AS Film - Mise en Scene: Lecture 3 - 28/09/12

Third and final week of focusing mainly on mise en scene.

Firstly the opening three minutes of Steven Spielberg's war epic, Saving Private Ryan

Saving Private Ryan - Director: Steven Spielberg (1998)
In this opening sequence Spielberg establishes a clear setting and location of an elderly man searching in a war cemetery  The American and French flags clearly indicate that this is likely to be Normandy in the modern day. Attention should also be paid to the positioning of the various characters in relation to the older man and within the frame itself. The final shot of his bloodshot eyes brings together two other aspects of 'film form' - the extreme close up introduces cinematography, while the sound bridge of crashing waves alerts us that the action might be heading in a very different direction.

In the second sequence Spielberg places the audience directly on the beach and often, it seems, in the line of fire. Given the 'documentary' nature of the sequence, the desired 'realism' is maintained throughout with the mise en scene of quite literally 'hell on earth'. This is a sequence perfect for film studies with its combination of graphic imagery, hand-held camera work for verisimilitude (realism), montage editing (quick cuts from scene to scene) and surround sound - all combine to give the audience as close to the actual experience of what it was like on the morning of June 6th 1944. seen primarily through the eyes of Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) we see the death, destruction, bravery and barbarism of war in an all-too realistic representation.

Schindler's List - Director: Steven Spielberg (1993)
In telling the true story of Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist who saved hundreds of Jewish concentration camp prisoners, Spielberg decided to shoot the majority of his film in black and white. He did this mainly to preserve the sense of time in which the film is set (1940 to 1945), but also to make this particular sequence stand out. Schindler (Liam Neeson) witnesses from a hill top, the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland. His shock and bewilderment is heightened with the vision of a young girl in a red coat. She seems to 'ghost' through the streets, seemingly un-noticed by those around her, particularly the German soldiers whi are executing Jews en masse. Her eventual escape to a hiding place is the one solitary moment of relief in the sequence, although Spielberg was criticised by some for his use of how the little girl looks - almost angelic with her blonde ringlets and pretty face. Others saw it as a symbolism of hope. For film studies, it is a brave splash of colour in a very grey, hostile environment.

The Godfather - Director: Francis Ford Coppola (1972)
Acclaimed by many to be 'The Greatest Film Ever Made' (the author of this blog being amongst them), the opening sequence sets the tone of dark menace, respect and the undercurrent of violence which can erupt at any given moment. On the day of his daughter's wedding Don Vito Corleone, the most powerful Mafia boss of 1940s New York, is approached by a local undertaker, Bonasera, to help in a family matter concerning his own daughter.

Coppola employs a very low level lighting set up to establish mood and tension as the undertaker grovels in front of Corleone (Marlon Brando). The location of a dimly-lit study is accentuated by the dark wood paneling and the formal dinner suits.The playfulness of a cat who is on Corelone's lap provides only temporary relief as the Don exerts his power - not through violence, but sheer presence of his personality. Coppola places Corleone at times on the more 'weaker' right side of the frame, but always above the subservient Bonasera. Brando's representation of a Mafia boss who can strike fear just in a simple shrug of the shoulders or a hand gesture became one of THE iconic acting performances in cinema history.

Next week we shall be focusing primarily on cinematography - the use of the camera.