Prisoners - Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene

Near the begging of the film, the suspect crashes into a tree after being pursued by the police. When found he is appeared with some blood on his face. This blood is make up and is a very effective part of the mise-en-scene. This is done to show the audience that he is badly hurt, but also denotes that the police are more effective and efficient (because they are not hurt).

When found by the police, the suspect hands are clearly shaking badly. This shows the audience that the suspect is very nervous about being caught. This could also show the audience that the suspect is most likely guilty. 

There is one shot that consists of just a silhouette. This is created by the lighting which is another one of the key aspects of mise-en-scene. This silhouette is very effective a creating a suspenseful atmosphere, keeping the audience guessing who the silhouette belongs to. Coupled with the silhouette, dark weather is in the shot. This adds to the overall "dark" and "sad" atmosphere.

Aliens- Mise-en-scene (In Character Analysis)

Character analysation

I have chosen to study the characters who were given enough screen time for me to analyse them.

Ellen Ripley- Ripley has dealt with aliens before so she is exactly aware of what they are dealing with. Because of her past experience, she is seen as serious and stern from the start of the film whereas the military crew are excited and acting childish. Ripley acts overly anxious compared to the others and this creates a sense of foreboding. In the sequence I looked at she is seen to be knowledgeable as she noticed that the bullet types the crew were going to use could lead to a nuclear reaction. The army general, Gorman was not aware of the consequences showing he was not educated in the sciences as well as Ripley and Burke. If Ripley didn't notice, the whole ship would have blown up and killed the whole crew. She never lets her guard down whether she's on the operating tank or on the deserted alien spaceship, we can see this from her body posture and facial expressions, she walks as though she is anticipating something to happen. She is experienced in a lot of things which makes her a good advisor, although she is not always listened to, for example, when the crew were getting signals of movement surrounding them, Ripley was advising Gorman to call them back. He ignored her and when aliens started to attack crew members Gorman was freezing and stuttering and not taking control of the situation like he should, Ripley tried asserting herself into his position but only got shouted at to 'shut up'. She's a natural leader, she took the matters into her own hands and drove the tank to collect the crew, she saved the majority of the crew. From that point on, they took her more seriously instead of just someone who is 'there'.

William Gorman- Gorman was a Colonial Marine officer fresh out of the academy, the mission shown in this film was to be only his second combat operation. He is inexperienced in his field and does not hold a great amount of respect from his fellow marines because of it. From the scenes I watched, he seemed to have control of orders going to Sargent Apone, this meant everything the crew does, comes through Apone, from Gorman. 
We can see that he is clueless and not educated well enough on his sciences as he did not see the risk of causing a large nuclear explosion from shots potentially being fired into the Atmosphere Processor. Gorman does what he thinks is best and does not discuss or take second opinions from his peers, this led to a bad situation where some crew mates were killed. He starts to panick and lose his words and control over the situation when the aliens start to attack the marines, Ripley tries to take over but she is shunned away. This shows that Gorman is too stuck in his ways to have someone else help him or take control.

Jenette Vasquez- Vasquez was a private first class marine and comes across as very tough. She acts macho, possibly to fit in with her male dominated counterparts. Not only does she act this way, she dresses in conflict to how a stereotypical woman would, this is because she is a marine, which is seen typically to be a male role. She wears no helmet but instead a bandana around her short black hair. Every other character wears a helmet, this seems though she does not care much for safety precautions and does not feel that her life is in danger. This could show her optimism of surviving and her arrogance. When the team is looking around the ship, Vasquez is the natural leader, she leads the way infront of all the men, this could show that she is equal or almost the equivalent to them. She is seen to have a boisterous personality, she does not get affected by taunts from fellow marines but instead has a witty and stronger response.This helps her gain respect from the others and proves that she is not weak or a 'damsel in distress' type of person. After realising that the bullets in their guns could cause a nuclear explosion, Sarge Apone was instructed to take all ammunition from the crew's guns. Vasquez was one of the few to complain and did not give all of her ammo and kept some for herself and Private Drake. This tells us that she is not afraid to break the rules and shows rebellion to decisions she does not agree with. She was not aware of the harm that could come to her and her crew mates from firing, so when the aliens first attacked, she recklessly started shooting. This would have been taking a risk of getting into trouble with Sarge Apone as she did not follow orders.  

Aliens- Summary and Mise-en-scene (Costume)

A summary of the story before I write about the desired chapter of the film i chose to study for the mise-en-scene:

In the film before, 'Alien' she and her crew were in a towing vehicle called Nostromo heading back to Earth, intercepts an SOS signal from a nearby planet, the crew are under obligation to investigate. After a bad landing on the planet, some crew members leave the ship to explore the area. At the same time as they discover a hive colony of some unknown creature, the ship's computer deciphers the message to be a warning, not a call for help. When one of the eggs is disturbed, the crew do not realize the danger they are in.
Ripley was the last to survive and managed to blow the alien out of the spaceship, leaving no proof to be found. 
In this film 'Aliens' Ripley was found hyper-sleeping for 50 years in space, and hasn't aged since she went to sleep. She is taken back to Earth, where she learns that a human colony was founded on the same planet where the aliens were first found. After contact with the colony is lost, she finds herself sent back to the planet along with a team of warriors bent on destroying the alien menace forever, and saving any survivors -- if any remain.

The costumes being worn by the crew are camouflaged trousers and shirts, helmets, black boots and a vest holding all of their ammunition. Their uniforms convey a sense of power and showed them as being ruthless, possibly even fearless. The equipment they carried consisted of torches on their shoulder, a headset and mic and guns with ammo.
Ripley, Gorman and Burke were the operating team as they were specialised in handling the ship, ensuring safety measures, they were unarmed. They all wore a more plain outfit, more casual than their peers, they wore light coloured t shirts and jackets on top.
Vasquez is the only character that was not wearing a helmet and because she is a woman, she is the opposite to a generic female character. She wears a red bandana and has short hair, which links to her being a 'tomboy', this would go against the typical stereotype of a woman.
  

Psycho - Mise-en-scene Breakdown & Analysis

Psycho – Mise-en-scene

The mise en scene within the movie is one of the most powerful parts that help to generate the suspenseful atmosphere. One aspect of the mise en scene that Alfred Hitchcock used to create a sense of danger is the lighting. For example the light in Norman’s parlour is dim lighted. This shows the audience that Norman perhaps has a dark personality. This dark lighting also hints to the viewer that Norman is a recluse and doesn’t fit in with society. Also when Marion sits down in the parlour, only one side of her face is seeing able due to the dark lighting. This suggests that Marion is in a potentially dangerous place and that Norman is potentially a threat to her.

Another key aspect of the mise en scene that Hitchcock uses is the Stairs. The stairs within Norman Bate’s house play a key role in helping to generate the suspenseful atmosphere. When the characters travel up and down the mysterious stairs, it makes the characters seem extremely vulnerable, that anything can be waiting on the next floor of the silent building. Also, when the inspector gets stabbed, he falls down the stairs in slow motion. This done to emphasise how tall the stairs are, while making the scene more dramatic. Also, having the scene in slow motion places more importance on the mysterious killer, giving the audience more time to think about whom it is.

Another very effective piece of mise en scene is the owls that are within Norman’s parlour. These owls are placed in the darkness just above Norman when he is sitting down. This is done to emphasise just how weird Norman is. However, some of the owls are in an aggressive pose, perhaps representing how Norman is going to attack the vulnerable prey (Marion).

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3- Title Sequence Analysis

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

The production company is shown as it normally would do, zooming out from the torch to present the statue of liberty. This is shown in a small rectangle in the center of a black background. The rectangle is then zoomed into to show the production company clearer 'COLUMBIA'. While the screen is still zooming in and showing less and less of the black background, the company fades into the first scene showing the city of Manhattan. A thick black line slides across the screen and as it passes, words come out from behind it. Written in block capital black letters 'COLUMBIA PICTURES AND METRO-GOLDWYN- MAYER PICTURES PRESENT'. Another thick line passes 'IN ASSOCIATION WITH RELATIVITY MEDIA', another thick line 'A SCOTT FREE/ESCAPE ARTISTS PRODUCTION'. The line and writing is then almost eaten by the screen, the divided city view behind the writing closed over it, leaving just the view. 

The screen lags and loud music starts, bold white text with hints of blue shining over it saying 'A FILM BY TONY SCOTT' slides in and lags on its way in. It lingers in the middle of the screen and then slides out. The city is shown extremely fast, buildings, streets, traffic, city rush. It is all sped up to show the rush of a city. 'DENZEL WASHINGTON' the name slides in, fast representing the speed of a car in the city or a train. 'JOHN TRAVOLTA', the camera focuses on Travolta's character in slow motion, possibly foreshadowing his significance. It shows the sign of the subway, a bag, then a man holding it and another man. There are quick cuts showing all this and eventually shows a train marked 'PELHAM'

The title is then presented in two parts. 'THE TAKING OF PELHAM' slides in from the left and '1 2 3' slides in from the right, both as fast as a train. In the background of the title presentation, there is a subway train going past very fast. The use of sliding in all the title sequence shows the significance of a train in the film, it is fast and unexpected, the scenes and cuts were edited in a fast paced way and it all gave a 'train' feel to it.  

Director Research- Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock was born on the 13 August 1899. He was born in Essex and had a very lonely childhood. One memorable event of his childhood was that he was sent to prison at the age of    by his father. Going to prison has said to have undoubtedly contributed to Alfred’s fear of police. This is most likely one of the reasons that within many of his films, characters where wrongly accused of crimes and imprisoned. His first piece was "Gas" (1919), published in the first issue, in which a young woman imagines that she is being assaulted one night in Paris – only for the twist to reveal that it was all just a hallucination in the dentist's chair, induced by the anaesthetic. Alfred Hitchcock is an English movie director. He is most commonly known his thriller films such as Psycho and North by North-West. Alfred Hitchcock is regarded as the “Master of Suspense.” This is due to all of his films containing very gripping and suspenseful scenes that perfectly fit the thriller genre. Alfred Hitchcock was the pioneer of many of the codes and conventions that define thriller films. Alfred Hitchcock is also known for having various red herrings and plot twists within the movies that he directs. Alfred Hitchcock had directed over 50 feature length films in just over 60 years. Alfred Hitchcock is also well known due to his cameo appearances in his own movies and TV shows.    Alfred Hitchcock has been called “the greatest filmmaker to emerge from these islands, Hitchcock did more than any director to shape modern cinema, which would be utterly different without him. His flair was for narrative, cruelly withholding crucial information (from his characters and from us) and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else.” He has also been described as being “the most influential filmmaker of all time.”

Taken- Title Sequence

Taken

Shows production company logo, 20th century fox. All the writing here onwards is written in block capitals. On a black background written on two lines 'TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX PRESENTS', it floats in, each line from a different side. The first scene of video tape starts.
'A EUROCORP M6 FILMS GRIVE PRODUCTIONS CO-PRODUCTION'. Then 'WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF CANAL+, TPS STAR & M6'. Both lines fade away.
As the camera first shows the main character, the actors name floats in from the side 'LIAM NEESON' it then introduces the director 'A FILM BY PIERRE MOREL' 
The writer's credits 'WRITTEN BY LUC BESSON & ROBERT MARK KAMEN'. The film title is shown in large, clear block capitals 'TAKEN'.