Interpretations and analysis of examples of mise-en-scene

With the concepts and ideas that I have written about in my previous blog entries, I will attempt to analyse and talk about what is happening in screen shots from films that I have seen.

This is a scene from Goodfellas. It is a scene which takes place early on in the film, which is the half of the film where life is good before the descent of each character. In the good life, they wear expensive and sharp suits, and as life is good, everyone is enjoying himself, and the good mood is apparent through the use of colour. There are a lot of regal and majestic colours, such as dark reds, browns, and oranges. These bare connotations of wealth and power, which is what all men have. Despite the dim lighting, the mood is prosperous -- friends having a good time -- which is an unconventional approach to lighting. These men are only prosperous by means of breaking the law, so everything that they do is must be kept secret in order to avoid apprehension, including having fun. Thus, they are having fun in a dark atmosphere, where it would be harder to see them.

The theme of Pan's Labyrinth is a depressing one. A young girl is whisked away from her previous life and is forced to live in the middle of a war zone in the countryside during an armed conflict. There is a very blue theme within many of the rooms within the film, other than the rooms that the fantasy scenes take place in. The shot above takes place in the real world, but the book, which is seen as a conduit to Ofelia's fantasy realm, is lovely and wholesomely maroon. Even a vestige of her other world defeats the reality of real life, and we are constantly reminded of that through the use of the colour blue and dim lighting.

This is an interesting shot, because clearly it depicts two men aiming down at someone, who is off-screen, and yet the camera is aligned with them. Typical to this scene is a point of view shot from the person to be executed, looking up at his would-be executioners. But instead we have this. The hit men are confident in their ability to kill and get away with it, as is suggested by the fact that window is not covered and it is broad daylight. Both men are impressionable and would be easy to recognize in a police line-up due to their appearances, yet they aren't unbalanced by it.