Strategies of Mis-en-scene in The Coen Brothers’ No Country For Old Men
The Coen Brother’s films are always created in a particular way; a way that makes you look and think extra hard about what’s being presented, and how even the simplest of visuals and presentations could be connected to a broader picture or idea. Through their creation of films, the Coen Brother’s craft an unequitable mis-en-scene that captures the audience and draws them into the film itself unlike any other picture can. Through analyzation of the sets, props, lighting, and characters, this paper will show how strategies of mis-en-scene are overwhelming in the Coen Brother’s No Country For Old Men by way of “The Coin Toss” scene (No Country For Old Men), what elements
…show more content…
Mis-en-scene, literally meaning, “putting into scene” in French, and further “includes everything that overlaps with it: setting, costume, the behavior of the figures, and the lighting” (Conti, 1) is key to understanding the discussion driven home in this paper, in addition to how it is directly connected to every piece of the film, both visually and in the production and pre-production in hopes of directors, in this case the Coen Brothers, creating a successful film. One of the best examples of mis-en-scene in No Country For Old Men is “The Coin Toss” scene. Here, the audience is initially presented with a long shot of a desert-like, micro-sized town somewhere in the middle of Texas. In the foreground area, a gas station sign labeled ‘Texaco’ is presented, confirming that the town does in fact have some establishments, but certainly not very many. The overwhelming feel of this shot is of isolation, or really insecurity, due to the fact that should anything happen here, in this location, to anyone, there will most likely not be any quick and readily available help, which is further bolstered by the visual of a singular car …show more content…
Through the analyzation of sets, lighting and characters, this paper found how strategies of mis-en-scene were perfected in No Country For Old Men through “The Coin Toss” scene, elements of Western film genre, and additional components via character personalities and visual elements that helped the audience directly connect to the whole of the film, and further elevate the mis-en-scene of the entire
“The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can convey emotions and moods that no other art form can hope to tackle.” The written word and the moving image have always had their entwining roots deeply entrenched in similar narrative codes, both functioning at the level of implication, connotation and referentiality. But ever since the advent of cinema, they have been pitted against each other over formal and cultural peculiarities – hence engaging in a relationship deemed “overtly compatible, secretly hostile” (Bluestone 2).
Mise-en-scene is often cited as one of the most important indicator in a film of the director’s personality. It is the way how the director control and create his individuality into his own film through expressive cutting skills, camera movements, slow or face pacing, the direction of the characters and their placement in the film and decorations, the angle and distance of the camera, and even the content of the shot. Nowadays audience would observe and detect the mise-en-scene of the film as a way to determine or indicate whether the film is directed by the same particular person. On the other hand, Almodovar film’s normally can be spotted easily for its striking mise-en-scene, its bold attractive colors and glossy decorations. He also sometimes may uses unusual and shaky camera angles, specially costumed made outfits and his prevalent uses of LGBT themes in the film.
The idea of mise-en-scene refers to the idea of using a variety of visual components in films to help an audience grasp a better understanding of the meaning behind a film, a film’s characters, situations, etc. For example, this technique involves the usage of costumes, makeup, sets, props, lighting, weather, character movement, etc. The use of mise-en-scene shows the audience the importance behind characters and situation as seen in the production of Singin’ in the Rain (1952) directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. In this entertaining film, some examples where mise-en-scene applies is in the introductory scene where the big Hollywood premiere is shown, through the juxtaposition of two women, Kathy and Lina, and the scene where the main
In this paper I hypothesize that A Voyage to the Moon was most innovative in cinematography and editing. Although mise en-scene was the main focus of the film, I hypothesize that mise en scene wasn’t as innovative as the other two. As mentioned earlier, mise en scene made A Voyage to the Moon easy to understand and follow along. In the first scene of the film, this power
Mise-en-scéne is crucial to classical Hollywood as it defined an era ‘that in its primary sense and effect, shows us something; it is a means of display. ' (Martin 2014, p.XV). Billy Wilder 's Sunset Boulevard (Wilder 1950) will be analysed and explored with its techniques and styles of mise-en-scéne and how this aspect of filmmaking establishes together as a cohesive whole with the narrative themes as classical Hollywood storytelling. Features of the film 's sense of space and time, setting, motifs, characters, and character goals will be explored and how they affect the characterisation, structure, and three-act organisation.
By the utilization of this technique, the film’s mise-en-scene brings the audience’s attention to the space as a sort of institution of relaxation, in times of
The use of color and contrast in the film's mise-en-scène serves to emphasize the differences between the two groups and the concept of duality. Additionally, the use of setting and props reinforces the film's themes and creates a sense of vulnerability for the characters. The film's cinematography is equally important in creating a sense of tension and unease, with the use of camera movement, framing, and lighting serves to highlight the duality between the two groups and create a sense of ambiguity and uncertainty. Overall, Us is a masterful example of how the interaction between mise-en-scène and cinematography can be used to convey complex themes and create a powerful cinematic
The movie posters mainly serve the needs of the movie makers whose ultimate purpose is to popularize the movie. They occasionally create several posters for the same movie. The two posters this paper analyzes are for a science fiction movie "Inception.” The first poster is a popular movie cliché – a silhouetted loner viewed from behind and placed in the center so that he immediately “grabs” the attention of the audience.
Evaluating the mise-en-scene of Tallahassee exhibiting an incredible amount of strength and bravery for a stranger in the movie Zombieland provides the audience with enough information to determine what Tallahassee is willing to do for Columbus during a highly intense scene. Being able to pick apart different aspects of a single shot helps the audience focus on what the filmmakers want them to learn from their film. From the dominant characters to the colors depicted in a certain scene, everything matters to the
In “Aesthetic of Astonishment” essay, Gunning argues how people first saw cinema, and how they are amazed with the moving picture for the first time, and were not only amazed by the technological aspect, but also the experience of how the introduction of movies have changed the way people perceive the reality in a completely different way. Gunning states that “The astonishment derives from a magical metamorphosis rather than a seamless reproduction of reality”(118). He uses the myth of how the sacred audience run out the theater in terror when they first saw the Lumiere Brother Arrival of the train. However, Gunning does not really care how hysterical their reaction is, even saying that he have doubts on what actually happened that day, as for him it the significance lied on the incidence--that is, the triggering of the audience’s reaction and its subsequence results, and not the actual reactions and their extent. It is this incident, due to the confusion of the audience’s cognition caused by new technology, that serves as a significant milestone in film history which triggered in the industry and the fascination with film, which to this day allows cinema to manipulate and
The movie Hidden Figures by Theodore Melfi is talking about the civil rights and equality of men and women in 1970 's to 1990’s. The Mise-en-scene means "setting up a scene. " There are six elements that make up mise-en-scene acting, costume and make-up, setting, lighting, composition or space and lastly. In Hidden Figures, the mise-en-scene helps audiences to become closer to the story and have the same feeling as those main characters. The director uses many different kind of shout angles to show the unbalanced between black people and white people at that time and the color and lighting also help the director can present the emotions that the characters are facing different kind of events or people.
Tim Burton’s distinct style became evident in his very first films and stayed clear in his later film, while the plot of Burton’s films vary greatly his style stays pronounced. This can be seen across his many movies from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands, “Vincent”, and “Frankenweenie”. In all of these films his distinct style is developed through the use of a strong contrast of high and low key lighting to show contrast between characters and circumstances, a recurring motif of mobs antagonizing the antagonist, and the frequent use of shot reverse shots to show the development of the relationship between the outsider and the people on the inside. With the use of a contrast between high and low-key lighting, a recurring mob motif, and the use of shot-reverse-shots Tim Burton develops his hopelessly bleak style. One of the most evident cinematic techniques that Tim Burton uses to develop his hopelessly bleak style is the use of a strong contrast of high and low-key lighting or colors.
Baz Luhrmann is widely acknowledged for his Red Curtain Trilogy which are films aimed at heightening an artificial nature and for engaging the audience. Through an examination of the films Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby, the evolution and adaptation of his techniques become evident. Luhrmann’s belief in a ‘theatrical cinema’ can be observed to varying degrees through the three films and his choice to employ cinematic techniques such as self-reflexivity, pastiche and hyperbolic hyperbole. The cinematic technique of self-reflexivity allows a film to draw attention to itself as ‘not about naturalism’ and asks the audience to suspend their disbelief and believe in the fictional construct of the film.
Since I have only mentioned the setting only under mise-en-scene as the whole there are other aspects but here I focus on the setting, and Setting comprise of the place and time.
1.1. The Origin and History of Mise-en-Scene in Cinema “A term that means everything and nothing very specific.” (Martin 2014) Coming from the French term for staging, mise-en-scene (pronounced meez-on-sen) can be literally translated as ‘placing on stage’. Although it is now a common term found in the field of film studies, the term mise-en-scene actually originated from theatre play where it used to describe the visual elements of a stage production within the confines of the stage itself (Lathrop and Sutton n.d.).