Elements of Design

Elements of Design

Introduction

According to Kolker, R. (2005), mise-en-scene is a French word that was originated in theaters and it means to put in the scene. From the perspective of a film it includes shot composition, framing the shot, movement of characters and cameras; lightening, location, sound and set designs. It helps in pointing out the spaces from where shots must be taken and it slows down production when care is taken in terms of lighting, performance and composition. Mise-en-scene analyzes not only the components of a shot but also identifies the meaning behind those components and helps in connecting the shots with theme of the movie (www.cod.edu). According to Nusim,R. (2001) movies tell the story by using cinematic language which includes framing shots, editing, costumes, lightening, camera angle, location and special effects. A Scene presumption of a scared kid taken from the movie Good Will Hunting was analyzed by the help of mise-en-scene. The scene was shot in an open location where the two characters of the movie meet and discussed their life experiences. Mise-en-analysis helped in understanding the reasons behind the director's choice of an open location, lighting in the scene; movement and body postures of the characters; and framing of the shots during the scene.

Discussion

In order to analyze the mise-en-scene the movie chosen was Good Will Hunting that came in the year 1997. The story of the movie surrounds a 20 year old boy Will from Boston who has a genius level of intellect but he chooses to work as a janitor in the Massachusetts Institute of Information Technology. He was very good at Maths and could easily solve difficult problems placed by his teachers. Will faced prison for beating a man that was taunting him, his teacher suggested that if Will studies Maths under him and visits a therapists he could avoid going to jail. Wills teacher arranged a therapist Sean for him. After some therapy sessions both Will and Sean found that they were both victims of child abuse and Sean helped Will to accept that the assault he suffered was not his fault. Will after overcoming his psychological problems found that his friends love him as they gave him a car on his 21st birthday which Will accepts after making a promise that he will use it for finding jobs and return to California to meet his girlfriend.

The best scene from the movie was when Sean and Will meet for the second time in a park. In this scene Sean gives lecture to Will that education has certain limitations and everything cannot be learned through education, sometimes our life experiences become learning for us and there are many things which you learn from your life experiences. Mise-en-Scene analysis understanding the reason behind a park location because it was an unofficial meeting between a psychologist and his patient therefore director chose a natural location, framing of shots was focusing the faces of both the characters as emotions were changing quickly, costumes and make-up of ...