Final Project
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Mise-en-scène For this segment, I wanted to put emphasis on the importance of the setting, the movement of the character, and the screen space as the factors which are held together by the mise-en-scène. I hoped to use just three static shots (some more than once) to establish a clear sense of the setting, allowing it to figure into the narrative. I also hoped that the static shot would allow the viewer to focus on my on-screen movements. As for screen space, I tried to depict the three-dimensional quality with my movements within the shot, and I also tried to employ Ozu’s off-screen space with a long shot of the empty hallway and suggested action off the screen. I hoped, overall, to clearly depict what happens when I am in need of a haircut, and how I go about preparing for one. |
| Shot-by-shot Analysis of Mise-en-scène |
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Shot 1 19 seconds. Medium long shot. This is clearly a bathroom setting, as the hanging towels and the mirror indicate. A few seconds pass before I slowly enter the bathroom. I approach the mirror and then proceed to check my hair. This act in a bathroom setting combine to hint that subsequent shots will deal more with my hair. I exit out the door. |
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Shot 2 19 seconds. Medium shot. Much like the shot 2 in the Slow Disclosure segment, I walk into the room, sit on the desk, open the drawer, and take out a bag. After I close the drawer again, I exit the room. The bag’s contents are unknown. However, in this scene, the setting is better revealed. My entire body is visible, the comptuer is on top of the desk, and the door is visible. Once again, the static shot makes it necessary that my movements and interaction with the setting and props drive the narrative. |
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Shot 3 58 seconds. Long shot. This long shot of the hallway becomes the "centerstage" of my mise-en-scène piece. After my entrance around the corner, my screen size (relatively small) indicates the long dimension of the hallway. My movement at the back end of the hallway and my distance to the camera help to establish a three-dimensional sense of the screen space. After setting down the bag, I walk off the screen, but the shot remains fixed on the long hallway. A six-second fixed shot on the empty hallway is my imitation of Ozu, who drew the attention of the viewer off-screen by keeping the on-screen space empty for an extended period of time. I re-enter the hallway with newspapers and slowly set them down. Just when the viewer might expect me to sit down and cut my hair, I make another exit from the hallway. |
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Shot 4 18 seconds. Medium shot. Same angle as shot 2, I am back in my room and this time, I interact with the computer. Music comes on and I exit the room. Repeating the familiar setting allows the viewer to get a sense of an overall larger setting, in which the hallway and my room are somehow connected. Although I never make this explicit, it can be inferred from the reoccurring shots. |
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Shot 5 40 seconds. Long shot. A return to the same long shot as shot 3 and with the music heard in the background, I am ready to cut my hair. The long shot shows me engaged in a series of movements that ultimately leads to hair cutting process. I take out the hair clipper from the bag, sit down on top of the newspaper, plug it into the wall, and then finally bring the hair clipper to my head before the shot fades to black. Once again, the long shot and empty front space forces the viewer to pay attention to the minute movements that I make. |
| Overall Commentary
The mise-en-scène includes a wide range of elements that “signify the director’s control over what happens in the film frame” (Bordwell and Thompson 156). One element that I did not really take into account (because of limited knowledge and access to equipment) was the lighting. I used black and white mode with regular room light, but perhaps better lighting in the long hallway scene may have made my actions more discernible in the long shot. I was pleased to incorporate the off-screen space technique, and the lasting image I got from reviewing the segment was that of the empty long hallway just waiting for me to return and start cutting my hair. The delay in the time, then, also figured into the mise-en-scène and plays a role in the narrative. I thought some of the shots took too long to develop, but in taking into account that these shots were static and encompassed most of the action on-screen, I felt that some of the longer shots were well justified. |
- completed December 5th, 2002