Mise-en-Scene Blog Analysis

 

Mise-en-Scene Blog Analysis:

Gilmore Girls -Season 1 Episode 7

Gilmore girls uses many interesting techniques to capture the attention of and retain their audience. Various aspects of mise-en-scene can be found throughout this comedic series. I have personally watched each season of this show many times and find it to be both compelling and comforting to watch.

Location/Setting and Props:

In this opening scene you can see Laurali as she walks with her daughter Rory through the town. This particular setting is already familiar to viewers as it signifies the opening of many episodes where the two walk together in the morning to get breakfast at Luke's Dinner. They walk past a gazebo, which marks the center of the small town and contributes to the charming town atmosphere portrayed throughout the series. You can tell it is morning as a man nearby yawn with a coffee cup and the light is becoming slightly brighter. The town center, where the two walk, is also filled with pumpkins and hay balls signifying to the viewers that it is fall season. Further there is a sign that reads Stars Hallow, Connecticut, near the gazebo. The camera pans to this sign as the characters pass it and it remains in the background behind them for some time. This was deliberately done to remind viewers precisely where the story is set, which is in this small town of "Stars Hallow." Additionally, there are pumpkins and hay balls seen throughout the town center to remind viewers that is fall and give a greater sense of a small vibrant town, which is known for celebrating every holiday and season throughout the year. 

Costume, Hair, Make-Up:

In this episode it is fall and nearing winter. Because the show is placed in a small town in Connecticut, the characters are all dressed warmly and in layers of clothing to reflect that. While both Laurali and Rory are in warmer clothing, they are dressed slightly different to resemble their different personalities. Laurali is a bit more eccentric and extroverted throughout all of the show and therefore is seen wearing brighter colors with some contrasting materials. She wears dark black tights and tall brown boots, with a deep red sweater and a yellow multi-colored scarf. She as has a red lip, and her overall make-up works to make her stand out more. Rory is seen wearing blue jeans and a cream-colored sweater. This outfit is more low-key and reflects her more introverted calmer personality. Additionally, while Laurali has her hair blown out, Rory's is in a simple braid showing the difference in time they each take with getting dressed. Further all of the characters or extras seen walking behind the pair, through the center of town, are also dressed in warm clothing, such as sweaters, vests, and boots. However, none of these individuals are dressed in a manner that would allow them to stand out in the background and are therefore seen in more muted colors. 

Lighting and Color:

As both Rory and Laurali walk through the center of town the lighting remains consistent and bright as it is the morning, and they are walking specifically to get breakfast. While there is bright lighting there is many shadows is the background produced by the many tall buildings throughout the town. This dark showdown seen between buildings however did not extend to the town center and the gazebo, which was much more brightly lit. Along with this the trees in the town center or square casted shadows through the park, yet the sign that read "Stars Hallow" remained bright light amongst everything surrounding it. Further the background contained many warm colors such as yellow, brown, orange, and red to reflect the specific time of year.

Facial Expressions, Body Language:

Both Rory and Laurali have various facial expressions that reflect the conversation they are having while they walk into the diner. Each episode goes through the typical day in the lives of these two women discussing mundane tasks they do and their respective jobs and school, while also going over the various drama the go through. However, in each conversation the two bicker, and in this particular conversation they are arguing about Rory doing her laundry without Laurali, while Rory has an amused expression on her face and a visible slight smile as she responds to her mother, Laurali seems more frustrated. Laurali's eyebrows are furrowed, and her voice is raised as she speaks to Rory who responds in a calmer manner. Laurali also uses lots of hand jesters to convey her frustration while Rory's hand remains by her side.

Proximity and Blocking:

As the two women walk, they are close to each other walking side by side, this is because they are related and obviously very comfortable with each other's presence even while they argue. As they pass through the park in the middle of town many individuals are seen walking behind the two, but the camera does not show anyone crossing in front of them as to keep them the main focus of the entire clip. As both characters walk there is a switch from a medium shot of the two arguing to a long shot where you can better get a sense of where they are in town and see other familiar characters interacting in the background. There is then a following switch back to a medium shot as the two enter the diner, pushing the door open and yelling for the owner Luke.

Sound Project Analysis

 

Sound Project Analysis

My group and I were assigned a sound project in which we had to make a 1–2-minute video portraying a scene of our choice. We had to create our video and construct our scene using only sound elements. We were tasked with this challenge after learning about the importance of sound in film and the drastic effect it can have on viewers depending on the full scope of the auditory effects and sound techniques. This assignment was extremely challenging for my group as we could not use any visual elements to portray our story and had to rather use strictly sound elements. This project allowed us to understand how difficult it can be to create the sound for film and the amount of work that goes into this production.

For this project I worked with a different group as I wanted to switch things up and collaborate with other peers in my class. I worked with Mallory, Kayla, and Jaide to decide what scene we wanted to portray. After some thought we decided that it would be fun to try and recreate a scene from a coffee shop in which a student would enter and do schoolwork. We thought this would be easier for us to create as we often went to coffee shops to do homework and could recall all of the levels of sounds there are in this environment. We felt that we could easily recreate many of the sounds needed in this scenario, however we realized it would be difficult to recreate certain sounds such as those produced by coffee machines. Luckily, our project allowed us to combine both sounds we created ourselves and those we found online in order to create this auditory experience.

Before my group and I began gathering the sounds, we thought it would be beneficial to create an outline of all the sounds we wanted to include in the project. We spent time deliberating the many sounds that we had each individually experienced hearing in local coffee shops. After writing down the many different sounds we felt were common in the coffee shop we included other sounds that you would hear when someone is studying, such as the keys on a laptop. Finally, we separated the sounds into two different groups, those you would hear walking into the shop, and the sounds you would hear once you sat down to study. 

Sound Project Outline:

Once we had outlined our project, we decided to start recording the sounds that we would make ourselves. I recorded some sounds with my group while at school such as the sound of footsteps walking into the coffee shop, the sound of chairs moving, as well as sounds related to the actual studying. Jaide recreated these sounds at school while I recorded. We captured the sound of writing on a notebook, unzipping a backpack, and typing on a laptop. I also recreated the sound of rain to add to the background my tapping on lockers with my nails. All of these sounds we created ourselves we filmed and complied into the video below.

Foley Stage:

https://youtu.be/jBRc3NwjGuA?feature=shared

Along with these sounds we created some other sounds at our own homes, such as the sound of a toaster toasting bread and the sound of the knife spreading butter on it. Kayla also recorded the sound of ice clicking in a cup and the crinkling of a rapper. All of these sounds were editing together and layered over other sounds we found online, such as people talking and music to add to the atmosphere. Overall, I felt we were successful in portraying a student studying in a coffee shop utilizing only sound. While this project was challenging at times, I felt that I was able to grasp the importance of auditory elements in portraying any story.

Sound Project:

https://youtu.be/fSQWJvgc9LE

5 Master Editing Techniques

 5 Master Editing Techniques Project 

My group and I were assigned a film project where we were tasked with portraying the 5 master editing techniques. After observing how each of these techniques were used in various films we felt prepared to create our own examples utilizing the different techniques. These 5 techniques were filmed in 5 different clips and separated by the specific name of such technique in hopes of making it clear to the audience which technique is being portrayed. The idea of filming our use of each technique in separate unrelated clips was made once we realized that we would be unable to film all of the clips in one day, and should therefore split the filming of the 5 techniques over the course of two days. We exchanged various ides for representing these ideas amongst the four of us in the group and choose the idea that we thought would be most entertaining to the audience.

The first technique we portrayed was contrast, which is seen in the first scene of our video. We felt that this scene was entertaining for the viewer, while also being simpler to film. We came up with the idea to contrast between two drastically different behaviors. In the beginning we show Mallory falling to the floor in the hallway and dropping all of the books she had been holding. Brianna then enters into the frame to help Mallory collect her books from the floor. As Brianna passes the books to Mallory there is a mid shot, which allows the viewers to see the positive connotation of this exchange and solidify the kindness of Brianna's gesture. This act of kindness is followed by the next clip where Brianna pushes Mallory and she drops all of her belongings awkwardly to the ground. The camera then pans from this full body shot of Mallory to a much closer mid shot of Brianna laughing at Mallory, who she had tripped. This contrasts the way Brianna had previously acted and shows the different reactions presented by the contrasting situations. There is also soft music played over the first clip that increases in volume as Brianna changes and becomes more aggressive in the second shot.

The next editing scene we pieced together was a little bit more difficult to come up with, but was hopefully all the more creative. We portrayed the editing technique of simultaneity by combining two shots of different individuals dancing and pointing towards the camera. In the first shot it is a full body shot of Brianna dancing and pointing to the camera or to another individual which is implied. The following shot is a full body shot of two other girls dancing and pointing to the camera as well. These two shots are placed back to back to imply that Brianna is enticing the other girls to join in her dance party, which they do as they are seen dancing or pointing back. These two scenes are cut together to suggest simultaneity. The next shot however, reveals that the girls were not dancing together and Brianna was in fact not putting on a show for them . This is seen as the camera follows Brianna dancing some more to pointing again to the camera, but this time the camera follows her finger as it points to the right side of the frame, and the camera pans to Mallory and Hunter on the couch looking underwhelmed watching Brianna dance. This was added to reinforce the simultaneity or parallel of the previous clips and to mainly add humor for the amusement of those watching the film.  

Our next shot was Leit Motiff. For our portrayal of Leit Motiff, we recorded various shots from different angles, all of which included Brianna walking throughout the school doing everyday tasks. In each clip Hunter can be seen following her in a creepy way. We portray his unnoticed and unwanted following of Brianna by playing eerie music and positioning him so that the camera can see him, but he remains out of Brianna's view. It was difficult being creative with this, but we were able to capture Hunter lurking near by through over the shoulder shots, or panning to show him in a corner or behind a wall watching. We also got creative by capturing Hunter through the mirror in Brianna's locker and positioned him so that he was out of her view while she sifted through the locker. Additionally, we also included shots where we would take close up shots of Hunter after revealing his hidden location to emphasize his presence and add to the uncomfortable atmosphere.

We followed our Leit Motiff shot with our symbolism shot. We initially thought of the idea to use a pen when I got frustrated in class trying to use a pen with no ink to write my notes. We realized that the empty pen could be used to symbolize an emotion. After discussing further we came up with the idea of the pen with no ink representing a drained student. This symbolism has many layers as the pen ran out of ink as the student had been using it excessively, which could show that they had been working hard and could potentially be very tired or "drained." We took the  first shot of the student trying to write with the pen and getting visibly upset as it ran out of ink. We then cut to the next clip where we zoom in on the student as the sleep in the hall looking extremely tired and "drained."

Lastly we shot our parallelism editing scene where we spent a lot of time trying to find two things that would portray a similarity of parallelism. We finally came up with the idea to connect Brianna's eye with that of another object. As we walked in the hall we found a banner with animals painted on it and found Brianna's eye to match the dark coloring of the lambs eye. After a few attempts we finally got a zoomed in shot of Brianna's eye before cutting to the zoomed shot of the lamb, which we slowly reversed from to show the context of the lamb's eye. 

5 Master Editing Techniques Video:

https://youtu.be/onIsxFLfGkA?si=0Gj3XKn6A4Vj5X3M