Mise-En-Scene Homework


One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - Mise-en-scene

Electrotherapy scene



Setting

The setting in this scene is set in a room in a mental health hospital in 1962, where electrotherapy would have taken place. The setting has next to no detail and is completely white, indicating that the room is sterile and only used for medical purposes, we know this because white is considered a ‘pure’ colour and is quite often used in hospitals.

The lack of colour in the scene may make the audience uncomfortable and wary of what’s to come because there is no specific colour to set the mood. The size of the room is very small with a large amount of people in so it would seem quite claustrophobic to both the main character and the audience.

 The setting shows that the movie is a drama because it focuses on the main aspects of the room (size, colour etc) and exaggerates them which makes it seem more dramatic. The setting suggests that the mood of the scene would be lacking in emotion and performed quite seriously because of the colour and the lack of detail, however, as the scene goes on, we find out that it is the opposite of that.

The setting in the scene implies that the main character could be unwell or that they might have some sort of mental health problem, this is because the scene shows a doctor’s room and a large number of doctors and nurses in it.



Costume

The costumes worn in this scene, much like the setting, are very devoid of colour and lacking detail. The costume worn by the main character is a plain white jumpsuit worn with brown boots, the costume in this scene also includes a set of leather wrist restraints, this costume shows us that the film was set in the 1960’s because the mental health hospitals have since stopped the use of such restraints unless required.

The costume suggests that the main character has been held in the mental health hospital for quite some time and has been required to wear the outfit. The wrist restraints suggest that the main character could be potentially dangerous or he has done something particularly harmful towards the staff or peers.



Lighting

The lighting in this scene is very high key. The use of this high key lighting could cause the audience to become quite shocked by the brightness of the scene much like the main character would be when he enters the room. This could be used to make the audience sympathise with the main character which would make the audience feel more towards the character.

The lighting remains consistent throughout the scene which would cause the audience to not know what to expect, causing the events and actions to be a shock when they appear on screen. This is a good effect to use because it leaves the audience in suspense and makes them want to watch on.



Figure expression and movement

In this scene, the main character is placed mainly in the centre of the frame. This indicates that the character is usually the centre of attention and the things happening in the scene would mainly happen to him. It could also imply that the character is quite a show off and is used to having most of the attention drawn to him.

The main character’s movement and attitude shows us that he is a very comedic character and likes to talk a lot, however, in this particular scene, the character shows slight worry in his facial expressions and tone of voice, and his comedic attempts seem like he is trying to comfort himself in order to keep himself calm for what happens next. Right before the character receives the electroshock therapy, he is heard singing through the mouthpiece and this is the main sign that he is nervous, as many people sing to themselves in worrying situations.

The characters movements are calm and collected at first when he is laid down on to table, however when he is asked to sit up for a brief moment his actions become slightly more fast paced and he starts to fidget a lot more, which is a clear sign of nervousness. When the electroshock therapy takes place, his movements became a lot more frantic and the convulsions that he receives from the electricity show us that he could be in pain.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Post 20

Post 23 (Part 1)

Post 34