AS Film - Mise en Scene: Lecture 1 26/09/14

Welcome to the supporting teaching blog for your AS Film Studies.

In today's lesson we considered one of the major cinematic techniques - Mise en Scene. This, as you will remember, translates as "everything in the frame". Mise en Scene includes: setting, location, costume, props, lighting and character placement, and has a vitally important role in how meaning is constructed by film makers, and consequently understood by the audience.

 In this blog entry you will find MP4 files of the sequences shown today

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, directed by Baz Lurhmann (1996).
Consider how Lurhmann provides a modern take on a classic play in order to engage the contemporary audience. This is achieved by its modern setting, costumes and props, while still retaining the original language. Note how the repeated visual motif of fire sets up the violence ahead.

28 Days Later, directed by Danny Boyle (2002)
A sequence full of meaning, which Boyle achieves with his creative use of a deserted London as a setting, the use of costume and props, together with how he places the main character within the various locations.


You may choose one of these sequences for your 1500 word coursework analysis. Other film sequences will be shown in the lectures the coming weeks which you can also choose from, as well as those which I did not show in the lessons.

IMPORTANT: You will be required to undertake a short 400-500 analysis of one of these three sequences as part of your initial review on the AS Film Studies course. This will help me assess your analytical and written skills in order to progress further onto this AS Level course.

Consider how directors use Mise en Scene in other films which you have watched.

More on Mise en Scene next week.

AS Film - Articles on the use of sound in 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Trainspotting'

Two articles here on the use of sound in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994) and Danny Boyle's Trainspotting (1996).

The Pulp Fiction article concentrates on the many varieties of diegetic sound (music, dialogue and effects), while the Trainspotting article features the creative use of music. The Trainspotting article is quite long, but well worth the read if this is an area of interest for you.

Use of sound in 'Pulp Fiction'

Use of sound in 'Trainspotting'

AS Film - Sound in Film lecture 19/10/12

In today's session  we considered the importance of sound to how 'meaning' is constructed in film.

Sound is sometimes sidelined in analysis or production of film, perhaps due us being very much a 'visual-dominant' culture. However, this medium is vital in projecting emotion, feeling, narrative development and a hundred and one other essential reasons for the success of a director's vision.

In your own productions you might have concentrated more on the visuals, and perhaps left sound to be something which is simply 'there'. Many potentially good student films are let down by poor sound recording, such as ambient background sound or dialogue levels. Sometimes the choice of music can also either make or break a film.

So, whether you are producing or analysing a film, pay attention to the sound in order to discover additional meaning.

Today we discussed as case studies how dialogue was used in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction and the use of source music in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting

Here are today's sequences...

Pulp Fiction - Directed by Quentin Tarantino (1994)
1. Royale with Cheese

Vincent (John Travolta) and Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) discuss the merits of taking drugs and eating cheeseburgers in Europe compared to America. All this on the way to retrieving a valuable briefcase belonging to their gangster boss from four very naive young men.

2. Cheeseburger breakfast

Jules questions the young men as to, firstly, the whereabouts of the briefcase, then how much they have disrespected the crime boss. Vincent broods in the background, waiting for the inevitable to happen, as Jules becomes steadily more angry and unpredicatable. The biblical quote spoken by Jules was, in fact, made up by Tarantino, and does not appear anywhere in The Bible

3. Divine intervention

Jules and Vincent survive a hail of bullets from one of the gang, hiding in another room. Jules is convinced that this is a sign from God to retire from his life of crime and murder.

4. "I shot Marvin..."

As Jules further contemplates the 'miracle' which he is convinced has occured, Vincent asks Marvin, whom is on the back seat of Jules' car, his opinion. Unfortunately Vincent's gun goes off by accident, leaving a very bloody mess in the car and a very upset Jules.

5. "A shot of adrenaline"

In a later sequence, Vincent needs the help of a drug dealing friend to save the life of his boss's wife, Mia (Uma Thurman), who has overdosed on some cocaine. The tension of the scene is underscored by the frantic dialogue of Jules and ultimately calmed by the line "That was fucking trippy!", said by the drug dealer's very stoned girlfriend.



Trainspotting - directed by Danny Boyle (1996)
One of the most influential British films ever made, dealing with the harsh realities of heroin addiction in Scotland. Notable for its story-telling, cinematic techniques and its excellent use of musical soundtrack.

Boyle used a variety of source music, ranging from opera, punk, ambient and the contemporary club styles of the mid-1990s, most notably the emergence of trance and trip hop.

1. Choose Life
In this opening sequence Boyle introduces two of the main characters, Renton and Spud, being chased by the police and security guards after shop-lifting to pay for their addiction. To the thumping beat of Iggy Pop's Lust for Life we see Rentn alternatively living something approaching normality (playing football), on the run for some petty thieving, and taking a score of heroin in a grotty room. All the while, his mantra of 'Choose Life' is battling with the beat of the music.

2. The Worst Toilet in Scotland
To the soundtrack of Brian Eno's ambient Deep Blue Day, Boyle shows us the reality and fantasy of heroin addiction when Renton is desperate to find a toilet once the constipation caused by the drugs wears off. You can even smell that toilet!

3. Hospital and Cold Turkey
After a visit to his dealer, Mother Superior, Renton slips into yet another heroin-induced coma. As he floats between hallucination and reality, the sound of Lou Reed's ode to his own addiction to the drug, Perfect Day, accompanies his journey to hospital and yet another shot of adrenaline to bring him round. The silence between himself and his long-suffering parents speaks louder than words. As he undergoes 'cold turkey' to wean him off the drug, Renton experiences a series of terrifying hallucinations, including his friend Tommy, who finally gave in to the temptation of heroin addiction due to Renton's influence and his assertion that it was "better than sex". The hideous image of the dead baby crawling towards him on the ceiling is acting as Renton's guilt of its neglect when it was alive. Boyle matches this disturbing sequence with a contemporary thumping techno/house track Dark and Long from Underworld.

 4. Choose Life (reprise)
The film's final sequence shows Renton making off with the money made from Begbie's drug deal,leaving his psychotic friend to wreck the hotel room. He leaves some money for his best friend, Spud, before making off into the sunny London streets, vowing to choose all the things he criticised at the start of the film. The tune, Born Slippy, by Underworld, plays over these final moments and became the most associated and popular track from Danny Boyle's film.

The complete track can be found below.

AS Film - Mise en Scene: Lecture 1 14/09/12

Welcome to the supporting teaching blog for your AS Film Studies.

In today's lesson we considered one of the major cinematic techniques - Mise en Scene. This, as you will remember, translates as "everything in the frame". Mise en Scene includes: setting, location, costume, props, lighting and character placement, and has a vitally important role in how meaning is constructed by film makers, and consequently understood by the audience.

 In this blog entry you will find MP4 files of the sequences shown today.

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, directed by Baz Lurhmann (1996).
Consider how Lurhmann provides a modern take on a classic play in order to engage the contemporary audience. This is achieved by its modern setting, costumes and props, while still retaining the original language. Note how the repeated visual motif of fire set up the violence ahead.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind, directed by Steven Spielberg (1977)
Think about how Spielberg shows both fear and wonderment of the alien contact, through the eyes of the mother and her son. Note how ordinary, everyday objects ,or props, take on a new life in this extraordinary setting. You should also note how Spielberg uses creative lighting techniques to endorse the meaning of the sequence.

28 Days Later, directed by Danny Boyle (2002)
A sequence full of meaning, which Boyle achieves with his creative use of a deserted London as a setting, the use of costume and props, together with how he places the main character within the various locations.


You may choose one of these sequences for your 1500 word coursework analysis. Other film sequences will be shown in the lectures the coming weeks which you can also choose from, as well as those which I did not show in the lessons.

IMPORTANT: You will be required to undertake a short 400-500 analysis of one of these three sequences as part of your initial review on the AS Film Studies course. This will help me assess your analytical and written skills in order to progress further onto this AS Level course.

Consider how directors use Mise en Scene in other films which you have watched.

More on Mise en Scene next week.