating a sturdy exterior to the half-circle.

Shot Three

A long-shot emphasizes the puniness of the thin man against the French soldiers, who are in a tighter cluster that captures a claustrophobic vibe. A wide-angle lens captures a wider-angle of vision that is greatly altered because of the cramped positioning of the soldiers. The camera is still but the lighting is low-key as the thin man is brightly lit and the cluster of soldiers are dimly lit or heavily shadowed if near the thin man. Tight framing augments the diminutiveness of the thin man. The soldiers in the background appear in focus, while the soldiers in the foreground appear slightly out of focus. This complicates the established identity the audience had prior to the third shot. It adds complexity and texture to the soldiers, nearly humanizing them. There is a slight movement within the z axis as a soldier keeps gesturing for the thin man to take the cup of coffee.

Shot Four

A medium-shot captures the sudden entrance of the French captain. A telephoto lens keeps the captain and the thin man in focus, while all the other soldiers are slightly out of focus. The attention is deliberately placed on the thin man and the captain. The camera pans to the right and captures the captain’s sudden entrance and his approaching the thin man in a single move. High-key lighting brightly lights the thin man’s entire body and most of the captain’s face (his body is shadowed). The soldiers in the background are also lit brightly, carrying on with the theme of humanity presented in the shot four. Loose framing makes the relationship between the captain and thin man oddly casual, as if both men were allies. This framing emphasizes the satisfaction on behalf of the French for the thin man’s choice to “finally come clean” with what he knows. The background shows three of the clustered soldiers and has them in focus. The bright lighting emphasizes their youth. In the foreground are two apparently older soldiers who were also part of the cluster, but they are out of focus and dimly lit. One would assume their veteran positions with the French army have given them an unintentional loss of innocence. A slight movement in the z axis is caused by a young soldier who is ordered to take his hands off the thin man.

Shot Five

A medium close-up on the thin man gets his reaction to the French captain ordering him to dress as a French soldier in an operation to capture Ali La Pointe, an Algerian revolutionary. A telephoto lens keeps the thin man as the object of focus. The camera is still. High-key lighting keeps a bright glow on the thin man. Tight framing keeps the thin man’s reaction as the sole emphasis of this shot. The background slightly displays out of focus soldiers. The foreground is mainly the thin man’s chest, which looks disproportionately bigger than usual. This foreshadows a future event in this scene.

Shot Six

This shot is identical to shot four in camera distance and lens choice. The lighting is low-key, with a small glow on the thin man and shadows on the French soldiers. Tight framing emphasizes the claustrophobia caused by the shadows on the French soldiers. The camera is still though faintly shakes (an emphasis on the hand-held nature of the documentary feel it embraces). The background has French soldiers but they’re barely visible not due to focus issues but because of the foreground’s emphasis on the thin man and the captain. The thin man and the captain are in focus.

Shot Seven

Close-up on the thin man as he’s dressed in soldier fatigues. He turns towards the camera without looking directly at it. A mournful expression is on his face. He shakes his head and screams “NOOOO!!!!” to illustrate the change of heart he’s had for betraying the Algerian cause. A telephoto lens is used to keep the thin man, positioned to the right of the frame, as the main subject of the shot. The camera is still and captures the thin man’s transformation by analyzing the actor’s expression. Low-key lighting casts a brighter light on the thin man and a greater shadow on the soldiers, particularly the captain. Tight framing captures only the thin man as he’s surrounded by the soldiers and is stared down by the captain. The framing is so tight on the bodies the room is barely visible. The background shows soldiers out of focus and heavily shadowed. The foreground presents greater emphasis on the thin man’s face and his reaction as he goes through a sudden change of heart.

Shot Eight

A medium shot captures the subject heading for the window in an attempted suicide. This is prevented by a French soldier who pulls him down, slaps him, and escorts him out of the room. Wide-angle lens usage illustrates the intimidation and power the French soldiers have against the thin man by keeping the soldiers in focus with the thin man, while the world around them is blurred, as if made to seem unimportant. A hand-held pan to the left of the screen assists in emphasizing the French soldier’s escorting of the thin man. It creates a hectic immediacy for the following scene and prepares the viewer for the opening credit sequence (which is frickin’ awesome). Natural-key lighting usage creates a balanced humanity to the soldier’s reasonable escorting of the thin man. The soldier is somewhat humanized after slapping the thin man, in part because he nicely tries to reason with him by using kind words. Natural key lighting establishes a balance in power between the soldiers and the thin man, and indicates that he’s now one of them. Tight framing emphasizes the constricted space created by the soldiers as they wait for the thin man to be escorting out of the room. Nothing in the background is out of focus. The soldiers are in focus and serious. This helps heighten the seriousness of their mission and inadvertently risen the stakes as to what is at play throughout the film. The foreground presents the soldier and the thin man in sharp focus and larger than what they appear on screen. The attention is on them, and the sharpness of the focus assisted by the foreground helps make this point clear.

Fourth Post - McGuirk

Garden State (2004)

Directed By: Zach Braff

Scene: "Spin the Bottle"

Shot Distance: In this scene, most of the shots are medium close-ups, with the actors being shown from the chest up. At points towards the end of the scene, medium long shots and medium shots are used slightly.

Lens: Normal lens is used throughout the scene until the end as it becomes fast-motion. At this point, a telephoto lens is used to single-in on Zach Braff, making him clear and the other people around him out of focus.

Movement of Camera: The camera is still for the entire scene.

Lighting: The main source of light appears to be coming from little lamps around the house. The lighting is mostly high key with little to no shadows.

Movement in Foreground/Background: Most of the movement of actors takes place in the foreground. We are focused in on the game and the people playing it.

Camera Speed: The start of this scene is at normal pace. It then becomes slow-motion as the other actors start the game. It goes back to normal when Zach Braff's character is told the bottle stopped on him and the girl kisses him. Then the pace goes into fast-motion as his character is more affected by the drug he took earlier.

Framing: The main frame is the camera. I didn't see any signs of other framing in this scene.

Little Miss Sunshine, Colorblind Scene- Isaac Richter

I'm not sure I'm doing this right, but here it goes. The scene I pickes is from Little Miss Sunshine, a film about a family riding on a yellow VW bus to California so their daughter Olive (Abigail Breslin) can compete in a children's beauty pageant. Her older brother Dwayne (Paul Dano) took a vow of silence until he became a test-pilot for the Air Force, but in this scene, after Olive gives hin a colorblind test, his Uncle Frank (Steve Carrell) informs him he's colorblind and can't fly. Dwayne starts to freak out and Frank tells parents Richard (Greg Kinnear) and Sheryl (Toni Collette) to pull over. They pull over, and this scene starts.
Note, the camera barely moves through most of this scene, except for some indicating reframing and panning, but otherwise, the camera stays still on the action on these 22 shots. Also, many shots are similar, as noted in this list of shots. I picked this scene because it has characters in the background in several shots, and it starts with action in the background.

1. The VW van pulls over in the background, and Dwayne jumps out of the van and runs to the foreground, where he kneels down and yells “Fuck!!!!!!”. The rest of the family get out of the van and stay in the background, where Frank tells Sheryl and Richard that Dwayne is colorblind. The camera reframes as Dwayne runs out of the van and kneels to the ground and where the camera stays steady on his face. The framing is loose, and the lighting is high key with the key light on Dwayne’s left side (right side from the audience’s point of view). The foreground and background are separated by a hill made in the grass path.
2. In the second shot, the van is on the foreground on the right side of the frame, with Richard, Sheryl, Frank and Olive on its left, looking at Dwayne, who is still on the grasspath on the left side of the frame, with mountains in the background. It’s an extreme long shot of the van, with everyone else kept in the background. There’s a curve and a sidewalk making a z-axis on the shot. Loose framing high key lighting, though it’s shot during daylight since the sky is clearly visible.
3. This shot is very similar to shot #1. Sheryl walks from the background to the foreground down the hill and tells Dwayne she’s sorry. Dwayne says he’s not getting on the bus again. Long shot of both Dwayne and Sheryl, with Frank, Richard and Olive in the background next to the van. High-key lighting loose framing. The camera doesn’t move.
4. The camera reframes as Dwayne stands up and approaches his mom, saying “you’re not my family”. It’s a medium shot of Sheryl’s back and hair, and a long shot of Dwayne as he scolds her. There are bushes in the background, and the distance between Sheryl and Dwayne creates the z-axis on the frame. It’s a tight frame, with low contrast lighting.
5. Same setup as 1 and 3. Dwayne has his back to the camera and Sheryl is facing it, both in the foreground, Frank, Richard and Olive face the camera and the background and watch them. Key light is on the right side of the frame, casting a shadow on both actors on the left. Loose framing, the camera doesn’t move.
6. Same as shot #4, Dwayne points at Richard and Frank, unseen in this frame.
7. Long shot of the right side of the van on the left side of the frame, and Richard, Frank and Olive on the left side, facing the camera. Shadows are cast on their left (from our point of view), but it’s low contrast. Z-axis created by the front of the van, created another dimension in the frame. Tight framing, only the sky is in the background.
8. Long shot of Dwayne and Sheryl, facing each other. Dwayne is all the way to the left of the frame, while Sheryl is all the way to the right, and there’s a lot of space between them in the middle, suggesting a loose framing. A shadow of Dwayne on the ground creates the z-axis, and there are houses and trees in the background. A shadow is cast on Dwayne’s face and on Sheryl’s back, low contrast, so the key light is on the left side of the frame. The camera doesn’t move.
9. Extreme long shot, similar to shot #2. Dwayne turns away from Sheryl and kneels back down.
10. Similar to shot #3, same framing, same lighting, same position of the characters.
11. Long shot of Dwayne sitting on the grass, with his back to the camera as Sheryl turns toward the camera and disappears. A shadow is cast behind him, low-key lighting with some natural light from above. Tight framing, taller weeds in the background, creating another frame.
12. Similar to shot #1, Sheryl walks to the background to join the rest of her family saying she doesn’t know what to do. A shadow is cast behind Dwayne and toward most of his face, suggesting a low-key light, but natural daylight is cast from above. Loose framing, the van is still in the background, the camera doesn’t move.
13. Tracking shot follows Sheryl as she joins her family, and it becomes a medium shot of her with the rest of her family from the side, each in a different frame, and the van on another frame, and houses further in the background. Two shadows are cast on the van, but none on the characters. High-key lighting. Tight framing.
14. Similar to shot #7, except Sheryl is now in the shot, all in the same frame. High-key lighting, tight framing, and the only background is the sky, but you can still see the front of the yellow van creating another frame.
15. Starts like shot #13, and then it becomes a tracking shot of Olive as she leaves her frame and walks down the hill. High-key lighting and loose framing. The road is in the background acting as a z-axis.
16. Similar to shot #11, Dwayne is sitting down with his back to the camera, staring at the weed. Same shadow behind him, and the framing is tight.
17. Similar to the first shot in its composition, Olive walks into the foreground, and it reframes as Olive as sits down next to Dwayne and puts her arm around him, and then reframes again as they both stand up and remains steady to watch them walk toward the background. High contrast lighting on their faces but the background is lit by the daylight. Loose framing.
18. The camera pans from left to right as it follows Olive trying to climb up the hill back to the road and then Dwayne carries her up the hill. The elevation of the hill acts as a z-axis. Shadows are cast on both their faces, suggesting there’s a low-key light on the left of the frame. Tight framing. As the camera pans, we get the road back in the background and the van at the right side of the frame.
19. Olive runs to her mother, while Dwayne stays in his own frame in the front, with his back to the camera, Sheryl, Olive and Frank are a frame behind him facing him and the camera, casting shadows on the yellow van next to them, and Richard is a frame behind them, facing the sky. Low-key lighting, tight framing, and the sky in the background. The distance between Dwayne and Richard is diagonal. The camera doesn’t move.
20. Medium shot of Dwayne with the grasspath right behind him as a background. Dwayne is toward the right of the frame, with a loose framing and a shadow on his face, suggesting a low-key light. A tire-track on the path behind him acts as a z-axis for the frame.
21. Same composition as shot #19.
22. The camera pans on a medium shot of Dwayne as he walks up to his mother’s arms. Houses and grass in the background. High-key lighting on the van with low contrast, tight framing and the grass creating the z-axis.

Insomnia (2002) Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan film is a remake of an original which was shot in 1997 (didn't get a chance to see the first one). But to briefly sum up, the film is about a cop who comes to a small Alaska town to investigate the murder of a young girl with his partner. During the time Detective Domer (Pacino) is there, Alaska is going through it's never ending daylight summer. So even at night, it's daylight.

Domer is under investigation for planting evidence and his partner is going to testify. While tracking the murderer in Alaska, Domer "accidently" shoots his partner dead. The rest of the movie, Domer has to try and find the killer of the young girl and find a way to plant evidence to clear his name.  Talking about the mise en scene of the film, Nolan has a very effective plot device that helps chiefly with the visual style of the film. Because it's constantly daylight and the protagonist has insomnia, the director puts the viewer through a series of disorienting scenes. The editing, lighting and stage director for the film really enhances that feeling. The film is shot with a very bleak atmosphere with a light of grey which serves two meanings..to me. It helps to put the viewer in the same disorienting feeling of Domer because the gray seems to blur everything together -- just like Domer's days in Alaska. The gray also servers to show the nature of the protagonist himself. He's a cop who plants evidence. He's a cop who shot another cop. He's also a cop looking for a killer. Not exactly the white knight but not the a black hearted killer either. He's on the line between light and dark...like most cops. LOL!

As Domer tries to go to sleep, we're there to see him struggle with the daylight practically, as he fights to get some shred of darkness back in his life. Which theme-wise is such an interesting aspect of the film. The character is a cop looking for a murderer, in a sense, bring light to the case. He shoots his partner and another cop is trying to uncover the truth. He's trying to get sleep and darkness is the only thing that will bring that about. A protagonist who is trying to bring about light while desperately searching for the dark.

 

The Family That Preys

The Family That Preys

Written and Directed by Tyler Perry

I'd seen The Family That Preys once before but the second time, after watching for mise en scene really opened my eyes. Watching for setting, character and lighting really made the film a little deeper for me because of the thought and the work that was put into it. The film is about backstabbing and social climbing but in a family setting. It's seen through each of the characters eyes at least once, so we're just going to focus on one.

The movie begins with Kathy Bate's character Charlotte walking out of her home checking and double checking everything for an wedding happening that day. The weather outside if perfect with just a hint of cloudiness. She's dressed brightly and as we meet her best friend Alice, who's daughter she is throwing the wedding for, we can see that she is too. Everyone is good spirits, though each of them seems to run into a slight conflict in the beginning, requiring them to request a drink from the waiters attending the wedding. I noticed that right off the bat; the alcohol as a stress reliever. Charlotte and Pam(Alice's other daughter) request an alcoholic beverage after dealing with Andrea, the bride to be and with Alice, her worried mother.

Here's where we meet Andrea, the spoiled selfish bitch that's gone from rags to riches because of her Harvard degree in accounting. She's always been the snotty type, but she now believes she has the right to treat anyone "below" her like the scum on the bottom of her shoe.

After watching for the things that differentiated her from the rest of the characters in the film it became a lot more interesting. Her clothes were always high fashion though the colors were understated in the beginning; mostly greys and deep blues because of all of the secrets she was keeping. It was clear that she thought she was better than everyone else, not just by her attitude, but by her way of dress. When we finally get to see her house, it's in perfect condition. Not in the way that someone with obsessive compulsive disorder would have it, it's more or less she takes pride in the way that people see her; there's even a bit of sex appeal with the fire going in the fireplace. She has the baby blue walls and beige furniture to compliment. Though she has a son, it doesn't look lived in at all. We also only see him twice in the film and when we do see him, he's being babysat by her older sister. It's almost like a fascade she's holding up because she's never at the house but its perfect to the naked eye, almost like her.

But later on in the film, once she begins to stop caring about keeping her secrets, her dress becomes more provocative. On the night that it's finally revealed to someone that she is cheating on her husband( William, her boss and the man she is cheating with is caught kissing her in a hotel hall by his wife) her dress is jet black but her jewelry is the most extravagant that we see the entire time. I think this was there to reflect what was going on inside: She really has no soul to be doing what she's doing, but she dresses it up really nice.

Later on, when it's the climax of the film, her husband has just found out that she is cheating on him with her boss, that their son belongs to her boss and not him and that she was planning to leave him high and dry her dress is fire engine red. She's stopped caring about what happens to her old life and she no longer feels bogged down by her husband or their marriage. This shows in her dress and her attitude contrasts with the color of the dress; she's even colder than usual.

In the end, when her husband leaves her, her family seems to be doing ok without her and her boss denies her and his son her dress becomes low and quiet. She wears pastels of deep grey and blue again but this time instead of suits and pumps she has on sneakers, and a sweatpants.

This film was very well done in terms of mise en scene:-)

Justin Afifi - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Directed by: Terry Gilliam

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas follows journalist Raoul Duke and his lawyer Dr. Gonzo on a drug induced journey through Las Vegas. Duke and Gonzo are in town in order to cover the Mint 400 race, but that story gets lost along the way awfully fast. The film instead focuses on the pairs hallucinogenic outings in every Sin City. The pair’s adventures (or misadventures) can either have you in stitches or cringing at the strange, uncomfortable situations the two characters get themselves in. What’s more terrifying is it’s based on a true story.

The acting is top notch as Johnny Depp puts in a memorable performance as Raoul Duke (alter ego of Hunter S. Thompson), a journalist who seems to pass off his duties for any drug that’s put in front of him. Del Toro also shines as the aloof and insane Dr. Gonzo. Both making the audience laugh at their antics and then taking a turn and terrifying them.

The Mise en Scene is evident throughout this picture as Terry Gilliam is never far from outrageous sets, characters, and stories. In Fear and Loathing…Gilliam injects the audience into a drug addled mind. The world spins, shakes, vibrates, and stretches without warning. Nothing is what it seems as Duke looks at the receptionist, looks away, and turns back to see her face stretched out beyond recognition. The hallucinations of lizard people, midgets, and giants add to the disoriented feel of the film and almost make the setting feel as if it were a character. In the rare instances that the characters aren’t high on something the movie has a steady, stiff feel. A scene where both Duke and Gonzo are in a diner almost feels unsettling because the camera isn’t jerking around. Gilliam effectively uses Mise en Scene to make the film a more enjoyable one and takes something that could have been a standard film to something special.

Mise En Scene: Star Brown

My Own Private Idaho (1991)
Directed by Gus Van Sant

This is an independent film about a narcoleptic rogue, Mike (River Phoneix) and his endearing friendship with Scott (Keanu Reeves). Together they travel the long roads surrounded by flat fields from Idaho to Portland with their own identities facing challenges with people American society. As outcasts, they run with the underground folk, selling their bodies to earn cash. Mike is a lost soul whose mother left him when he was only a baby and his distant memories of her trigger his narcolepsy in the most spontaneous situations. Like an older brother, Scott is there to take care of him. Scott’s character is based on the rebellious Prince Hal from Shakespeare’s “Henry IV” who is heir to his father’s wealth once he turns twenty-one. Scott is consciously aware of his vagrant ways in the eyes of his father, the Mayor and knows he will change and reform when time deems it. Throughout the movie we see the slow transformation of our vibrant protagonists sowing their wild oats on the urban streets as tricksters and thieves. The close relationship of Mike and Scott solidifies Mike’s romantic feelings for his companion. This leads them to embark on a journey in search for Mike’s mother landing them in Italy. There, Scott falls in love with a native, young woman abandoning his companion to start his life as an upstanding citizen in upper class society. Mike being abandoned again, continues on with the life he knows will never change—the long and lonely road that he repeatedly states as looking like a “fucked up face.”

The mise en scene in “My Own Private Idaho” is shelled in a dream-like world around Idaho and Portland settings. The recurring metaphorical setting of the desolate straight road in the middle of nowhere symbolizes the ever-present loneliness of Mike’s life. As a traumatized narcoleptic, this road in Idaho is most familiar to him since it is the trigger for his condition. This setting of the road is the opener and closure of the movie enveloping the it in one dreamlike story. There are repeated scenes of a country house, presented as Mike’s distant memories of his lost home. These settings portray the timeless and endlessness of Mike’s life emphasizing the mood of his abandonment. In a strange way, the quiet plains appear serene-like for such a wild ride of debauchery through a self-destructive character.

The movie travels back and forth from these nature settings of Idaho’s billowing clouds above the still plains to the loud, bustling city of Portland. Again, these shots emphasize the reality of Mike’s life—wakefulness to sudden dream-like trance.
The open skies above the horizon reinforce the “road less traveled” theme of being an outcast. There are many exterior shots that allow the underground characters to roam free in their world of misconduct. The diner is where all the rascals gather to regroup and tell stories of their worst “dates.” In one diner scene, Mike and Scott are sitting in a corner table conversing about their relationship and their personal lives. The scene is cut from the interior of the diner to the exterior. It splits the audience’s viewing to give the sense of sitting with the friends then cuts to being a stranger walking by the window peering in.

The composition in this movie was excellent in repeating angular shots, long shots of windy and angled roads and city buildings. The most engraved image that was repeatedly shot was the unbalanced composition of a long road getting narrower toward the center of the horizon. In the beginning and ending of the film, Mike is standing on the same road looking toward one direction and when he lifts his hand up and says the road looks like “someone’s face—like a fucked up face.” And when he says that, the lens narrows like the ending of the Loony Tunes cartoons. All the shots of the Idaho road are asymmetrical that emphasize the unbalance and chaos of Mike’s life as a drifter and his prison of the long road under the billowing clouds of his narcoleptic dreams.

The Shawshank Redemption

Directed by: Frank Darabount (1994)
Screenplay by: Frank Darabount, adapted from the novella "Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption" by Stephen King

"Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'"

"Hope is a dangerous thing"

"Brooks was here"

...Are just some of the memorale line from Shawshank. It's a little unfair for me to do this review since Shawshank is my favorite film of all time, but it does fill a lot of requirments of our topic. The Shawshank Redemption is the story about two men in a prison and the friendship that bonds them forever. Andy Dufrane (Tim Robbins) is wrongfully convicted of killing his wife and her lover and sent to life imprisonment in Shawshank. There, he meets Red (Morgan Freeman) a man who is known for smuggling things into the prison. Andy asks for a poster of Rita Hayworth and a friendship begins with them and a number of other inmates in the prison. Several events occure take place throughout the film. Brooks, an older librian gets promoted but kills himself when he can't live in a world he hasn't known for fifty years, Andy and the warden square off against each other to see which one can really control the prison, and Tommy, a young kid who can prove Andy's innocence is murdered by the warden. It all come to a climax when Andy Dufrane reveals a project he's been working on for 20 years: Escape from Shawshank. Andy escapes and reveals what the warden has been doing which results to in the warden's suicide. Red gets parolled and the two reunite, ending the film. That's a basic synopsis of the film. But it could never really explain the film.

In the first act of the film, Darabount creates a very dark setting. The film opens at night and most of the prison scenes involving Andy have a very dark tone to them. He spends most of the first act not saying much at all once he gets to the prison, and he also spends most of the first act getting betan on by the sister's group. But when Andy's troubles start to end in the beginning of Act II, the prison starts to have some light to it and Andy has more speaking lines and becomes less of a mysterious figure. Towards the end of Act II, the darkness in the film returns. The warden clealy becomes the antagonist (It's still called into question who the antagonist is until he plans the murder of Tommy) and Andy spends months in complete darkness in solitary. Act III brings back the lightness of the film when Red get paroled and reunites with Andy.

The film is also hard to depict one theme. One theme is friendship, since Red and Andy share a friendship for over 20 years. But then you can aruge the film is about hope. Or it could be redemption (hence the title). But if I had to choose one, it would be hope. It's the motivation for the two main charactersto keep going on even when the obstacles are too hard. If anything, it's the one thing for Red (who in my mind is the protagonist due to his narration and his emotional arc) that keeps him going at the end of the film.

There's so much more I could talk about this film including Darabount's incredible job of turning a novella into a 2 hour and 20 minute film, the acting performances (in my opinon Morgan Freeman gives the performance of his career), the changes Darabount made from the novella (including making Brooks a more fleshed out character and ending the film with the reunion) but what's important in our topic this week is stressing the tone that the film sets just with the setting, and it works.

-Chris Bergeris

American Psycho

American Psycho
Director: Mary Harron

"A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies."

This film is a great example of mise-en-scene because as we delve deeper into the protagonist's psyche, so does the camera. We begin with a clean, high end restaurant table around which are seated several well dressed, handsome men. Their dialogue is confident, cocky, and shockingly blunt as we discover that one of them has come back from the bathroom only because it's a "lousy place to do coke in." These are not the type of men we would have pegged as drug abusers, but wait -- it gets better.

The most important of the circle of coke abusing suits is Patrick Bateman, our protagonist. We see things through his eyes so much so that by the end of the film, nobody really knows if some of the events depicted actually took place.

Patrick goes on a killing spree sparked by an ATM requesting that he feed it a stray cat. One bullet from his gun sends a cop car soaring into the sky Die Hard style. We watch as he drags a body bag leaking blood out of his apartment building but when his friends appear, suddenly the blood vanishes and the body bag becomes a suitcase made my Jean Paul Gaultier.

When things are simple in the beginning, Patrick looks good. When we see him undressed, he's wearing plain white briefs. As he starts losing it, not only does his appearance become shabbier, but the style of underwear he wears because more and more elaborate -- as if reflecting his personality. He wears dark boxer briefs, silk boxers, and finally, nothing at all. This reflects his personality as he tries to cover up his fears until finally, realization dawns and he breaks down completely.

All around him, the world falls to chaos. As his mind escapes him, the world turns more and more against him. There are helicopters with gigantic search lights seeking him out in places they would never know he was hiding. (Obviously this is because it's all in his head.)

The perfect man we met in the beginning is completely falling apart.

Third Post - McGuirk

White Oleander (2002)

Directed By: Peter Kosminsky

"White Oleander" is a story about a young girl, Astrid, who's mother, Ingrid, is arrested and convicted for the murder of her boyfriend. Because Astrid is only twelve when this happens, she is put into foster homes. During the film she is placed with three different familes; Starr, an ex-stripper and coke addict who has found Jesus, Claire, a shy insecure actress who's husband is never around, and Rena, a Russian woman who runs a cheap clothing business with the girls she watches. Astrid's experiences at these homes change her; some for the good and some for the bad. But most importantly, the affect the relationship with Ingrid, who tries to control her daughters thoughts and actions even from jail. It is Astrid's ultimate confrontation with Ingrid that pushes Astrid to show her mother that she can't control her anymore.

In terms of Mise en Scene, this film is truly extraordinary. I've seen it several times, but this time, watching for setting, characters, and lighting really made it a different experience. The setting is key in this film and changes several times, due to the fact that Astrid is moving from home to home. In the beginning, when she's still with her mother, the setting is their home with art projects (her mother is an artist) and pictures of family. It's a happy environment. This disappears with Ingrid's arrest. Starr's setting is out in the desert, which creates a sense of abandonment and loneliness. Her home is a mix of religious symbols and sparkly clothes showing just who her character is and what effect she will have on Astrid. Claire's home is practically all white and very classy. She's a pure spirit who wants to find order in her messed up life. Rina, in contrast, lives by selling on street corners and fairs. Their home is small and contains old cheap antiques. Each setting is a way to convey the main care-giver's personality without having to say it.

The actors in this film are another form of Mise en Scene. Alison Lohman's protrayl of Astrid is perfect. She was reatively new to movies when she did this, and that fresh face is perfect for portraying the emotions of Astrid who has to constantly change throughout the film. Michelle Pfeiffier gives the best performance as Ingrid. She is beautiful and manipulative. Evil and pure. It is these two that drive the main feel of the film and bring a sense of identity.

Lighting is the hardest aspect of film for me to understand. However there were scenes in this film that stood out. The scene at Starr's home when Astrid is doing her homework and Ray, Starr's boyfriend, comes home early. He and Astrid have been becoming closer since she's been there, and some might argue too close. This scene is where it becomes apparent that these two feel something for each other. It's dark outside and the lights are dim, setting a flirtatous mood. Shadows form across each actors face when they are closer together. It's a darkness of characters. Astrid, who was once pure, is becoming corrupted.

With all three aspects of Mise en Scene, "White Oleander" became an entirely different movie for me. I understood why I felt so strongly for these characters and why, as a viewer, I made the judgements about who they were based on the scenery around them and how they dressed.

Elyse Stefanowicz - Idle Hands

Idle Hands (1999)
Directed by: Rodman Flender

Idle Hands is a quirky, slapstick horror film that follows a boy, Anton, whose hand is possessed by some sort of demon spirit. The spirit only inhabits lazy stoner types and Anton is the perfect candidate. He has no control over his hand, and when it starts killing people (like his parents and best friends), he thinks its a good idea to cut it off. He slowly realizes that this was not a good idea. The hand is on the loose and is taking out anyone that gets in it's path and when it's main target is Anton's girlfriend, he ditches his stoner ways to save the love of his life. The film has all of the typical horror film attributes; gore, guts and slaying, but it also has a refreshing sense of humor that keeps you laughing while people are dying.

The film's setting, composition and characters attribute to making the overall film a success. The setting takes place in two places (from what I can remember)--Anton's house and the school. Most of the entirety of the film is set in Anton's house. Usually when there is one distinct location, it can be a recipe for disaster, but in this film the viewer doesn't notice the lack of sets. There are enough entertaining things going on to distract and keep the viewer busy--I know I was never bored from the setting. The overall composition of the film has a dark hue to it. Barely any of it happens in daylight and it all happens in one day. There isn't much bright lighting throughout the film which helps enhance the horror aspect of the film. The characters in the film were what in my opinion made it most enjoyable. Anton--played by Devon Sawa--is the protagonist in the film, and even though he is the killer, the audience doesn't hate him. We want him to get out of it--even when he kills his best friends. The casting of the film really enhanced the over success just because the actors did do such a good job. Devon Sawa throughout the entire first half of the film had to make his one hand seem entirely different from his other and even got in fights with it. He had such control that he made the slapstick comedy he does believable and funny. Most of the actors were somewhat unknown at this time and it was a relatively young cast. Seth Green and Jessica Alba filled some of the supporting roles. The makeup of the film was also very well done. For half the movie Seth Green was walking around with a bottle in his head. Obviously it was fake, but it was incredible makeup design that made that possible. The blood, guts and gore also had to be designed by some sort of makeup team and the only downfall I would say is that there was too much blood--but after all I am a little queasy.

Brick

Director: Rian Johnson

2006

Brick is a movie about an average boy, Brendan Frye, sent out on a classic whodunnit case, when his ex girlfriend goes missing. This is what could be considered as the closest example of a successful neo-noir. Film noir, a film category that was born in the late 40's and early fifties, with whodunnit plots and corrupt private eyes. This genre, born out of the German expressionist movement, heavily influenced by films like the Cabinet of Dr. Kaligari, relies heavily on it's mise-en-scene, but ever since we have moved into our era of color, noir seemed to have faded out, until this film came along.

I will pick out a few key scenes and describe their mise-en-scene. Right away, in the opening of the film, we have the protagonist, Brendan Frye in a phone booth. We, the audience has no idea who is the voice on the other end, right away this creates mystery and tension. To further the tension the film maker puts Frye inside a phone booth, a place, if your claustrophobic, heightens the tension even more. Add in the shakiness of Brandon's voice and the uneasy panic of the girl on the other end, and the scene becomes extremely tight.

When Brandon goes to his loyal sidekick, The Brain, we meet a quirky brainiac with a soft spot for rubik's cubes. With the thick framed black glasses and his fidgety mannerisms we have the mise-en-scene creating a memorable character. Also in this scene, we see Johnson's useof the classic noir language. Brandon and the Brain are tossing lingo back and forth, slang or some made up language even, that causes the audience to listen in a little closer, further creating a unique world that only this film can occur in.

When Brandon goes to meet The Pin, one of his many investigative steps which highlight classic noir formula, we only see The Pin's legs at first, crossed at the knees. The rest of The Pin is in heavy shadow, creating an extremely mysterious element to his character and an element of mystery to the scene.

Another example of the mise-en-scene in Brick, is the physical progression of Brandon's character. Brandon is a man on a mission who will stop at nothing until he gets his answers. He gets beat up throughout the film (like Spade, and other noir heroes) and it is noticeable. In the beginning of the film he seems like a very average kid, with a mop top and some bland clothing, but this sets us up to be surprised by the great lengths that he will go for information.  In the middle we see him dealing with bumps and bruises, and by the end he is coughing and vomiting, getting sick from all the blood he is swallowing.

Brick is a film, driven by a strong plot, that occurs in a world created by mise-en-scene. It is one of those films that you fall completely into, and you even get lost in that world, notiving all the small details. Each of its characters has ticks and flaws, The Pin's uneven leg, Brad Bramish's drug problems, Tugger's angry issues. Each and everyone in this cast is memorable which goes well with a film of such great success.

"Flash Gordon" - Ferraro

Dir: Michael Hodges
Year: 1980

"Flash Gordon"

Another "On Demand" pick. I chose this movie because after what I read in the book, I figured this might be a good example of the whole "mise-en-scene".

Speaking of which, since that's the topic this week, I won't mention anything about the lousy writing and the lame acting. Let's just talk about what creates the movie. This story is set in where else but the famously visited outer space. Obviously there's no movie sets on Mars, so you go to the next best thing: studios. The entirety of the film takes place on various planets, with geologic structures that are clearly not of Earth's (take the pointy mountains on planet Mongo for example. Reminds you of Transylvania, but surely we have nothing like that anywhere in our world). Color also plays an important part with the setting. In the beginning of the film, football legend Flash Gordon is waiting for a plane ride home, flirting with eventual gal-pal Dale Arden, in regular everyday Earth life. The tone here is set as if it were any other average film that wasn't sci-fi; normal ground, normal air, specifically normal coloring. Even the coloring filter is desaturated to present "normal" life. It isn't until the Earth is under attack and our heroes are sent into space by Dr. Zarkov is when the colors become vibrant, and even symbolic. The change from "normal" desaturation to "colorful" high intensity indicates the change from regular Earth to the comic-book world that the Flash Gordon character is associated with, from the multi-colored skies to the shining, colorful costumes everyone wears. Colors here even describe the settings: Emperor Ming's castle and planet is red, which represents evil (furthermore, his daughter Aura started out wearing red leather outfits as she followed her father's orders, and even when it came to seducing Flash. But near the end as she starts leaning towards Flash's side, the color of her clothing begins to lighten up. Before the wedding she is wearing pink, and at the end, now on the side of justice, she is wearing pure white). The Hawkmen's planet is blue with a crystal white palace, clearly representing the good guys. Finally, there's green, which obviously represents Prince Vultan's forest-like planet.

Aside from seizure-inducing color themes, this movie also includes human figures. Michael Hodges casts Sam J. Jones as the title character. Jones is tall, blonde, athletic, and every bit masculine. A skinny, nerdy, nervous type man wouldn't pass as a hero who will "save us all." His girlfriend, Dale Arden, played by Melody Anderson, is beautiful, busty, and always scantily dressed with big heels (appropriate attire in an apocalyptic situation). She doesn't pass as the damsel by looks alone. She is also clingy and is always grabbing onto Flash in a frightening situation, or if he isn't there, she even needs the protection of touch of Dr. Zarkov, who moments ago, she considered "a crazy scientist". Therefore, she passes as the pitiful woman.

Hodges also makes good use of figure placement: Near the beginning, Ming briefly takes control of Dale's mind. The camera is placed behind him as he faces Dale, moving his hand to control her body movements. During this, the hand is floating over Dale (who is actually set in the center of the stage) so it looks as if he's literally got her by the palm of his hand. It clearly states his control over her. Also, Hodges makes use of lighting here, focusing on Dale being mind-controlled as Flash and Zarkov stand in the dark background watching helplessly. Lighting can be seen in the dungeon scene as well. Clearly, Flash is the focus as he is tied up and has his head covered. The light is focused on him, but everyone else is in the shadows, their only source of light coming from the torches.

Although this movie is laughably lousy, I will admit that Hodges makes great use of the mise-en-scene structures to bring this movie alive.

Review: Mise En Scene

Paper moon 1973

Director: Peter Bogdanovich

This week I watched the film Paper Moon starring Ryan O’Neal and his daughter Tatum O’Neal, remembered as the only girl on the team in Bad News Bears. The story of this film surrounds a recently orphaned 9 year old, Addie, who is ‘accidentally’ taken in by a Bible salesman, Mose, who is also a con artist, and may or may not be her father. The two travel around running a scam selling Bibles to the relatives of people who have recently died. The film was directed by peter Bogdanovich, director of The Last Picture Show. Both films present something different for their time, they were shot in black and white. This was viewed as a bold move on Bogdanovich’s part. But he had a vision and it really brought gave the film honestly while bringing it to life. It takes place during the great depression, and we really get a feel for the time period, characters, and events through the use of mis en scene. The fact that black and white is used, versus color, is a choice that makes the viewer see crisp and clear, the emotional and physical expressions of the characters, giving away a lot more about their motivations, wants and needs in the film. We get a great understanding of the fact that Addie is wise beyond her years when she schemes a plan to get rid of Miss Trixie from traveling with them. She also smokes cigarettes consistently throughout the film, and Mose is always scolding her and treating her like a child, what she really is. The film was filled with colorful and true to life characters, including a young black girl named Imogene who is the maid for Miss Trxie Deligight, and a woodsman, Leroy, played by Randy Quaid, who wrestles Mose for a truck swap so that they can hide from the police. There is a carnival scene where Addie is supposed to get her picture taken with Mose in front of a large cut out of a paper moon. He refuses to join in because he is busy with Trixie. When Addie stands in front of the moon you can see how lonely she is, with a loving couple in the background, and everyone around her having a great time. This visual choice is part of the mise en scene that makes up this film. Bogdanovich is known for having complete control over the whole idea of mise en scene in his films and all its aspects. He uses stunning and striking scenery in the film, the lavish hotel, a barren prairie, a dinky car traveling down the endless dirt road and even the cluttered woods. His production designer Polly Platt, helped immensely in the film. Everything you see in each scene is perfectly placed to create a certain mood, tone, or feeling in the story. Where Addie and Mose visit a house with a mother holding countless children, we see it from a perspective looking down, feeling sorry for her. When we see them at a rich woman’s house we are looking up at her showing her wealth and power and the expensive items in her home. In many of the scenes Addie is in control although she is such a small statue. But she takes the lead in the restaurant scene and causes her own scene when she Mose to get frustrated at her multiple times and insisting she eat her Coney Island. Addie also takes control in the jail scene when they break loose because she steals the key from under the policeman’s nose. She has hidden the money and we see just the face on the dollar bills poking out from a hoe in her hat. We always see just as much as we need to in the film, and in every scene we are thrown into a beautiful depiction of a specific time and place that is imperative to the story. the beginning scene with the funeral of Addie's mother shows Addie looking so small put stern and staringdwn at the coffin. The others onlook and some weep but no one really cares as much as they say they do and you can see it in their posture, and gestures. From the wardrobe, to the angles we see characters engaging in situations, the mise en scene is organized, in place, and overall memorable. It’s a great story with loveable and funny characters that steal the show with effortless ability.