Mise en Scene Film Review: Repulsion

Repulsion

Mise en Scene Film Review: Black Narcissus

Mise en Scene FIlm Review: Edward Scissorhands

Edward Scissorhands (1990) was written and directed by Tim Burton and is based on the thoughts of disfigurement and creativity with ties into Burtons fascination with Frankenstein.

One of the more noticeable aspects of Edward Scissorhands is the set design and the unique ways in which two contradicting worlds come together so well 'The apparently gloomy castle is in fact a shelter from the seemingly happy outside world, which is in fact, much darker and sinister underneath its bright colours.' (Esteryn, 2012) As Esteryn points out, the beginning of the film shows Edward in his 'birth' house which is essentially like your typical creepy house on a hill; over-grown, unloved, lack of colour and a lack of life stand out from the house. This odd house on a hill is placed at the end of a typical 60's American suburbia where everything is symmetrical and perfectly pastel. However, once the story unfolds, the audience realises that it's not the creepy house on the hill that they should be scared or afraid of, it's the 'normality' in which the Suburban housewives live in. 

Figure 1

Figure 1 is a hot from early on in the film and shows the design differences between the two worlds that Edward lives in. 'The movie takes place in an entirely artificial world, where a haunting Gothic castle crouches on a mountaintop high above a storybook suburb, a goofy sitcom neighbourhood where all of the houses are shades of pastels and all of the inhabitants seem to be emotional clones of the Jetsons' (Ebert, 2003) Roger Ebert points out that the suburban neighbourhood is viewed upon as a goofy sitcom and very unrealistic, which ties in with Burtons visual style throughout the film, each aspect of Edward Scissorhands is somewhat an exaggerated truth of the real world but not unbelievably so. 

Edwards house, the haunting Gothic castle, used its size to help create the feeling that Edward was monstrous and an abnormality from the pastel life of the suburb. The sizing of the castle in relation to Edward made him almost look like a small creature lost in the huge space of the house that was warning people off with its structure and appearance. 

Figure 2 shows one of the characters inside the castle, it demonstrates the way in which the set almost engulfs the character by its size and makes them seem small and exposed in the empty spaces.

Figure 2

Edward Scissorhands came from a simple sketch and personal influences from Tim Burton were brought in to create a truly interesting and moving film, ' this personal effort, perhaps the cinema’s most enchanting parable about the misunderstood and alienated artist.' (Larsen, 2012) There are many different interpretations running through this film, but the most noticeable one is the idea of alienated artists and the ridicule for not being the stereotype of 'normal' which is uncovered in the film to represent something horrible and untrusting when something of 'unique' stature appears in their world.

Figure 3

'Edward connected with audiences who could relate to his loneliness and desire to be accepted into a larger community, but who was ultimately cast off because of his freakish, confrontational otherness. Burton's sketch beautifully captures the beauty and emotion of Edward's weirdness.' (Ciampaglia, 2009) Ciampaglia's quote depicts the characteristics and the personality portrayed in the sketch and the way in which Johnny Depp then portrays the character in the film. 

Bibliography

Images

Figure 1 - http://www.alicia-logic.com/capsimages01/esc_014Neighborhood.jpg 

Figure 2 - http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTUxMjA1NDgyM15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNjA0NzY3._V1._SX475_SY311_.jpg

Figure 3 - http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ktacx0WLaX1qa214go1_400.jpg

Quotes
Alias Esteryn. In: http://coco.raceme.org [online] At: http://coco.raceme.org/films/edwardscissorhands/review.php (Accessed on: 13/11/12)

Roger Ebert. In: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com [online] At: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19901214/REVIEWS/12140301 (Accessed on: 13/11/12) 

Larsen. In: http://www.larsenonfilm.com  [online] At: http://www.larsenonfilm.com/index.php?Search=Edward%20Scissorhands%20Winston&AllWords=on (Accessed on: 13/11/12)

Dante Ciampaglia. In: http://www.forbes.com [online] At: http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/24/tim-burton-drawings-moma-opinions-art-review-dante-a-ciampaglia_slide_6.html (Accessed on: 13/11/12)

Mise en Scene Film Review: You Only Live Twice

James Bond: You Only Live Twice (1967), is the fifth film in the James Bond collection. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert with screenplay done by Roald Dahl.One of the most famous sets from You Only Live Twice is the volcano lair featured in the film. The design of the volcano lair was created by Ken Adam, who was well known for his set designs and managed to create a space both large in size and with the hints of classicism running through the interior.

Figure 1

'it also gave Bond's nemesis a new home: a hollowed-out volcano. And that volcano became one of the most iconic images associated with 007' (Radford, 2011) As Radford states, the volcano lair from You Only Live Twice became one of the most iconic images associated with the James Bond collection, and for its time, was the most expensive set built with working Monorail, and fixtures inside the set that the actors could interact with. 

Another noticeable feature about the volcano lair is its similarities to the Dome that Hitler wanted to create; the structure of the lair and also Hitlers Dome were designed to work against the theories behind Classicism and instead of the architecture working with the human form, the building works against it and is made to look as though the structure is almost crushing the people inside it. 'The building that best illustrates Hitler's megalomania is the so-called Volkshalle (People's Hall). Around 320 meters (350 yards) in height and covered with a giant dome, it would have been the largest domed building in the world — able to accommodate 180,000 people at once' (Kirchner, 2008) 

Figure 2

Gilbert had the opportunity to direct You Only Live Twice and 2 other Bond films; each of these films were labelled as 'epics' due to the far-fetched story lines, set designs and ideas behind each of them. This grabbed the audiences attention, but it also made the films susceptible to mockery in from films such as Austin Powers, which used areas such as the Piranha pools/Shark pools or the volcano lair in their spoof films. 

'You Only Live Twice References

• Dr. Evil is based on the Donald Pleseance version of Blofeld
• Alotta Fagina says, "In Japan, men come first. Women come second." Tiger Tanaka says the same thing to Bond in the spa. ' (Multiple references, N/A)

Figure 3

Figure 4

Bibliography

Quotes
Ian Radford. In: http://www.i-flicks.net/blogalongabond [online] At: http://www.i-flicks.net/blogalongabond/2499-blogalongabond-you-only-live-twice-1967 (Accessed on: 04/11/2012)
Stephanie Kirchner. In: http://www.time.com [online] At: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1725102,00.html (Accessed on: 04/11/12)
Multiple References. In: http://www.universalexports.net [online] At: http://www.universalexports.net/00Austin.shtml (Accessed on: 04/11/12)

Images
Figure 1 - https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRWPJk5MwC2qhO3ty6BgG2euVcPthor-_zlp1Z90KuAi7yneNIQ3ANVp-osWzOMIsFrAZL-sxVhW6TExqFKf9Wk0CmT1s4HiJhGcrOB6yMfYnTfkpZPKPVdW_MrkJy2QMiBWv4g7Dw4EVa/s400/9.jpg
Figure 2 - http://www.moillusions.com/wp-content/uploads/2.bp.blogspot.com/_cxmptAPYR-s/RipCP7aat5I/AAAAAAAAAs8/jBJxoUvxr7U/s400/DomedHall.jpg 

Figure 3 - https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKCZubuN6VISv0rOc1srGp71Dy_JdfBXDG9C2bFtX9NCpTcdjZNFsBhYTs_yPTwvJkQPIZgx_CB9Bg-5HpkJeSiRrmtgzZ_Hc2tjF_5qy3SKu32bbOSIP9LGNSwA69JbPpyFcQ_4dDstrg/s1600/DrEvilsLair_300x200.jpg
Figure 4 - http://i26.tinypic.com/32zq4i0.jpg