How Mise-en-scene and Cinematography are Used to Position the Audience and Create Effect in an Opening Sequence to an Action Adventure Film
In Entrapment the opening sequence plays a key role in captivating the
audience and setting the plot for the rest of the film. Mise-en-scene
and cinematography are vital in positioning the audience and creating
a sense of mystery which will attract the audience to keep watching.
Mise-en-scene refers to everything put in front of the camera during
filming, this includes, location, characters, body language, costume,
props, character positioning, colour and lighting.
The initial location in entrapment appears to be in a large urbanized
city at night. This is obvious to the audience by the sky scrapers and
impressive buildings; however it is unclear where geographically the
film is set as there are many cities in the world which resemble this
image. To the audience this would initially strike them as quite a
beautiful scene and will clearly represent that this film is mainly
situated in big cities around the world.
There is only one character introduced to the audience in the opening
sequence of this film and at this point their sex cannot be
established by the audience which conveys a sense of mystery and
intrigues the audience. They are seen to be stealing a painting which
conveys to the audience this person is corrupt and immoral.
Facial expressions in this opening sequence aren’t visible which
increases the tension for the audience which captivates them and makes
them want to discover who the person behind the mask is. However the
body language of the thief becomes more accentuated due to the lack of
facial expression from the person. They appear to be graceful and
experienced at burglary especially when they abseil down the front of
the building, also they appear to be fearless in a very dangerous
situation which also helps to build the tension within the opening
sequence.
Costume is a vital part in setting the scene and showing the audience
that this person is a thief.
As I mentioned earlier, the clutter in the Gunderson’s home does speak volumes about who they are as people. Well very proud and honest people, they are very flawed and blue collar. This clutter is continued on in the kitchen. The shelf behind the kitchen table is filled with pictures and other nick-nacks. This clutter is eerily reminiscent of the middle class household portrayed by the MacGuff’s in the film Juno. These families both are not going to make sure everything in their home is pristine, but their way of life is really not too uncommon. It really does embody a lot of blue collar America. Another good use of mise en scene in this sequence was the very gray and desolate skyline during the murder investigation. Murder obviously is not a light topic, so the dark atmosphere in the sky very much fits into the theme of this scene. The last thing I’d like to mention about mise en scene and staging takes me back to the opening zoom of this sequence. Along with the visual theatrics zoom, the sudden appearance of nondiegetic music also insinuates this is quite an important scene in the film. Once we hear the dramatic strings, we know something dramatic is about to happen, especially because the music is clearly not coming from something on the screen. This nondiegetic sound can be a useful tool to setting a scene and properly utilizing mise en scene and at the end of day, setting the scene is key in a naturalistic
The mise en scenes in this film are unique because it gave viewers the ability to have a sense of how the characters are feeling. For example, low lighting was used throughout the film to express a sense of the unknown and/or fear. Another great example of how mise en scene was used is how human shadows for night shooting were used to increase the feeling of mystery and a threating atmosphere (Awjingyi). And one of the most important examples of mise en scene used in this film is in the last scene where mirrors were used (aka the “funhouse”) to
Elements of mise-en-scene in Wendy and Lucy help to convey aspects of the story that are never explicitly expressed in the narrative of the film. Wendy and Lucy does not present a large amount of background story information, for instance, the scene where Wendy calls her brother may cause some viewers to wonder about their strained relationship and his role in Wendy’s current financial situation. Moreover, Wendy’s financial situation is never truly discussed in the film, only implied, yet the viewer is still aware of it. Facets of mise-en-scene helps to convey the information that fills the gaps left in the story. Kolker defines the concept of mise-en-scene as a way to “explain how images, through composition, camera movement, lighting, focus and colour, generate narrative event and guide our perception through a film” (Kolker 1998, p.17). An essential element of mise-en-scene is setting and sets. Wendy and Lucy is presented in an entirely naturalistic setting. The small town Wendy is passing through gives the fi...
to the film early on but makes the viewer want to make sense of what
The first element is Camera distance; it is used in every scene and in every shot. It refers to how far away the camera is to the characters in the scene. Camera distance was developed in order to provide more to the mise-en-scene of a certain scene. “Mise-en-scene encompasses of variety of categories related to the staging of an action”(Belton 47). Camera distance is one of these important factors in making the scene and giving a sense of what you are supposed to be experiencing during the film. Without using camera distance to its fullest the scene or shot may not come across to the viewer as what the director or writer intended. An example of camera distance being used to its potential is in the opening sequence at ricks café. The first shot that we see at ricks is of ricks sign on the ca...
When it comes to films most people think that the filmmakers just draft up the script, hires some actors, films and edits some scenes, then releases the next number one movie in America to the world (or select theaters near you). In actuality, there are a lot more details that go into film than that. Filmmakers are constantly making decisions in regards to a films narrative and cinematic style and making sure a film comes out as well as it can. One of those decisions fall under cinematic style and is called mise-en-scene. Mise-en-scene has four elements: lighting, costume/makeup, sets/props, and figure expression and movement. The three that will be focused on when analyzing the film Modern Times are costume/makeup, sets/props, and figure expression
Mise en scene generally means everything within the shot, everything that the camera is showing. Mise-en-scene is all about the film staging, all that is visible in front of the camera and all its design included; trim, music, clothing, environment, camera movements, makeup etc. Every director in the world uses their own different kind of techniques when making movies, and it is very common that a director becomes famous and well-known just because of that; their own style of making movies. As directors worldwide are working in different ways, and using their own, special style, they also use ”mise-en-scene” in different ways.
Mise-en-scene includes everything that appears in front of the camera. The director generally controls these elements. The mise-en-scene affects if the audience perceives the degree of realism or fantasy in the film. Broken Blossoms clearly aims for realism, however, the actors needed a more expressive style in order to portray their characters without sound.
In the film ‘Into the Wild’ directed by Sean Penn, there are some scenes in the movie and enable us to understand how it was developed. I found one important scene in the movie, this is the scene in which Chris’ feels that his journey was almost end, the director uses some camera shots, dialogues and some soundtracks for us to see and understand the scene in this movie.
...successful collaboration of sound, colour, camera positioning and lighting are instrumental in portraying these themes. The techniques used heighten the suspense, drama and mood of each scene and enhance the film in order to convey to the spectator the intended messages.
Then the question is posed to Mr. Lockwood, "How did it all begin?" The answering of this question is what my paper will explain. I will attempt to break down the opening scene and show how it all started. By using tools of film such as sound, editing, mise en scene, and cinematography, this paper will show how the scene was made as well. Mise en scene played an important role in this movie as with any other movie.
Mise-en-scéne is something that we see in movies all the time. It’s translated from French and means the staging the different aspects of a movie such as setting, lighting, subjects, or almost anything else. Any common movie, such as Inside Out, shows Mise-en-snéne in it. Three big parts of Mise-en-scéne that are shown in the movie Inside Out are cinematography, sound, and editing. Inside Out uses all of these by describing a plot in which there are feelings in our brains which connect to different memories that we can remember at any time. There were five main emotions that controlled the person on the outside whose name was Riley. The five emotions were named, Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness. They helped Riley as she moved away from
Due to the film’s quality and interest it became an award winning film. The film had excellent sound effects such as the battle scenes. The image quality was also outstanding; it used many different angles to depict the actor to make you feel involved in the scenes. In the action scenes the most common viewpoint used was a close up shot which allows the audience to see and feel the intensity of the scene. The second viewpoint mostly used was a tracking shot due to the actors c...
The Reasons Behind the Popularity of Action Films In this essay I am going to explore the conventions of action films and their popularity. People love action films, and when they go to see one there are conventions you would expect to see in the film All plots of action films are based on the same outline, Hero and villain meet, there's a disruption of order, and mission, then everything is sorted out when the villain dies and everything returns to normal. There are Stock characters that you expect to see in this genre of film, the hero, the villain and two attractive ladies. The main action is around a male hero, however, modern films have featured female heroines for example Angelina Jolie in 'Tomb Raider'. If the hero is male he is always good looking, intelligent, brave, chauvinistic, and manages to escape from life threatening situations, however the hero will always have a weakness, and if the hero is male the weakness is normally women.
Mise-en-scene, Cinematography and Sound in the Film Leon (Luc Besson) 1994 In the opening sequence of Leon, Besson uses a travelling aerial shot of a lake followed by a huge park, which is finally dominated by huge, cosmopolitan skyscrapers. The camera rests here to show the contrast in jungle and urban life. We then enter the urban city, where several travelling shots going through the streets are used giving an apparent sense of setting and location. The added use of non-diagetic sound combined with many beautiful shots of New York's streets combine to produce a very mysterious atmosphere.