Mise-en-Scene Demonstration

In order to demonstrate how mise-en-scene is used to make meaning to an audience, I have analysed it in a screenshot of the movie 'Wild Child' which I also did a textual analysis on.



Lighting: The lighting is perfectly hitting Poppy’s face, making her appear to be ‘glowing’ just as if it was a models photo shoot. This emphasises her glamour in contrast to Charlotte to seems to be in Poppy’s shadow – literally.

Costume: Poppy’s costume is very fashionable and she gives off the image of a ‘cool school girl’ with her tie short and tucked out of her jacket and her patterned skirt with the big belt. In contrast to Poppy charlotte is in a normal school uniform which looks ‘plain’ and ‘boring’. This, again, emphasises Poppy’s materialistic and ‘wanting to stand out’ character as well as the fact she doesn’t want to wear the normal school


Props: The main prop used here is Poppys belt, as it creates a fashion statement because of how big and bold it is. It is used to show Poppy’s daring character and reveal how important her image is to her.

Performance: The performance in this shows the two girls personalities and attitudes, as well as their relationship towards each other. Poppy is looking at Charlotte in her ‘modified’ school uniform as if to say  she will stand out and look the best she can be, and no one can tell her what to do as she has the guts to do her own thing and she is proud of it. Meanwhile, Charlotte is looking at poppy as if to say ‘seriously?’, the little smirk of her lip going slightly up suggests she might find it funny, however the look in her eyes shows that she thinks it is ridiculous but isn’t annoyed. This also shows the relationship between the two, Poppy is trying to do anything to rebel, but they appear to be somewhat friends as Charlotte doesn’t seem bothered , she just looks as if she thinks Poppy is another typical American and isn’t taking the matter too seriously.

Camera Angles: The shot used here is called a ‘two shot’, it fits both characters in and shows not only what they look like, but also the relationship between eachother. (as I analysed in the ‘Performance’ section.

Setting: As you can see, the setting is a school that appears to be boring and dull, with the beige walls and the normal uniform with the dull look on the students faces.

Textual Analysis; Tangled Film Opening

~Textual Analysis~

In the first few minutes of this film a lot of the plot is introduced. Right at the start we're shown a picture of a tree with a wanted sign posting that they want the supposed 'criminal' dead or alive. The voice over comes in saying 'this is the story of how I died' which is both comical and revealing in the sense we know the voice over is most likely the wanted man and that he cant be dead because he is talking. He then goes on to laugh and say 'don't worry, its actually a fun story'. This confirms the humour and lets the audience take a liking to the friendly voiceover through his calm and reassuring tone  and question why he may be wanted seeing as he doesn't appear to have criminal characteristics from what we can see to start with. From this we can take a guess that the plot will contain the story of how this man became wanted and that this would be more towards the beginning of the story because you would watch it all unfold from start to finish. His name is Flynn Ryder and he tells us that it's not his story and instead is about a girl named Rapunzel which would make us assume that he and her may have some form of a friend/relationship if he knows her story well enough in order to narrate it.

Flynn tells us that the 'story starts with the sun' which is the most important fact for us to know because without it, there wouldn't be a story. He tells us that a magic drop of sunlight fell from the heavens and from this drop of sunlight, a magical flower grew that had the ability to heal the sick and injured. At this point we see the plot may be based around this magical flower and because of the magic element, it shows us it is more of fantasy film that's aimed at a younger audience and possibly a family.

An old woman in a dark cape who looks as if she may be trying to hide, comes towards this flower and before the scene cuts, Flynn tells us to remember her because she's an important character, making the audience believe she may be the villain of the film. Flynn continues to give us a background story saying that centuries had past since this drop of sunlight had grown into a magic flower and tells us that a beloved king and queen were expecting a baby. The land that is shown whilst Flynn is telling us about this is light and beautiful with a bright blue sea surrounding the kingdom where the palace is the center of it but as he says the queen fell sick during her pregnancy  the lighting becomes dark and everyone's facial expressions turn sad and gloomy. The scene turns to many people from the island searching in the dark looking for a miracle to cure her. This tells us the royals were well loved and made people happy. When an audience is shown such people they start rooting for them, hoping that the best will come to them. To me, this would suggest that the underlying plot of the story is helping the King and Queen and that even though they may not be at the forefront of the plot, they are the basic bricks of it and the story would end with them just the same way as it started, except on a happier note.

After centuries, we see the old woman returning to the flower and realize that she is a selfish and evil character when we find out she has hoarded the flower to make herself young again by singing to it, we are shown this transformation as she sings the lyrics 'bring back what once was mine'. This suggests she feels cheated by life and that young appearance has been taken and robbed from her when in actual fact she has lived for so long now because of this flower that she knows if she stopped using it she would probably die - she is scared and vulnerable and this is causing her to be the evil character she is portrayed to be. The magic of this flower is emphasized as in total darkness it is the only thing to bring light. As the old woman runs to hide from the people of the kingdom, she accidentally reveals the flower and as she sees they have found it a close up of her eyes, squinting with hate is shown, which tells us it wont be the last of her, she will get her revenge and this revenge and jealousy will most likely play the biggest part in the plot.

We are shown, as expected, that the magic flower healed the queen and we see that a happy baby was born with golden hair even though her parents are brunettes and that this was because of the sunlight in the healing flower. We also see the strong, loving bond and connection the baby has with her parents and see a crown being put on her head making it clear she is Rapunzel - the princess.

We see this family's popularity among the people and their love for each other when the King and Queen release a lantern into the sky to celebrate Rapunzel's birth as crowds gather to witness this event. As the sunlight and happiness of this event fades into the darkness with only the light of the moon to see, the narrator says that everything before that moment was perfect, giving us the idea that the majority of the storyline would be problematic and upsetting. We see the old woman return as expected however she attempts to sing to the baby in the hope her youth will be restored and as it's the baby's hair that glows like the flower once did. She tries cutting just one piece for herself but she soon realizes this is not possible and she needs uncut hair as she sees herself turn back into a crippled old woman. She panics and snatches the baby for herself and it is at this point when the main plot of the entire story is revealed; a baby princess was kidnapped and the story will most likely evolve by showing the baby grow up and eventually find her way back home.

Overall, a lot of the plot is revealed, we can assume what the story will entail and would definitely know if it would be a film we would want to carry on watching.  We can also assume the story wont be about the old lady physically hurting the child but will instead be about her using Rapunzel for the magical powers her hair has. The amount revealed, in my opinion is very good as it doesn't spell out everything that is going to happen and isn't predictable throughout even though we may make assumptions, as there are still unanswered questions such as Flynn and Rapunzel's relationship and why Flynn was arrested and maybe even how Rapunzel (if she does) finds her way home.

All of the main characters are introduced in the opening except for Flynn, who introduces himself through the wanted poster and his voice over. I believe its good that all the important characters have been introduced because it means when the audience are watching later throughout the film they are fully aware of who everyone is as they've all been given a clear introduction, especially due to the voiceover, making everything easy to understand. This is a good thing especially because its a film aimed at families and a younger audience and therefore making it simple to comprehend is important.

There is no dialogue except for the voice over. The only other diegetic sounds we hear is the crowd cheering and the leader of the search party shouting that they found the magic flower, this  is important because they both signify the most important elements throughout the film; love and determination. Especially due to the fact its aimed at a younger audience, I think its suitable that there was a voice over explaining everything as like I said its 'child friendly'  and usually all ages enjoy watching these genres of film because they aren't hard to fathom.

Overall I feel like this is a very effective film opening as it really entices the viewer and its graphics + visuals are to a very high quality and standard. One thing in particular that was enticing was the fact that the last word in the opening was 'gone' as it leaves behind a sense of mystery, it is a clever technique because it resembles a cliffhanger but rather than having to wait till the next week to see what happens next (like in most tv programmes) all you have to do is wait a few seconds and watch until the end of the film.

Basic conventions of a fantasy/animation film are that something unrealistic occurs and that they are often aimed to be children/family films. The glowing hair accords to the fantasy conventions because its unrealistic and 'magic', it also conforms to the fact it is a children's genre due to the brighter colours and the magic involved that would captivate a young child. It doesn't really challenge any of the usual elements to fantasy/animation/romance/comedy in the parts it includes, it is a take on a classic fairy-tale including elements of comedy that will make the film more enjoyable. The only real difference or challenge to conventions this fantasy films genre's has, is that it is a musical. Musicals are usually formed around realistic stories, such as Hairspray or Mamma Mia, however Disney has recently incorporated music into their animated films.

I believe this opening is very good and easy to watch, it contains a lot of information and puts many questions in the viewers head and that is exactly what a good opening should do.

This was a professionally made film.

'Mamma Mia' Film Opening - Textual Analysis

~Textual Analysis~

In the beginning of this film we see a girl on a boat paddling in the night around a beautiful island, this is like the establishing shot telling us that this will be the setting for the majority of the film.

The girl sings the lyrics "I have a dream, a song to sing, to help me cope with anything. If you see the wonder of a fairytale, you can take the future even if you fail' as she is paddling in her little boat and then shown walking up to a postbox. The girls appears to be daunted by this postbox whilst she walks up to it with three letters in hand, I can see this by the nervous look on her face and the 'point of view' angles of herself looking at it whilst she slowly walks towards it. The postbox is bright yellow and almost glows in the darkness, metaphorically speaking this suggests that if the girl posts these letters, it could be life changing and bring around happiness and joy.

All of the above suggests that these letters, if posted, could help the girl achieve her dream. The lyrics 'you can take the future even if you fail' would show she has decided to post them because she has nothing to loose and even if she is unsuccessful in whatever the aim of the letters is, she can still have a bright future. Through this last line, she trails from a singing voice to a nervous and trembling tone showing the audience that she is nervous about her actions, but due to the fact we have concluded that they could help her dreams come true, I have gathered that she must be somewhat exited and is just anticipating that if these letters do what she has intended them to do, her life could take a supposed 'better' turn.

We can now take a guess that the plot will heavily rely on these three letters and that their 'aftermath' will have a 'snowball effect' on the rest of the plot.

Calm music plays in the background of the girl posting each letter as she reads out who each one is addressed to in an anxious tone. The shot turns to each letter where we can see the soon to be destination of them; one to the UK, USA and Sweden.

After this, the scene cuts to fun music with three very different, but similar in age, men seeming to be in a rush and all using a method of transport in order to get them somewhere unknown to us. Each man is in a location that appears to be one of the three locations that were written on the girls letter; one America, we can see this due to the american accents and yellow taxi's with 'NYC' printed on them, one England, we can see this also because of the accents and the green scenery with the black taxi's and the last Sweden, as it looks like a less developed, more cultural country with baazars running through it and the sun beaming. The shot is divided into three equal parts and each mans passport photo is shown, the subjects in the frame are then interrupted by a plane sliding them upwards. It is at this point where we can take a fairly accurate guess that these men are all on their way to the girl for a reason that we still aren't aware of and that they all seem happy about it.

All of this suggests to me that the backbone of this plot will be the girls relationship with these three men and a series of events unfolding as we find out who these men are and why and how they are both going to the girl and how they know her. This is all that is revealed to us in the opening, we are left with many questions such as 'what exactly is the girls dream' and 'why might these three men be a part of it'. Even though we say that there is a deeper element to the film as it is most likely about a dream coming true, we can see that it also seems to be a fun and fast paced film with the fun music and smiles from the men. As the animated plane drags the shots of the passport up the title is revealed 'Mamma Mia', this is an italian expression which can be used to express a range of emotions such as anxiousness, fear, joy and surprise. This suggests that the island is somewhere in Italy, that all three men eventually make it to the island because the passport shot almost signifies one of the last steps to a travel and that that these three men will bring all of these elements of emotion to the story and may cause an unexpected stir that would have a 'crazy' ending.

There are no teenage characters introduced in this opening so it would not be considered a teenage drama, however we can see that it is a musical and may be emotional in some parts so could possibly be a romantic or dramatic one, but like any typical musical would most often unveil a story as well as be fun and happy to watch.

The only characters shown in the opening are the girl and the three men, that for some reason she has apparently sent for. This suggests even though there may still be important characters, the 4 mentioned are the backbone of the plot in the ways I have mentioned above (e.g. why she has brought them to her). All of these 4 characters appear to be key.

The only dialogue involved excluding the singing that trails off into talking comes from the three men as they travel in a hurry saying 'I have to go', speaking to drivers and 'whooping' from excitement. This all emphasises the fun and positivity of the story, but also the importance of whatever was in the letters had to the men in order to make them so eager to go to the island.

The genre of this film is a musical romantic comedy. It confirms to the musical genre in the way that for every situation there is a relevant song e.g. 'Money Money Money' when the mother is complaining about the lack of money and the state of the island because everything is breaking, 'The winner takes it all' when Donna is reminiscing about the breakup and relationship of her and her ex boyfriend whom she thinks she may still have feelings for, and 'Take a chance on me' when Rosie takes a liking to one of Donna's ex's and wants to pursue a relationship. Mamma Mia confirms to the comedy genre through both performances and songs, for example when the 3 older women (Donna, Rosie and Tanya) are dancing around to 'dancing queen' it is comical due to the actions and faces they pull, like when Rosie slides down the bannister and comes to a 'painful' halt. The way the storyline is portayed isn't all too serious either, its delivered in a funny way which makes the audience more relaxed and established that part of its genre is comedy. Aside from this, the producers have not just focused on trying to make the film 100% funny because that is not real life, the storyline itself is taken seriously as it is not a fantasy which is a good thing because otherwise people may take the entire film as a 'joke'. The film also conforms to the Romantic element of the genre throughout, the entire film is based around a marriage and preparation for Sophie and her boyfriends wedding, it is the whole reason why the 3 men were invited in the first place. However one particular element to the film challenged the typical 'romantic comedy' genre when last minute Sophie decided not to get married, and instead her Mother decided to marry one of the men she had left many years ago, when they rekindled their love for each other at her daughters wedding location.

Overall it is a very fun and intriguing opening and personally, I would want to watch more. Enough information is revealed to give us an idea of what the plot may entail, however there are many questions yet to be answered, which would cause the majority of the audience to continue watching.

This was a professionally made film.

Textual Analysis; Wild Child Opening

~Textual Analysis~

Quite a lot of the plot is introduced in the opening few minutes of this film, we find out a lot about Poppy (the main character). To start with, we see her room is modern, luxurious and is overlooking the sea which tells us her family may be very wealthy in order to afford such a 'beautiful' home. We also see a theme of pink and light pastel baby blue which are both typically girly colours throughout her room as well as running through her choices of clothing. Poppy looks like a well groomed typical 'Miami girl' that prefers a higher and materialistic quality of life and this is shown through her tan, coloured and voluminous hair, and her taste for expensive clothing and her shrug as she gives a look and sound of disgust when she see's clothes that aren't up to her standards.

 

As soon as Poppy goes to talk to her sister, Molly, she begins to speak of somebody named 'Rosmary' moving in. Even though we don't know who she is we immediately realise Poppy isn't fond of Rosemary when Molly begs that she 'doesn't do anything stupid'. However, we see a sweeter side to Poppy when she comes down to her Molly to cut the crusts off her sandwich as we see she has a more maternal and caring element to her when it comes to looking after her.

We also see that Poppy is a daring character that is experiencing rebellion. During the conversation Poppy has with Molly she tells her 'not to worry' and that she 'knows what she's doing' with a smug look on her face as if she is planning something. It is then made clear that Rosemary is Poppy's Dads Girlfriend and at the van movers arrival she invites all of her friends and gives them one instruction; to help themselves. This would get the audience on Poppys side as usually 'Stepmothers' are the villains and most teenagers would rebel against them, this reveals some of the plot because it doesn't prove Poppy to be a 'bad person' it just shows that she seems to be fighting her mothers corner and is going through a stage of rebellion which is relatable to most young people (the audience).

We are also shown that Poppy is a popular girl due to both the amount of people that turned up to her house and by the lead she took when everyone was listening to her whilst standing behind - this could be to portray her importance or high social status as she stood infront of all of her friends or could just show the fact that it is her house and therefore she is the most important person there. We see that Poppy has a desire for this popularity and attention as she runs up to the pool side holding Rosmarys clothes shouting 'hey girls, watch this!' and jumps off it into the ocean - which is a very long drop, her friends appear terrified that she may be hurt and one of the boys rush over to see if she is alright and as soon as they realise she is, they all breathe a sigh of relief - which shows she is loved amongst her peers. This is a very big element to the plot as if you have seen the full film 'wild child' her likability is what saves her from lies and deciept, so by showing us that Poppy is a likeable and genuine character, the producer is setting us up for a dielemm later in the film in terms of which side to take and who to believe.

In the next part of the opening we are introduced to an older male character who we see has authority over Poppy as he shouts at her to get out of the water and to go to him 'right now' so we would correctly assume that this is her dad. We are shown how angry Poppy's actions have made him by the stern tone of his voice and realise that this wasn't the first time as he tells her 'its the final straw' and tells her that she is going to England. We know that Poppys dad isn't a villain in this plot either because Poppy implies that he has warned her about an English boarding school before and not carried it through when she mocks 'oh, the boarding school threat...again!' so this time he is standing his ground and is determined to teach her a lesson which is what any parent would do.

We see that Poppy has deeper motives behind her actions when she suggests that he has replaced her mother with 'a trashier version' and can now do the 'same to her', this tells us that she's emotionally raw about the situation with her parents and was most likely only trying to get her dads attention as she didn't feel like his family was important enough to him. This is followed by Poppy asking if her dad 'even remembers her mum' which suggests she has passed away and poppy is still very upset that her mother may have been forgotten and this may be the reason behind her attempted sabotage of Rosemary becoming part of their family. Poppy also says that 'just because her mum went to boarding school doesn't mean it'll straighten her out'. All of the above suggests that her mum will be an element in the rest of the plot in someway either by showing Poppy finally coming to terms with what has happened or realising that she needs to move on. It shows the audience an emotional side both to Poppy and to the film that one would not usually expect in a 'chick flick' or 'teen drama'.

This is all just in the opening, a lot of the plot is revealed without giving too much away so that the audience would still ask questions. I think its a perfect opening because somehow it manages to reveal the majority of all emotionality's and sides to a person that there could be, in Poppy. Its all anyone will need in order to know if its the kind of film they would like to keep watching.

The only key characters that have been introduced in the opening are Poppy, her Dad, Rosemary and Molly, her sister. Even though one would assume all of these people were key characters, having watched it I know that we never actually meet Rosemary and Molly isn't shown very much throughout, she has no big role in the storyline. There are more important key characters that haven't been introduced yet however this isn't a negative thing considering they are in England and showing Poppy moving to England and the reasons behind it in under 2/3 minutes would not be efficient enough or give the audience enough insight into who she is and her life - it would be putting quantity over quality, which is a bad idea when it comes to film.

All I would expect from an opening is to have been told a background story or given an insight into the main characters life, as well as being given an idea of what the story may entail - which is exactly what the producers of this film have achieved.

There is a lot of dialogue as you can see, with more or less equal amounts coming from her friends, sister and her dad - it is all split out fairly evenly so that we get a good idea of Poppys relationship with each as well as how her character changes around them.

The typical conventions of a teen film are usually mainly about romance or bullying, even though Wild Child did conform to this (through the romance Poppy had with the Head Teacher's son), this wasn't the backbone of the entire story, instead the film was about the relationship between Poppy, her friends and family and the importance of these relationships, therefore the typical idea of a teen movie was challenged through this alternative 'meaning' or 'moral of the story' - that not everything in a teenagers life is as it is often portrayed in terms of love, it is about love in many forms - not just romantic. The film conformed to its comedy aspect as well and this is through poppy's funny and naïve character, for example not wanting to get on the bus because of 'germs', the comedy aspect was more laughing at poppy and the stereotype that is a 'typical American girl' rather than laughing at what was being said because it was aiming to be funny. The drama aspect was also confirmed to in some ways due to the story unfolding about Poppy's deceased mother and how they both went to the same school without Poppy realising, there is emotion and it is not too heavy but it is moving and appropriate to the genre. The overriding genre of this film is that it is a teen film with aspects of other genres, if the main genre was romance then the storyline would have challenged the usual conventions of a romantic film because as I said, the aim wasn't solely romance - however it did include characters a romantic film would have, 'Harriett' being the jealous girl, 'Freddie' being the love interest and the parents and friends acting as either supporters or opposers.

Overall I think the 'Wild Child' opening was very cleverly produced with just the right amount of information, dialogue and characters.

This was a professionally made film.

Mise en Scene; Romeo and Juliette

How is mise-en-scene used in the opening of 'Romeo and Juliet' to make meaning for an audience?

Mise-en-scene is a french term meaning 'put into the frame'. When analysing a film it refers to what the viewer can see in the frame. Mise-en-scene includes lighting, angles, setting, props, costume and make up. All of these things are used in order to deliver a message to the viewer in an alternative way than just through actions or sound. I will be talking about the elements of mise en scene and how they're used to influence the audiences understanding of the different characters and their feelings towards them.

Costume

The Montague's are first to be seen in the opening scene and their costume gives away their character almost instantly. They're wearing very colourful clothes and have relatively striking hair do's with one being a bright pink quiff and the other having shaved his head around the word their family name. This tells me that the they are proud of and want people to know who they are, it also tells me that they are quite flamboyant and young in their style. As a viewer this tells me they may be less mature than their enemy and possibly more innocent.

Unlike the Montagues, the Capulets are wearing rather tight and figure hugging clothes that resemble some form of a suit. Their choice of colours are much more muted in comparison to the Montagues; their clothes are darker and look more tailored, as well as their hair which is much more slick and natural. This gives me the impression that the Capulets are much more mature due to their tidiness and effort when presenting themselves. It also gives me the impression that they may be more wealthy than their rivals due to their smarter, well presented image including their steel boots on the borderline of looking somewhat western.

Rather than promoting their family name, one of the Capulets have a cross that has been shaved into their head, as well as this one of them is wearing a Jesus shirt whilst another has the word 'Sin' written across his Silver teeth. This tells us that the Capulets are more proud of their religion than themselves, it shows they're less indulgent than the Montagues and in its place are more religious. Whilst their family pride is still displayed by having their surname plastered on one their guns, they aren't afraid to dedicate a part of their life to their beliefs - again indicating a more mature way of life rather than a younger care free one such as the Montagues.

The first view of a Montague is 1 of the 3 relatives wearing sunglasses on his head whilst the first view of a Capulet is of Abra wearing them on his face. When I look at this in a deeper and more metaphorical viewpoint it suggests to me that it is about protection and mystery; the Montagues don't seem at all mysterious, all of their face can be seen and their loose, carefree image and costume matches their 'big ego' personality - its very much 'what you see is what you get'... however the Capulets are almost at a polar opposite to this. Like I have mentioned, their clothing is darker and more tightly fitted, the first shot of a Capulet is of Tybolts foot stepping out of a car and the first shot of ones face was when he has sunglasses on - a cover. All of this symbolises mystery and tells me that the Capulets are more unpredictable.

Looking at it from and even more metaphorical point of view I believe the sunglasses and tightness of clothes can give the audience a whole other meaning. Sunglasses - aka protection - on and tight combat like clothes suggest to me that the individual is prepared for a dispute, whereas no sunglasses - aka no protection - and tight loose clothes suggest that the individual is in no way prepared to fight. Due to this the Capulets are more likely to be perceived by the audience as the 'aggressors'. This is because of the mystery surrounding their image from the dark clothes and the sharpness in the way they look, as well as the combat-like, easy to move in outfits that almost make it seem like in coming to that petrol station, they expected a fight.

Props

The props also play a big part in causing the audience to make a judgment on the two families.

The Montagues own a bright yellow convertible car, this matches their personality shown perfectly being very young, fashionable and vibrant showing just how eccentric they are. Both them and the Capulets have personalised number plate again showing that they may have a substantial amount of money to spend. The fact they both spent it on promoting the family name through these number plates also shows a similarity between the two arch enemies in the sense that they are both proud.

The capulets have a darker and more old fashioned car, like the costumes, suggesting a higher level of maturity than the capulets, one of them also has a leather case for their gun, showing they can afford luxury items and that they wish to spend their fortune on protecting their weapons - as though they feel like they need them.

A prop used towards a Montague was an elderly womans purse as she hitting him with her purse as he took shelter from the upcoming gun-fire, this makes the Montagues seem more comedic an funny in the audiences eyes however it also makes that particular Montague come across as cowardly.

Through the props and acting, the Capulets show a much higher level of strength, bravery and fearlessness for example; Tybolt lit his cigar - which sends out a message of luxury and sophistication - with a match in a petrol station, this is obviously known to be dangerous in itself, but what is even more striking is that he then intentionally drops the alight match on the floor before putting it out with his steel shoe in a manner that shows he's in no rush at all. This shows that the Capulets are not afraid, not even of a fire that could possibly kill them - they are clearly confident in their skills and abilities to save themselves and this shows bravery, strength and it gives the audience the impression  of yet again mystery and audacity but also that they have power, as well as intriguing them further into this family's life.

Setting

The setting of this is very important and shows a lot about all of the characters, whilst some are stronger than others, they're not afraid, not of police or their surroundings, and I can see this due to the fact all the provocative and aggressive behaviour is done in a public place near houses; particularly in a gas station, one of the most obvious of places not to provoke, bring fire to or dispute in due to how dangerous the outcome can be.

The opening of the story is set in a City. This gives the film a younger feel and is therefore is more likely to interest a younger audience, which i believe must have been one of the producers intentions in order to widen the market for this fictional story.

Camera Angles


The camera angles used help create different atmospheres among the audience which include mystery, suspense and uncertainty.

One of the most effective angles throughout the entire opening sequence is of Tybolt getting out of the Capulets car. This is because the only thing that can be seen in this shot is his feet moving out of it wearing steel boots, that a few seconds later put out a cigarette. This instantly causes the audience to associate mystery with the Capulets because no face can be seen, and all that has been seen was a risky action made by a Capulet when he decided to throw a cigar onto the ground at a petrol station.

Another angle that stood out to me was that when the first Capulets face was shown (Abra) it was shown at an angle looking up to it. This suggests that, because essentially the audience are, people look up to the Capulets, not necessarily due to respect but possibly due to fear or  maybe even because the Capulets look down on others rather than others looking up. This is something that would most likely cause the audience to form a dislike against this character and perhaps his whole 'gang'.

There is a sign in the petrol station that reads 'add more fuel to your fire' and the angle used is looking from the point of view of Benvolio Montague as he holds his gun towards the Capulet as if to fire. This acts almost as a warning to benvolio because he literally is adding more fuel to the fire by contributing to the escalation of the event rather than taking a step back and trying to diminish what he could clearly sense coming. The word 'fire' also creates suspense because of what is about to happen; a fire, and the angle used after this zooms in on Benvolio's fearful face and its almost as if he knows what his actions will lead to. It shows us that he is the most courageous of the Montague's for standing up for himself whilst the others cower off and take shelter from the intense scene.

Whilst Benvolio looks up at the sign, he also turns back to look at Tybolt and the camera angle then transforms into point of view shots as well as close ups of each others faces as they communicate and tensions escalate. After this the camera shots move into extreme close ups, filling the entire frame with only the eyes; 'the window to the soul'...showing exactly how each of the characters feel. It makes it even clearer and confirms to the audience that the hatred between the families is strong and that what is about to happen could have serious consequences.

Theres also two particularly striking angles that help to portray the Capulets, particularly Tybolt, as fearless and delivers the message that they take no prisoners and have no mercy. As I have mentioned it's commonly known that lighting a cigarette is dangerous in a petrol station, there is an angle of Tybolt doing so, however his eyes are not in the shot and as a viewer I feel this takes away any emotion he is feeling. This may lead the audience to believe the Capulets are fairly relaxed and have confidence and faith in themselves to the extent that they don't need to feel stressed or act quickly and so instead indulge into a luxury. Along with this is the shot that captures the alight match falling to the floor between Tybolts feet. This shows both fearlessness and a metaphorical sense of control and skill. The sense of control and skill coming from the fact Tybolt managed to drop the match almost perfectly between his legs causing no harm to himself and the idea of fearlessness, which is an apparent trait of the Capulets throughout the opening, due to the danger and risks of fire coming into contact with fuel.

The final angle I believe to be significant in this sequence is one of the last. Its in the target view finder of Tybolts gun as he aims to shoot one of the Montagues. The reason I think this is an important angle to mention is because it stands from the rest, its not the point of view of a person, its the point of view of a person whilst they're looking through an object in order to accomplish something - in Tybolts case, an accurate shooting. The cross target is also important because it shows the audience which Montague in particular Tybolt is aiming to cause harm to, it leaves the audience in suspense for a few seconds, questioning whether or not he will, by his intentions, 'successfully' injure him.

Overall, theres no hesitation in saying that miss-en-scene was definitely used well in the opening of Romeo and Juliet and that it portrayed the different characters in a variety of different lights that would cause the audience to feel a certain way towards them. It gives a very strong first impression and, at least for me, entices the viewers into watching the rest of the film.

Mise-en-Scene Introduction

Mise-en-Scene is a French term that means 'put into the frame'. In terms of analysing film, as the translation suggests, it refers to anything the viewer can see in the frame in a particular scene. Mise-en-scene creates meaning for an audience through all of its elements that I will go into detail of below.

The elements of mise-en-scene are: acting/performance, costume, props, setting, camera angles and lighting.

Acting

Acting and performance is one of the most important things in a frame as without good actors the audience will find it hard to emotionally connect to the storyline or empathise with it, even if its just finding it funny. If a viewer doesn't believe the film they wont enjoy it and a films success is highly dependant on audience reaction therefore in order to make the film successful, the acting must be of a high standard.

Costume

This is one of the most easily noticeable elements of mise-en-scene. This includes makeup, hairstyle any piercings or tattoos, clothing and anything else the character may be wearing as these are all used to portray a characters personality to the audience. An example of how costume was used to create meaning for an audience was in Romeo and Juliet, where Capulet was wearing gold in different forms and this suggested to us that he was wealthy and may be of a high social status.

Props

Props are added into the film often to give the audience a better understanding of who the characters are, for example, again in Romeo and Juliet, some of the characters have a gun on hand. This tells us that they may be aggressive or always prepared for 'battle' either because they are hated or because they have a hatrid for someone else. Another example of this is if a character had many alcohol bottles lying around their home as a viewer my first thoughts would either be that there was a party the previous night and the remains of it hadn't been cleared up or that the character has a drinking problem.

Setting

Setting is very powerful as it sets a scene and gives us a sence of place. Setting also helps us work out the genre of the film for example if the set was in a dark, silent basement I  may be led to believe it was a horror film. If towards the beginning of it the setting of the scene was in a buzzing city showing night life, I would initially believe its a film aimed at a younger audience that possibly contains a romantic storyline.

Camera Angles

Camera angles are a very important element of mise-en-scene as they are important in showing meaning, for example social status (at a low or high angle), emotion (reaction shot), what the actor is doing (mainly through a medium or a form of a close up shot) and the relationship between two characters (two shot).

Lighting

Lighting is a significant element of mise-en-scene as the arrangement of it provides all around illumination of the scene and gives the subject a sense of depth of field due to the different directions of light and parts of the subject it focuses on as well as providing shadows and highlights in it. Light can also be metaphorically used; if the subject in a film was in a mentally dark place then the scene may be low lit however as they were going towards something beneficial or positive, like a hospital where they will overcome any of their problems, the lighting might get brighter and brighter, as if to say there is 'light at the end of the tunnel'.

All of these elements are fundamental components of mise-en-scene and they help to make meaning for an audience both through their metaphors and what they really show.