Musical Film | Film Critique - Mise En Scène

Identify what moments in the films we watched where the mise en scène helped you to understand the plot or the characterisation in the story. 

We watched all four films that we produced and each and every one of them is very unique. First, I would like to talk about Jamie's group's film. One of the most unforgettable moments for me is when the camera shot from a low angle, with Jamie looking down at the camera. I think that how they arranged Jamie to be in the middle of the frame and looking down is really clever as it shows how he is intimidating and seemingly more powerful than the other actor. At that moment, that arrangement made me thought that Jamie would win over Justin, however, it turns out to be the opposite, which was really surprising and unexpected. It definitely made the storyline a lot more interesting. Also, Justin was wearing a suit in the last scene when he confessed his love. By wearing a suit, it portrays how he has already grown older and become more mature. He was also holding a bunch of flowers, which effectively made the scene more realistic. Moreover, in the first scene of the film, the lighting was bright and it was focused on Yoonjin and Justin, which tells me that their relationship at that stage was developing well and that their moods were happy as they have become true friends - friends that can rely on each other. 

Secondly, another film that I would like to discuss about is “Cousin in Town”, which is produced by Kaia’s group. Chih Ning’s costume throughout the film was very effective in showing her personality / character. Her eye glasses shows her intelligence, yet at the same time, her pigtails depict how she is still very youthful  and innocent. In addition, in one of the scenes where Chih Ning goes to Kaia’s house to help her with her math, the lighting was very dim.

Last but not least, I would like to comment on the mise en scène of my group’s film, “Stay With Me”. I think the most significant features of our film would be the props / set dressing and the colors of the costumes. An example of the use of color and props / set dressing in our film would be in the scene where Jeremy is packing. He is wearing a green shirt, which not only matches with his bed, but also shows his optimism and happiness about leaving for boarding school as green is an emotionally positive color. Green also represents growth and it tells the audience that leaving to go to boarding school would help him become more mature and grow as an individual. One of the props that we used in this scene - the suits, have the same effect as well. 

All in all, all four films were enjoyable and the mise en scène in each of them has a great effect on the interpretation of the audience by giving hints about the plot and characterisation in the story.