Short Film Reflective Analysis

Reflective Analysis – ‘Untitled'

In this essay I will be writing about the use and meaning of mise-en-scene in the short film myself and a group of my peers made.

The name of our short film was Untitled. The overall plot for the piece is a student who is struggling for ideas about his film coursework. He proceeds to fall asleep whilst brainstorming, only to dream about various scenarios he could do. During the course of his dream he imagines three sketches;  two spies conversing over dinner, a classic western shoot out and a noir detective stumbling upon a corpse. Upon his awakening, the student's creativity ignites and he begins to plot down all his film ideas.

In the beginning the film is set in a normal kitchen. Mise-en-scene is used here to create the appearance of this room being completely typical. The male lead is dressed in trendy everyday clothes that show him as being a model teenager.  We chose to dress him like this because we wanted to show the juxtaposition of how weird the film was about to become.

 The dream sequence is split into three sections; a spy thriller scene,  western scene and a film noir scene. In our film we used mise-en-scene to convey the codes and conventions that are normally associated with a specific genre. For example, in the spy scene the male lead wears a tuxedo suit. We chose to dress him in this because it is normal in this genre for the male protagonist to appear suave. The use of formal wear helps portray the image of sophistication.  As a team we chose to dress the female lead in formal clothes too as it is a norm for the female villainess to appear to be a 'femme fatale' archetype.

We also used guns to portray the espionage element of the spy film genre.  The way in which the guns were used, hidden under the table in a deceptive manner, adds to the secrecy and suspense that is a norm for spy films. The lighting we used in the scene is purposely dim to create a mysterious atmosphere that drives the tension. 

In the western sequence mise-en-scene is a huge factor. We chose to dress the characters in items that are famous to the genre; double denim, cowboy hats and holsters. This items help the audience to easily recognise that this clip. The colour of the clothes also identify certain character tropes. For example the lighter colouring of the male character implies he is the 'goodie', whilst the more darker clad female is mad out to be the 'baddie'.  We purposed positioned the female lead to be languidly pressed against the wall as many rogues in Western films have a stance like this before they face the protagonist.  

We also decided to saturate the colour of the frame to give it an earthy, golden feel. We did this because many western movies apply this to set the scene as it helps create the dusky atmosphere of the Wild West. The frame itself has been stretched to visually appear narrower and wider. As a group we decided to edit the film this way because it the majority of western shoot outs the frame is switched to this.

Lighting is also used in the noir section to convey convention. We shot it in black and white as this is a staple of the 1930/40's noir era. We decided to use a slightly grainy overlay as this mimicked the old look noir films have. The male lead is dressed in a trench coat, symbolising his career as a detective and law enforcer. He also carries a notepad listing recent crime statistics. Trench coats and notepads are often seen  in the noir genre. As a group we purposely decided to put them in to further communicate the norms of the genre.

His facial expression is noteworthy as he doesn't show any emotion or grief at his grisly finding. It is a character trope for noir detectives to be stoic and impassive so we consciously made his expression connote that.

In conclusion, the project was enjoyable and I personally had a good time participating in and creating it. Our group worked well together and we each showed interest and care in the roles we were allocated during filming. I think our use of mise-en-scene successfully shown the codes and conventions of each genre.  All together I think our short film was a success albeit there are parts that I think we could be improve upon.