#mis-en-scene

[sinemas]

Replace (2017) dir. Norbert Keil

[hello-saintjuvia]

Koe no Katachi: 10/10 Recommendation

I absolutely love this film,

Like, the aesthetics are absolutely FANTASTIC, I love the little blur that’s added to the outer frame of the screen, and those colours!

I would say I wish they had taken the far more intense story-line that is present in the original manga, but for a movie adapted from an ENTIRE series, it did AMAZING!, That’s 62 chapter down to a 2 hour film! A film that savors it’s quiet scenes as well!

Not to mention the film adds a much stronger humor element.

The animation is also absolutely beautiful and full of life, it makes even the simplest movements into masterpieces of emotion, I remember feeling disappointed that it was a movie and not an anime series, but I’m so happy it went down the movie root, the look is 100% worth it. Even if it didn’t get to venture into a more complex plot, still got the manga though!

The voice acting is beautiful, I’m not a Japanese speaker, but from my perspective, its amazing!

And finally and probably most importantly.

The soundtrack

That soundtrack man. THAT SOUNDTRACK

The one thing I could never get from the manga, and it was done PERFECTLY

Subtle, simple, shimmering and just. MAGICAL.

The soundtrack is the bomb! Especially during that ‘fireworks’ scene, what was done in a few panels of the manga was stretched out into a full minute scene overflowing with all the emotions built  up during the film. It had an INCREDIBLY IMPACT!

This is of course my bias, since ‘Koe no Katachi’ is one of my favorite manga of all time, but you’ll hear more good reviews from an insane amount of people.

so as a quick end to this small review that ended up way longer than intended.

This film is absolutely amazing. I’m so glad it got made.

[akka248]

Mise-en-scène - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Train Scene

In my humble opinion, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) is one of the greatest movies of all time. The film, directed by Michel Gondry, is about the rocky relationship between the introvert Joel (Jim Carrey) and the outspoken, always vibrant Clementine (Kate Winslet).

The following scene takes place at the beginning of the film where Joel and Clementine meet for the first time.

I think, there is so much information in this short scene. We are just getting to know the two characters and the director makes it clear that Joel is a timid, soft-spoken man while Clementine is his mere opposite; a spontaneous extrovert who does what she wants without being afraid of the consequences. Everything in this scene, from the lighting to the costumes, is a reference to the two characters personalities.

The colors of the train and the lighting in the scene is very dull and grey. Nothing stands out, everything is white, navy, almost grayish, even the outside. Through the window we can see that it is a foggy and rainy day. Joel sort of blends into this setting with his dark drench coat and black hat which covers all of his hair and forehead as if he wanted to hide or be invisible. Clementine, on the other hand, is clearly a striking figure with her orange hoody, purple bag and her blue hair. We can see that while Clementine wants to be different and wants to stand out, Joel has a more conventional, reserved personality. 

The composition is mainly symmetrical, Joel on the left, Clementine on the right, however we can see that Clementine is the dominant of the two, as she is always positioned higher than Joel, which tips the symmetry out a little.

Except for Clementine’s purple bag, there is only one other prop which is Joel’s scratch book. He is drawing a sketch of Clem, where everything is black and white except for Clementine’s orange hoody and blue hair. Although he is shy his attraction to Clem is evident.

This might seem like a scene with lesser importance, however, I think it already foreshadows the greatness of this film. In this movie every little detail matters and has meaning. These subtle elements throughout the movie is why I regard it as one my all time favourites.

[jamierevviews-blog]

Life of Pi : Mise-en-Scene

Life of Pi is a marvelous shot film by Ang Lee (2012) that exists somewhere in between the worlds of fantasy and adventure. Adapted from the Yann Mantel novel of the same name, revolves around a young Indian teenager stuck adrift on a raft with a tiger, hyena, orangutan, and zebra. It was considered for years that the film was almost impossible to film. They finally found its bold director in Ang Lee, who decided to shoot digitally and shoot 3D, and the result was a breathtaking combinations of colorful and an amazing visual experience that looked nothing like anything that came before it. With all the creative voices and endeavors, the film summoned the most awards in Oscars in 2012, including Ang Lee for Best Director and Claudio Miranda for Best Cinematography. In this entry, the film is analyzed with filmmaker's use of mise-en-scene. From the auteur’s 4 elements of Mise-en-Scene: Setting & Location, Make-up, Props, and Costumes, Lighting and Color, Character and Figure. Setting & Location  The production of the film was generally built as a constructed location. At the production’s heart was a massive tank of water that was used to produce the ocean-set settings. It was built inside an abandoned airport, the 1.7 million gallon behemoth was the world’s largest self-generating wave tank. Miranda himself had a hand in its construction, he made sure it was built around the lighting needs of his crew. A giant door was even built to allow the actual sunset to light the tank every day at dusk, allowing the indoor ocean to be shot during the magic hour.  he money and effort spent on the tank underlines how important the ocean setting was to Life of Pi. For many shots of the film, the frame would be almost entirely water. As such, Lee decided to shoot the film in 3D, a technology still unproven effective and not as well-respected at the time, back when Avatar had yet to been released and revolutionize the medium. By adding depth to the image, Lee felt the power of the ocean and the subtleties of its movements could be more accurately captured. 

Make-up, Props, and Costumes With all the computer generated shots doing all the magic, the film holds a minimal approach when it comes to Make-up. Although, it instills an authentic establishment with having less is more. Same goes to their costumes, Pi was dressed entirely with only a bandana, paired with white pants and a necklace. It only took few, minimal yet well-thought out ensemble to make the character, Pi an icon and a memorable one. Furthermore, Life of Pi contains a bevy of advanced special effects shots, with a good deal of the movie, including co-protagonist Richard Parker the Tiger, heavily generated by computers. They had the difficult task of photographing much of a film that didn’t exist in reality, yet capturing its epic essence in a way that would match the unbelievable CGI being prepared and as well as capturing its versimilitude. The props itself can be the main standpoint of the film. Much of the likes of Richard Parker the Tiger, it became the limelight and an important innovation to the film. The finesse and the techniques used to create the life-like Richard Parker was beyond impressive. It is indeed another success tribute to films that holds a magnificent machines and robotic creations throwback such as the first ever Jurassic Park (1993) that gagged all the viewers who first witnessed the magic of 3D. Lighting and Color  Because of the prominence of both actual and digitally created water, lighting was especially important to the film. It was also especially difficult to the particulars of the shoot. With huge waves and water moving constantly, any light would reflect and refract in every direction. In a wide flat ocean, with nothing else but the occasional bioluminescent plankton, the sun was the film’s chief source of light. Furthermore, Life of Pi is considered one of the best colored film of all time. The most dominant color of the film was the color of Orange. The color orange symbolizes hope and survival. If we are going to be in particular and details of the scenes, there are several allusions and suggestions using the dominance of the color. Just before the scene in which the Tsimtsum sinks, the narrator describes visiting the adult Pi at his home in Canada and meeting his family. Pi’s daughter, Usha, carries an orange cat. This moment assures the reader that the end of the story, if not happy, will not be a complete tragedy, since Pi is guaranteed to survive the catastrophe and father children of his own. The little orange cat recalls the big orange cat, Richard Parker, who helps Pi survive during his 227days at sea. As the Tsimtsum (the name of the ship) sinks, Chinese crewmen gave Pi a lifejacket with an orange whistle; on the boat, he finds an orange lifebuoy. The whistle, buoy, and tiger all help Pi survive, just as Orange Juice the orangutan provides a measure of emotional support that helps the boy maintain hope in the face of horrific tragedy.

Character and Figure.  Life of Pi establishes many characters and figure with its own interpretation and symbolism all throughout the film. For an instance, the main protagonist, Pi or also known as Piscine, denotes an irrational mathematical number, used to calculate distance in a circle. Often shortened to 3.14, Pi has so many decimal places that the human mind can’t accurately comprehend it, just as the book argues, some realities are too difficult to face. These representations establish the character Pi as more than just a realistic protagonist; he also is an allegorical figure with multiple layers of symbolism. Another main character to film would be Richard Parker the tiger. With a name like Richard Parker, most probably wouldn’t be expecting a tiger. The character known as Richard Parker is actually a Bengal tiger, trapped aboard the main character, Pi's, small lifeboat. There is significance to Richard Parker throughout the tale.There is much symbolism surrounding faith in the story. We learn fairly early on with this quote, 'I have a story that will make you believe in God,' that spirituality is going to play a strong role throughout the story. Richard Parker, himself, may be symbolic of God or faith. We discover throughout the story that Pi both loves and fears the tiger. Let's be honest: how realistic is it to be trapped on a small lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with a tiger and not be turned into a food? Pretty hard to believe, but for many who are religious, there is both a love and a fear, or reverence, of God. There are actually more than meets the eye and a lot more to unlock about the film’s symbolism and representations. 

By combining both the magic and science of the movies, a depth of each elements of the film, from the settings, props, and characters itself, filmmakers behind Life of Pi manage to make fantasy come to life.

[theaxtorres]

The Mis-En-Scene in Hero

Hero (2004) is a story of storytelling told with elements of two on-the-surface opposites: the softness and elegance of beauty and poetry, and the harshness of vengeance and martial arts.

The mis-en-scene here works in a kind of inception. As we are watching the story of Nameless speaking in front of the King, he also sets another story from his past experiences (or conjured experiences). And without doubt, we believe his stories because the design of the film itself shows it actually happening. Although, Nameless’ first stories were all fake, his storytelling of that consumed 30 minutes of the film combined with reenactment. Personally, I believed every word of it until the King said it was a fake.

The verisimilitude isn’t in as much as how real their actions were in relation to the real world, but it was so possible, the flying, the swiftness, the accuracy of the swords and martial arts, was made believable in the concept of this movie that was filled to the brim with detail of extremes. From the colors to the music to the settings, that even when the fight scenes would seem to outlandish, it ended up beautiful to me, because in the context of the story, it was designed to do so. Their swift and elegant swordsmanship was given reason through the concept of calligraphy. Sky and Nameless’ duel followed the rhythm of music, all aptly given detail.

I was a sucker for the settings of this movie. I’m pretty sure it was a mix of constructed and found locations with added CGI. Every set was given so much thought into their production design, and the amazing thing is that it wasn’t so obvious, because what you notice first is how visually pleasing it looks on screen. It only came as an afterthought to me that all these settings had purpose for the story.

Notable is the desert scenes of Broken Sword and Stone. Of course, I first thought that, yes, a deserted place for two criminals who ran away together, a desert would be perfect. But it could also easily have been the woods or a swamp. Then, in the end, the desert and its sand proved its design to the story when Broken Sword wrote the two words that would change the course of the story in it through his calligraphy.

Another are the green curtains that during Snow and Broken Sword’s first battle with the King. It was all just beautiful to look at, at first. Then you see its purpose as something that was used to dissuade and distract the King and for Broken Sword to make his move. It’s very much alike to the times when Ash from Pokemon would not only use Pikachu’s powers but also their environment to defeat the gym leader.

The props, most specifically the swords, all had detail in them that each gave them contrast to the other, and also very much, put you into a world that highly valued swordsmanship and the martial arts. What with each sword having their own unique case and being used a symbol of their owner’s life or death.

The costumes, especially Snow’s, were amazing. They were beautiful and all throughout consistent and complimentary with the environment around them, which also erases every thought of “This is too much,” because all the elements adhere to each other’s existence.

The lighting was accentuated by the colors. The color scheme followed a monochromatic scheme, wherein one color were the most emphasized of all. This movie is known for its use of color to identify a scene. It’s a great method of showing the cinematic side of the movie, And I think these colors weren’t chose out of random. 

Red, when some kind of unreal, unjust death and vengeance happens.

Black to show the blandness and grim state of war that the Qin live with in normality.

Blue which represent calmness, the ideal happening,

White to represent the truth in its core, everything stripped down to the last truth, with no ornament of color.

This connects with the characters. Nameless was a great character and showed great casting for me because he didn’t fit the standard Hercules macho man look of a hero. What he did look like was his character’s history who lived alone and didn’t have parents, with all his struggles and fights. He had a cold exterior always that didn’t falter.  Snow being a beautiful Chinese also fit very well, because she was the daughter of Zhao, while Broken Sword’s face and body also worked because he was just a mere commoner, but with enough handsome features to capture the heart of a princess. While Sky just had the face of a swordsman, with the long hair and everything. The King, big bodied and bearded, is what your stereotypical king actually always looks like. Even Moon had this innocent look in her, which made her skills in martial arts a surprise and also gives a glimpse on how close she probably was to her master.

Overall, even if I’m not a big fan of action movies, especially martial arts, I really enjoyed watching this movie because of all the detail put into it and how it seemed to balance the action scenes and still pour so much story and morale into it that all tied up into the whole concept of the film, heroism and what makes it be.

[jamuura]

What The Opening And Closing Shots Of Films Can Teach You

Mis-en-scene or the art of arranging the position of the actors, lighting, décor, props, costumes is a critical aspect of filmmaking. How audiences interpret your film largely depends on how you frame and shoot your scenes. One cant really evolve as a filmmaker if one doesn’t understand framing and how it can be used effectively.The best of…

What The Opening And Closing Shots Of Films Can Teach You was originally published on Jamuura Blog

[itsgifi]

Mis En Scene: Se7en : John Doe turns himself in.

  1. In this long establishing shot we can see Mills and Somerset walking behind the cars to their police offices. For one of the first times in the film it is not raining and so the lighting is relatively high key for the film. However the misery made synonymous with the weather is apparent from the puddles at the road side and the sound of car's splashing through them as they pass our protagonists. Cutting above the sound of the passing car's is the dialogue between Mills and Somerset.

2. The establishing shot (1) is cut by the entrance of a taxi from the left, turning the shot into a medium close up as a man steps out of the taxi. As he does the tense music that has so far been almost unnoticeable playing in the background is amplified above the background noise creating a great sense of tension. The man stepping out of the taxi has smart trousers and shoes which makes him seem, for the moment, fairly unremarkable.

3.The shot is then cut to a long shot of the police offices as Mills and Somerset are tracked as they walk. The scene is relatively busy with many people walking by in the foreground of the shot and the sound is mostly just the chatting of police staff but the tense music remains in the background to keep our guard up. The lighting is quite high key but it is coming in from the windows so it casts a lot of dramatic shadows.

4. The camera is then changed to a medium close up of the back of the man from the taxi as he walks through the building. We can now see on his unremarkable white shirt that there is a very remarkable amount of blood splashed across his back in a violent pattern. The lighting is high key so it forms violent contrasts of shadowing under the creases. This makes the character seem dark and mysterious. Over the hustle and bustle we can hear the man muttering detective coldly in the direction of Mills and Somerset.

5. The shot remains a medium close up but switches now to one of Mills and Somerset as they climb the stairs to their private offices. We can see Mills' bandages and bruised face with stitches above his eye reminding us that these men are in a very dangerous place at the moment. The shot is quite low key in the foreground with the detectives both being half shrouded in shadow but beyond the stairs in the main atrium it is very well lit. This allows us to clearly see the man from the taxi far in the background of the shot. Above all of the chattering we now hear the man shout detective as loudly as he can violently interrupting the dialogue between Mills and Somerset.

[dearatlcountmein]

Would someone care to give me some ideas about the mis-en-scene and director's choices in style/technique in the movie Into the Wild so I can finish my films project because I don't even fucking know what mis-en-scene is why am I in this class aowusjfkna wsofiulakbjsnfg?