Mise en Scene (Lesson 1)

Shaun of the Dead
What information can be determined from Ed and Shauns through mise en scene ?

The SHOT TYPE, as you can see at the beginning of the scene the rubbish on the table showed up very close, explained that there lives are very lazy and messy.

The contrast between Pete (Peter Serafinowicz) and Shaun (Simon Pegg) in suits ready to work, whilst Ed (Nick Frost) is sat in his top and underpants playing on the playstation, this portrays how bummy and sad his character is.

Ed and Shaun both cannot take things seriously, as they are distracted constantly by the video game and their own humour, this connotes that they can't take any matters into consideration.

28 Days Later
What is so powerful about the mise en scene in this sequence?

The famous tourist attractions ( Big Ben, Buckingham Palace etc) that are well known as the camera passes, to signify that the film is based in the London location.

At the very beginning of the scene, you see that Jim (Cillian Murphy) is fully naked in the hospital with many wires and other components sticking out of him, this could represent re-birth.

Also the deserted city of London, and the car and shop windows that are all smashed with blood across them suggests that it is a horror based film.

The Shining
What clues are given about the theme of the film?

You see that throughout this sequence that it's the only car moving towards the destination whilst the rest are either static or moving in the opposite direction, which means that there are certain reasons why no other cars are following.

An eary feeling is created, as it's the only car driving and no others are in sight, it gives the opening of the film that isolated and lonely feeling.

The change of seasons as the car keeps moving fowards, this suggests that the vehicle is on a long journey and is very far away from their homeland, this represents that this character is in the middle of nowhere and that there is no way of escaping.