Mise-en-scène (2)
Ridley Scott, Blade Runner (1982)
Ridley Scott, Blade Runner (1982)
- History of the film
- Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (SF novel, 1968)
- Initial failure in theaters
- Cult success on video
- 1982 release version; 1992 director’s cut; 2007 "Final Cut"
- Subsequent influence: the look of the future
- A question of genre
- Science fiction
- The legacy of film noir
- Postmodernism and hybridity
Blade Runner: The Cityscape
- Three-dimensional grunge and clutter
- Use of mockups and mattes
- Suggestions of 1940s costumes, plus diverse styles from different periods
- Multiple languages (English, Japanese, Spanish)
- Crowds
- Ubiquitous advertising signs and sounds
- Muted colors and shadows
Blade Runner: Lighting
- It's almost always night
- It's almost always raining
- Neon and other artificial light
- Chiaroscuro (clair-obscure; the arrangement of light and dark)
- Refraction of the city lighting through the rain
- An emulation of film noir, but in color
- The poetics of nostalgia
Themes: Replicants and Commodities
- Deckard kills Zhora
- Glass, showroom windows
- Dolls, commodities, replicants, human beings
- Artificiality (no more nature)
Themes: Reality and Unreality
- Fractal similarities across scale
- Faces on giant billboards
- Sebastian's toys
- Deckard's computer scan
- Reality is entirely penetrated by technology
- The real has been replaced by its images
- Humans vs. Replicants: how do they really differ?
- Is Deckard a replicant? (the unicorn)
Themes: Eyes, Vision, Memory
- The eye factory
- "If only you could see the things I've seen with your eyes"
- Batty blinds Tyrell in the process of killing him
- Rachel's false memories
- Memories enable emotions
- "All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain"
Dimensions of Mise-en-scène
- Screen space
- Movement within the frame
- Color and composition
- Aspects of size and depth
- Screen time
- Rhythm and movement of the shot
- Relations of distance change over time
- Varieties of mise-en-scène
- Naturalistic vs. Stylized/Theatrical
- Ordinary (unobtrusive) vs. Extraordinary (self-reflexive)
- Classical vs. Modern
Varieties of mise-en-scène (1)
Naturalistic (Classical Hollywood)
Howard Hawks, His Girl Friday (1940)
- Unobtrusive mise-en-scène, focusing our attention on the actors and script
- Naturalistic set and costumes (studio set)
- Three-point, high-key lighting
- Emphasis always on the lead actors (Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell)
- Witty, fast-paced repartee (screwball comedy)
- Space and time are uniform, and serve the give-and-take of the dialogue
Varieties of mise-en-scène (2)
Naturalistic (anti-Hollywood)
Vittorio de Sica, The Bicycle Thief (1948)
- Italian Neo-Realism in the late 1940s
- Setting: post-World War II Rome, Italy (poverty, joblessness)
- Bright, even lighting, but blank, broken-down settings
- Characters overwhelmed by environment
- Vision exceeds action: characters' ability to act is limited
- Crowds of strangers
- Non-professional actors
Varieties of mise-en-scène (3)
Naturalistic (modern)
John Cassavetes, A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
- Set and costumes are naturalistic...
- ...but they still call attention to themselves
- Shot in real locations, with natural lighting
- Everyday moments, rather than extraordinary ones
- Behaviorism: emphasis on the moment-to-moment behavior of the actors
- Unshaped, highly naturalistic dialogue
- Variability of space and time
Varieties of mise-en-scène (4)
Theatrical (expressive)
Robert Wiene, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
- German expressionism in the 1920s
- Artificial sets and stylized, anti-naturalistic acting
- Diagonals emphasized over horizontal and vertical
- Heavy use of shadows
- Tinted frames
- Sense of derangement and paranoia, fitting the plot of the film
Varieties of mise-en-scène (5)
Theatrical (artificial)
Busby Berkeley, 42nd Street (1933)
- "Young and Healthy" production number
- Starts on a stage, but quickly moves into artificial world
- Extravagant fantasies, escapism
- Repeated body types and costumes
- Dancers forming elaborate patterns
- A point of view that would be impossible in the theater
- Mini-narratives
- Visual eroticism