Mise-En-Scene Essay Sample

How is mise-en-scene used to convey meaning? Mise-en-scene is a director's control over what appears in the frame. Setting, lighting, costume, and the behaviour of characters, are all aspects of film that overlap with the art of theatre (Bordwell and Thompson, 2008, p. 112). In each of these aspects, meaning can be conveyed, whether explicitly, implicitly, or symptomatically. Using these aspects and other techniques, a director aims to guide viewers toward understanding the film in the way he or she wants them to.

The establishing shot of the hospital scene in Spider-Man 2002 is incredibly dynamic, as the camera is limited back and cranes to slowly reveal tools and people in the scene. The camera movement ends and arrives at a frame that centres the main characters in the scene, the mechanical arms of Doc OCK’s. When the doctor with the saw notices the arm and turns around, the tension stops. When the arm lunges, the camera switches to the perspective of the arm as it hits the doctor and propels it crosses the room and into a glass window and ends with an instant zoom in on the chilling scream of a female doctor. These frameworks work so well with each other because they act as a continuous movement, giving the public without break to think what is happening until they hear the cries. The lights direct the audience’s eye to what the director (Raimi) wants them to see. A lot of what he does in the scene with the visuals, lighting, quick camera movements and sound effects increase the intensity of the scene while clarifying what is happening. This scene seems rooted as the arms chase the doctors. Audiences can feel the arms as they move across the camera and their weight as they attach to a person's face. The horror elements are all there, presenting themselves in a way that allows the mechanical arms to be the monster that lurks in the shadows, waiting for the moment to strike fear into the audiences’ hearts.

In the prison fight scene of Batman Begins, there is no music playing, simply the voices and technical sound for it to simply cause a build-up in the scene. It makes the audience nervous and scared for what could or might happen and causing the viewers to keep on watching and stay interested. They make use of many mid-shots but also some close-ups to see in depth of the current situation and how it is being delt with. This made the scene more understandable and could let you know what was happening, when it was happening and how it was happening. The visual in Batman Begins is that the colour temperature is much colder to help with the shifts from character to character. Which mean that the director (Nolan) gave his audience a sense of loneliness and violence. Since batman had a tough background growing up as a child.