The Mise-En-Scene In Broncho Billy: The First Reel Cowboy

Mise-en-scene, the composition of the image, involves a “cinematic expression of setting, lighting, costume, props, acting, and position of characters within the frame.” According to the movies I’ve watched for this course, the way filmmakers used mise-en-scene in their films have been improved over the years. In the movie, Chaplin, Attenborough used the streets of London as a setting for Chaplin’s childhood life of poverty and hunger. He then moves on to film some clips in the United States and lastly ends Chaplin’s life in Switzerland. The setting offered a real sensation of the characters in the movie and its content. The costumes in the movie illustrated the Victorian fashion during the nineteenth century. However, Chaplin’s costume

The setting, where the movie was filmed mostly in the West in black and white. The dissolving camerawork of the clips and poor lighting provided the audience an ancient feel. Props like guns, horses and the cowboy hats added to the Western trait that Broncho Billy displayed. The clip shot when Broncho Billy goes into a bar in New York, we see that he wear a different attire compared to his Western attire to convey a message of a different society and place to his audience. Even the act of “blowing the dust off the milk bottle” communicated a message that milk is not a popular drink in New York

The first version of Ben Hur (1907), directed by Sidney Olcott practiced a stationary camera position. Most of the characters and shot were cropped out with no clear understanding of the plot in the story. Here, I understood the importance of camerawork. It lacked zooming in to emphasize on some elements of the scene and had poor lighting and camera angle work. This film poorly communicated to their audience. On the other hand, the second version of Ben Hur (1926), a huge improvisation has been made. A massive difference has been made to represent the setting of the narrative with wide camera angle, high angled shots, low angled shots (camera hidden in the ground), and close in shots. The costume differences (the color of the costumes) and props used were clearly depicted between the protagonist and the antagonist. This distinctly communicated to the audience who the protagonist and the antagonist was. Additionally, improvements in the acting skills of jealousy, anger, and love also added in producing an enjoyable film to watch. The editing work of combining nonverbal (vanishing shots and tracking shots) and verbal (slight dialogues) communication in the second version of Ben Hur offered a great watching