Mise-en-scène & Cinematography in American Beauty: Scene Analysis
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- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
- This video uses two scenes from the movie American Beauty to show how elements of how cinematic techniques related to mise-en-scène and cinematography can be used to help visually tell a story.
The following elements are examined:
Mise-en-scène: Decor, lighting, costumes and body language (gestures, expressions and posture)
Cinematography:
Composition and framing, camera angle, camera height and camera distance
Scene 1
At the beginning of American Beauty, the main character, Lester Burnham is disillusioned with his life. At home, he and his wife hate each other while his teenage daughter cannot stand either of them. At work, he is stuck in a boring and meaningless job writing for a media magazine.
The first scene we will look at appears early on in the movie. In this scene, Lester is meeting with Brad, his company's new efficiency expert. Brad is telling him that his work is not up to standard and that his job is at risk.
What's interesting here is how differently the two men are presented.
Let's look at Lester first. As this is a wide shot, Lester occupies a small portion of the frame, and because this shot is also a high angle shot, he looks even smaller. He is in the middle of a mostly empty room, totally exposed. He is slouching in a chair--his body language sending a message of weakness and resignation, and his facial expression shows his exasperation and frustration.
In terms of decor and lighting, the room itself is ugly, utilitarian, dimly lit, poorly decorated and awfully dull and grey. Behind Lester, there is a dying potted plant stuck in a corner and a painting that is too small for the wall. The ugly décor reveals what kind of company Lester works for-one that sucks the life out of its employees.
In terms of composition, the framing of the shot is also ugly. Lester is positioned in the centre bottom of the frame, which is a strange place to put the main subject. There is far too much headroom above him, his feet seem to be cut off, and at the top of the screen, a ceiling light juts down into the frame. It's an ugly shot in a dark, ugly room- a kind of visual manifestation of Lester's unease and discontent.
Now let's look at Brad. Here the shot is a mid-shot, so Brad occupies a large portion of the frame. The low angle mid shot emphasizes his position of power, especially when it comes right after the high angle wide shot of Lester that we just looked at.
Visually, Brad is presented as being dominant. His posture is straight, he is younger, he is dressed more fashionably and his facial expression reveals smugness and contempt.
Behind him, the vertical Venetian blinds create a visual pattern that calls to mind the bars of a jail cell or cage. To Lester, his job is like a prison.
And note the props around Brad: his desk, his large, brightly shining name plate, the gold pens, the picture and its frame, the Venetian blinds. Almost everything is straight edges, angles and points. Everything is hard, sharp, threatening.
In short, the visual elements in this scene work together to emphasize Brad's dominance over Lester, the soul-destroying nature of their workplace and Lester's hopelessness and vulnerability.
Scene 2
Mid-way through the film, the two men meet again. And Lester is a different man. In this scene, Lester is quitting his job AND blackmailing the company into paying him off.
If you compare these two reverse angle shots, you will see that Brad is no longer shown to be dominant. In the shot over Lester's shoulder, Lester seems to be looking down at Brad. And in the shot over Brad's shoulder, Brad's head is out-of-focus and slightly off screen, Brad is no longer so important, no longer so powerful. And all of those sharp edges, the pointy gold pens, the massive nameplate-those have become small, unremarkable pieces of stationery. They no longer pose any threat.
Lester's posture is now relaxed and confident. He is in control.
The room is brighter. Lester is no longer trapped in gloomy darkness.
The shots are now more attractive in terms of composition and framing, and this also reflects Lester's more hopeful mindset.
He has changed, and these changes are shown through the use of a variety of cinematic techniques. In the first scene, these techniques highlight the power differential between Brad and Lester and show Lester's disappointment, frustration and vulnerability. In the second scene, they show the extent to which Lester has become more hopeful and confident.
Conclusion
In this video, I've only touched on some of the cinematic elements related to mise-en-scène and cinematography and haven't mentioned things like dialogue, editing or sound or music. There is a lot more to discuss when interpreting a scene, but hopefully this video can help you better understand how different visual elements can work together to help tell a story.
The reflection of the face in the monitor could also stand for being jailed.
Damn this was really useful for some coursework. Thanks for making this.
yeah it was was it not
Great analysis of the visuals. I loved both scenes and knew about the dialogue translations from Lester wishing to keep his job in fear of being berated by Carol to him being confident that he will leave with compensation and from Brad being the hot shot to come in and trim the fat for his superiors to his desperation to keep Lester for his longevity but more importantly to keep his mouth shut of corporate misdeeds
So to get the cinematography side of things is great and makes love the scenes more. Thanks dude.
This is so awesome!! Thank you, great work!
I hope you find this video interesting and informative. The script is in the video description,A more detailed analysis is here: longzijun.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/film-scene-analysis-cinematography-and-mise-en-scene-in-american-beauty/
This is the 2nd video in my film analysis series. The first one is about fight cinematography and editing: Fight Scene Cinematography & Editing: The Bourne Identity vs Hero
Extremely clear and helpful
Really good video! It was interesting and informative, more of this.
Well done.
Nice content
Dude omg this is so sick
Excellent analysis and I plan on using this with a class of students, first showing the clips alone, then with your analysis. Thanks!
Very good analysis.
I put a lot of effort into it so thank you!
From a Cinematographer pov. Include a Montage & Flash backs with a muse-en- scene.?
Cool! That's very cool. Thank you for this vid.
A Bug's Life was revolutionary for me because it premiered a few months after I was born, and it was a first for child actresses Hayden Panettiere and Ashley Tisdale in their movie roles and their animated roles. What I am trying to say is...because of these things that make A Bug's Life important to me, even though it is kind of forgettable, I will never not think of A Bug's Life when I see Kevin Spacey anywhere because I can always remember him for Hopper and Denis Leary for Francis. March 13, 2020, 5:45pm
Very good, thank you :)
This Is Great Bro.............Come Back
this video is so beaut thanks man
Good Analysis
cheers man, put a lot of effort into it
It is very helpful. Thank you !
Very helpful
Thank you !
Good video, you got a good voice to wich helps.
Which
excellent!
Great analysis ! Do film critics look at all this when rating a movie ?
Kind of...but I would suspect it is usually when they are trying to figure out why certain things had an effect on them (negatively or positively). For example, many people criticize the action sequences in the Transformers movies for being confusing. A critic may look at things like editing choices and shot choices to understand and explain why the scenes are confusing.
How do i learn all the important details that convey through screen, just through breaking down videos is not enough for me. i would like to know are there any books or masterclass related to analysis online?
They showed the change in the same room with same costumes and set. The only change was camera angle
+Advait Thakur That is oversimplifying things. There are also changes in the camera position and distance, lighting, composition and framing. There is the body language. There are also subtle changes in the costume; compare Lester's tie, and the way here wears the tie, in the two scenes. Simply changing the angle wouldn't have had the same effect. As well , though the set is the same the lighting and camera position and angle remove some parts, like the potted plant, from view and de-emphasize other parts. like the sharp edges.
That is oversimplifying things. There are also changes in the camera position and distance, lighting, composition and framing. There is the body language. There are also subtle changes in the costume; compare Lester's tie, and the way here wears the tie, in the two scenes. Simply changing the angle wouldn't have had the same effect. As well , though the set is the same the lighting and camera position and angle remove some parts, like the potted plant, from view and de-emphasize other parts. like the sharp edges.
What mean blocking? Thks.
Hi @kirgrin I was wondering what program/software you used to make this video? I'm doing a scene analysis as a favor for a teacher, I just don't know how to go about it electronically!
do you think the insider should won best cinematography or American beauty?because I do i don't know why people vote for the insider
I haven't seen the Insider :) The cinematography in American Beauty is good, but I find it a little formal at times. I just use it for teaching purposes because it is really clear what the director is aiming for.
the upload event
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You still here?
Too bad today's supposed "great" directors don't work this way or use the language of cinema to tell their stories. Looking at you, Chris Nolan.
racewiththefalcons1 lol. nolan uses his storytelling talent for the most part