mise-en-scène

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The term mise-en-scene is a French word (pronounced “meez-ahn-sen”) that traditionally meant to “place on stage.” It was widely used in theaters until its adoption in the film industry. Moviemakers borrowed the term, and it has since been used to mean the amount of control a director has over a film about individual aspects. It is composed of four elements; movement of figures, costume, setting, and lighting. Each of these elements significantly differs from film to film and have changed over time. The following essay will analyze the four mise-en-scene elements that are evident in The Graduate and American Beauty.
The Graduate
The film tells the story of a graduate, Benjamin Braddock, as he struggles to balance between his relationships with Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father’s law partner and her daughter Elaine. Although he is entirely uncomfortable with his affair with Mrs. Robinson at the start, he quickly grows into it as the two become lovers. Once he meets her daughter Elaine, he discovers that the two share a lot more than he does with Mrs. Robinson. However, as is expected, their relationship is far from rosy. The Graduate is filled with excellent cinematography, and the lighting done by the director is at times exquisite. In the opening scene, Benjamin is on a shown as he moves from right to left. There is a lot to be taken from this scene. For starters, he is close to a conveyor belt and seems to have given up power to allow some external force determine the direction of his life.

Away from that, the direction of his movement is also suspect. As the conveyor moves him from right to left, one cannot help but feel that he is not progressing. Usually, progress is indicated by movement from left to right. Even when reading, a person moves from left to right so that he or she may complete the book. This motion is representative of his life, how it has stalled, and how Ben is not making any development.
In another scene, as Ben is on a raft in the pool, his father comes to him and begins to lecture him. It is a sun glare shot, and his father is not clearly visible. This is representative of the way his parents have been throughout his life; blinding and constantly suffocating him without allowing him to make his choices. The perfect example is their insistence that he calls Elaine. At the time, he was not looking for any relationship, but they pestered him until he had no option. The costumes or what is seen when characters are wearing them also tells a story. In one scene that is shot by the pool both Ben and Mrs. Robinson, have clearly visible tan lines. These lines are indicative of the pressure to have good looks and perfect figures that being a middle class brings with it.
Perhaps the last element of mise-en-scene used in the film is the movement of figures and characters. In one instance, Ben moves out of Elaine’s room and the camera zooms in to show Mrs. Robinson’s face. In this particular scene, there is a lot of tension between the two characters and zooming in on one of them only accentuates the tension. The moment is also crucial as it becomes evident that Benjamin will not heed to Mrs. Robinson’s warning of not seeing Elaine. Such moments are full of tension and nervousness and only serve to make things more interesting. Even with Mrs. Robinson standing still, the movement of the camera heightens the intensity of the scene. The director who is Mike Nichols expertly uses different elements of mise-en-scene, and all of them serve to make the film more enticing.
American Beauty
This is another film that cleverly utilizes mise-en-scene to convey different points. It focuses on the life of Lester Burnham as he goes through his midlife crisis. His teenage daughter’s best friend infatuates him, and he tries to pursue her. It is a depiction of the struggles that middle-class American citizens go through. His wife is materialistic, and his insecure daughter makes up the dysfunctional family. It is important to analyze each detail in the film, as it may be part of something larger and be the director’s way of conveying his message.
One of the most striking images associated with the film is the red rose. A simple picture, the Rose regularly appears throughout the movie. To Lester, the rose is a symbol of youthful lust and desire that he simply cannot have no matter how much he would wish to. He is constantly thinking about Angela, her daughter’s best friend, during the day and dreams of her at night. In all his visions of her, she is either surrounded by roses or laying in a bathtub that is also filled with roses. As he lays on the bed, the roses fall on him from the ceiling when he lays next to his wife. He is utterly disinterested in his spouse as all he can think about is Angela.
Another element of mise-en-scene is in lighting as used by the director. There is an aura of optimism when Lester is finally free from his wife. This optimism is accompanied by positive light that shows Lester has broken free of his overbearing wife. The sun shines a light, and there is some upbeat music that can be heard in the background. Contrastingly, once Lester’s wife fails in selling her house, she confines herself in a dark kitchen. This dark lighting provides an ominous sense of things and shows just how sad the state of affairs is. Costumes also play an important part of the film. There is a theme of inner beauty. Once Jane views her neighbor’s video clip, she is convinced that what she is witnessing is real beauty despite the fact that it is just a plastic bag that is floating through the air. Ordinarily, most people would not associate such a thing with beauty. Ricky, who her neighbor also manages to see a pool full of blood as beautiful. The color red always reappears throughout the film, and it is also symbolic of beauty. There is a profound sense of irony with the way the director uses the red color. It starts out as a symbol of youth and lust and in the end it depicts tragedy and sorrow.
In conclusion, both The Graduate and American Beauty contain various elements of mise-en-scene. Whether it is lighting, costume design, the setting, or movement of the figures, both Mike Nichols and Sam Mendes who directed the latter film capture each element effortlessly. All the elements used serve a particular purpose. This includes the portrayal of character growth as in the case of Lester or Benjamin’s lack of progress. The elements are craftily used.