How does mise en scene help understand
the character and genre of a film.
Mise en scene is
defined as everything the audience sees in a film. In Mise en scene there are
different elements that are used in order for the audience to understand the
characters and the genre of the film more clearly. In Children of Men, the
costume is a key aspect of the film that helps the audience distinguish a
character and the role that they play in the film. The main character is a man dressed
from head to toe in black, which might suggest depression or possibly be a
reflection of their mood, which ultimately allows the audience to know how to
feel at this point of the film. Not only this but he is dirty and ungroomed
which might suggest a sense of giving up which again allows the audience to
make judgments on what they think of a character and how they should be
feeling. Lighting plays an important facet. The lighting is imbecilic and dark
which might represent failure and misery with a hint of blue, which is stereotypically
used to enable the audience to know that the genre is sci- fi or dystopian
future. The actor uses facial expressions which confesses to the audience how
the actor wants you to perceive him, in this case the actor is emotionless which
is a contrast to the rest of the cast who are seen to be uncontroable with
their emotions which might indicate to the audience that this character is
possibly confident or possibly that this is the norm for where he lives and is
therefore used to lack of positive news. In this film, the only piece of makeup
that the audience has come across is the prosthetic arm, which is seen during
the explosion, which generates an uncertain atmosphere. The props include a
coffee with whiskey which could indicate dispiritedness and dejection, due to
the circumstances of living and the setting of the film also emphasizes the
genre of the film to be the future by the way some of the things had change
such as becoming motorbikes and adverts on buildings as oppose to on billboards
which creates a contrast from now and then.
