Return to Intro to Film syllabus
Updated 5 October 2006
ENGLISH 114: INTRODUCTION TO FILM, Fall 2006
Section 3: Thursday, 6:00-9:30 p.m., Professor Larsson
Week 5, September 28
6:00-6:30
Test 1
6:30-6:40
Review Test 1
6:40-7:55
View The General (Buster Keaton)
7:55-8:05
Break
8:05-9:30
Mise-en-scene
Discuss The General
Mise-en-Scene
Narrative, theme and meaning are communicated through the film’s stylistic elements, including
§ Mise-en-scene
§ Cinematography
§ Editing
§ Sound
Mise-en-scene is
§ What has been “placed in the scene” (term derives from theater)
§ What we see on the screen without direct concern about how it has been photographed, but mise-en-scene depends on cinematography and vice-versa (Richard Barsam uses more encompassing definition—“what is placed before the camera and how it is photographed,” p. 122)
§ The visual elements composed and arranged within a shot
§ Kinesis—movement within the frame (or movement of the camera, according to Barsam, p. 134)
§ Design elements: the film’s overall “look” and the individual elements that interact with the narrative, provided by
o Setting
o Lighting (Barsam defers detailed discussion to Chapter 4)
o Costume, makeup and hairstyle
Design elements can establish
§ Place (geographical or fantastic, “realistic” or stylized)
§ Time (historical or imagined)
§ Props (objects used and handled by the characters) provided by setting or costume) that define character, advance narrative, comment on the action, etc.
§ Clues and cues about
o Characters’ social standing, economic status, personalities, etc.
o Directions that the narrative will take
o Themes and meanings within the film as a whole
Example: Opening shots of Rear Window
(1954, directed by Alfred Hitchcock)
What do these shots tell you about
§ Time and place?
§ The character (played by Jimmy Stewart)?
§ Name?
§ Occupation?
§ Personality?
§ Relationships?
§ What else does the setting suggest about actions or themes that may emerge?
§ New York (Greenwich Village), apartment buildings close together, open windows, other lives
§ Summer, hot (thermometer, sweat)
§ J.J. Jeffries (name on cast)
§ Professional photographer (camera, equipment, photos)
§ Photo-journalist, goes to dangerous places and events
§ Car tire at race broke camera and leg? Dangerous life!
§ Successful (photo on cover of magazine)
§ In love with model (framed negative)
§ “Negative” feelings about relationship?
All these traits are revealed through mise-en-scene without any spoken words: setting, costume, makeup, props
THE GENERAL AND MISE-EN-SCENE
Narrative Sequences
§ Prologue—
§ Introduces Johnnie, Annabelle and their character traits
§ War breaks out, sets up rest of film
§ Theft of Train and First Chase
§ Union Headquarters
§ Second Chase
§ Battle
§ Conclusion
Chases structure film through parallels in mise-en-scene
Johnnie's Character
|
Dumb |
Clever/resourceful |
|
Clumsy |
Athletic/agile |
|
Unlucky |
Lucky |
|
Obsessive |
Determined |
Negative traits emerge when Johnnie is most obsessive
Most of Johnnie's traits are revealed in opening sequence
§ Love for Annabelle and train
§ Clumsiness (falls off porch when Annabelle kisses him)
§ Athletic ability (runs to be first in line, jumps over tables)
§ Determination (keeps trying to enlist)
§ Obsession leading to lack of attention (doesn’t see Annabelle, doesn’t realize the train is moving when he sits on it)
Johnnie’s character is expressed through use of mise-en-scene, especially props from setting and costume, Keaton’s movement and expression
Point of View is relatively omniscient and objective, with some subjective point of view shots that match character’s veiw
§ (P.O.V. shot of Annabelle through hole in tablecloth)
§ We usually know more than Johnnie, especially during first chase; helps to create suspense, humor
High degree of resolution in ending
§ Johnnie gets General back
§ Gets uniform
§ Gets Annabelle
§ Solves problem of "split personality" by becoming a saluting machine!
MISE-EN-SCENE IN THE GENERAL
§ Committed to historical verisimilitude--actual Civil War locomotives, historically accurate costumes, weapons, etc.
§ Keaton does all of his own stunts
§
All props and settings
are motivated (explained by the narrative
or justified by the historical setting)
§ Johnnie has more control over environment during second chase
§ Objects seem to work for Johnnie most during battle scene (sword, cannon)
§ Realism of battle scenes deliberately undercuts humor at times
§ Design elements of some shots mirror Civil War photographs of Matthew Brady
First Chase |
Second Chase |
|
Spies pull linchpin |
Annabelle in bag pulls linchpin |
|
Spies cut telegraph wires |
Johnnie pulls down wires and blocks track |
|
Spies throw obstacles on track |
Johnnie blocks track one item at a time |
|
Water tower drenches Johnnie |
Water tower drenches Union officers, Annabelle |
|
Spies unlatch boxcars |
Johnnies keeps boxcar from becoming a “bridge” between engines |
|
Spies fail to burn covered bridge |
Johnnie succeeds in burning bridge |
Cannon/mortar on train car parallels cannon in battle scene:
§ First cannon seems to toy with Johnnie
§ Second cannon cooperates, bursts dam
Costumes divide characters into groups
§ North/South
§ soldier/civilian
§ officer/enlistee
§ male/female
§ Johnnie is rejected by Annabelle because he’s not in uniform
§ Spies wear civilian clothes to steal train
§ Spies switch to Confederate uniforms to get through enemy lines
§ Spies switch back to Union uniforms behind their own lines
§ Johnnie puts on Yankee uniform to rescue Annabelle
§ Shot at by sentry, switches to Southern sergeant’s uniform
§ Commands troops at battle
§ Challenged by Southern officer at end but given officer’s uniform
§ Annabelle seems even more clumsy because of female clothing
Costumes provide props
§ bag of shoes
§ sword in battle scene
Lighting:
§ Low-key lighting at night (unmotivated in woods—no apparent source for light)
§ Lightning flash hides and reveals bear in woods (beartrap)
§ Trains and other "inanimate" objects take on “lives” of their own
§ Train stops and starts arbitrarily
§ Mortar bounces and aims at Johnnie
§ Cannon points straight up during battle scene
§ Firewood "jumps" out of fuel car
§ Sword keeps flying off handle—Saves Johnnie’s life
§ Johnnie's "stone face" still demonstrates emotional range when combined with “body language”
§ Worry, surprise, annoyance, happiness, pride
§ Johnnie's behavior demonstrates his contradictory traits
Use of Deep Space Compositions
(foreground and background in same shot)
§ North Advances--Johnnie in foreground, soldiers in background
§ Cannon fires--firing and impact seen in same shot
§ Union HQ--Johnnie takes fruit while Union officers enter in b.g.
§ Attack at Rock River Bridge--Union troops in background, Confederate in foreground
Other Examples of Design and Mise-en-Scene
Chinatown
§ Re-creating 1930s Los Angeles
§ Jake and Evelyn’s appearance—costume, makeup, hairstyle
§ Costume and appearance as threat—Jake’s nose
§ Water as motif
§ Glasses as clue
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Germany 1920), directed by Robert Wiene
§ Example of “German Expressionism”
§ Deliberately stylized sets, costumes, actions by some characters
§ Suggests an otherworldly atmosphere of apprehension and terror—or a madman’s delusions
A Clockwork Orange (1971), directed by Stanley Kubrick
§ “Realistic” stylization
o Evokes near-future world, similar to but different from our own
o Deliberate stylization by main character, Alex, and colleagues in costume and makeup
§ Other props and settings come to play specific roles within the narrative