Mise En Scene Blogpost

                            

                         Mise En Scene

                                          

"Stranger Things" is a popular Netflix show set in the 1980s that follows a group of kids in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana, as they encounter supernatural events and secret government experiments. In Season 5, Vecna is introduced as a powerful and malevolent entity from the Upside Down. Vecna aims to merge the Upside Down with the real world, creating chaos and destruction. The main characters must band together to stop Vecna's plans and save their town and the world from this impending doom.
 

In Stranger Things, the production team does a great job of making everything look and feel like the 1980s. They pick locations that add to the spooky and mysterious vibe of the show, like the small town of Hawkins and the creepy Upside Down. The set design includes old-school furniture and props that make you feel like you're in the '80s. The costumes and makeup are also spot-on, with characters wearing high-waisted jeans, graphic tees, and cool hairstyles from that time. The makeup helps show the characters' struggles and injuries, especially when they face Vecna.

Red lighting in a scene can provide a lot of narrative information. It can often symbolize danger, passion, or intense emotion. It can also create a sense of urgency in a character's emotional state. In the opening scene, we see red lighting, automatically we can assume max, our main character in this scene, is in danger. This lighting creates a mysterious mood that helps interpret the character as scared and lost. The audience is encouraged to respond with concern leading to higher engagement. As the clip progresses, we are introduced to more characters, based on their outfits we can assume that the setting takes place around the 80's based on the highwasted jeans, graphic tees, and colorful patterns. Along with the unique 1980's hairstyles such as big hair with a lot of volume, mullets, and feathered bangs. Towards the end of the scene, we see this clip transform into a moonlight lighting after saving Max from Vecna, this is to show the end of the scene.

In conclusion, the red lighting sets a tone of danger and urgency, making the audience concerned for Max. The 1980s setting is reinforced through the characters' outfits and hairstyles. The transition to moonlight at the end signifies Max's rescue and the scene's resolution.

 

Mood board

 

Mood Boards 

In this mood board, I selected items such as sand, a beach chair, a beach ball, a beach towel, and a little boy playing in the sand to bring to life the setting and what you can typically find at the beach. I want the audience to assume that the beach is an amazing way to have fun and relax as shown in the images placed above and the boy enjoying his sand castle.

In this mood board, I selected items such as the night sky, the moon, stars, tall trees, a deer, and a hunting man to symbolize the setting of a hunter in the woods looking for prey. I want the audience to assume that the man is ready to kill the innocent deer and that the woods at night might not be a safe place if people are walking around armed looking for animals they might confuse humans for animals.

In this mood board, I selected items such as a welcome to Las Vegas sign, a car with a family, cactuses, and tall buildings in the back. I want the audience to assume that the family has arrived at their destination and is excited to get to know the fabulous Las Vegas by the smiles and excitement on all of their faces. 

In this final mood board, I selected images such as the setting of an arcade, people in the arcade, and food you might typically find in an arcade. I want the audience to assume that an arcade is a fun place where people can go to play machine games and eat some good food by the smiles and concentration on the guest face. 

Movie Rating Blogpost

 

 

        MOVIE:

        Missing (2023) - Thriller/ Mystery 

  

The movie missing gives a practitioner (15 points) rating for keeping the audience attention. The movie is filled with mystery and drama from start to finish and tells the story of a kidnapped mother and a desperate daughter in need of finding her mom. It follows the main character and her journey to solving this mystery. 

This movie meets the criteria (10 points) rating for demonstrating camera work and editing. More camera shots and movements would help more with establishing the setting and environment. For example, since the use limited camera angles and movements it doesn't help capture the emotions and various angles and new movements can help expand the idea of the movie.

When meeting the criteria for dialogue and background music, this movie gets the expert rating (20 points). The music is used to show contrast throughout and convey a feeling. For example, when June gets a surprise visit from "jimmy from church", the music conveys her feeling of fear and confusion. Since it lacks camera movements and angles, this movie makes up for it with various sounds.

For the last rating, it gets a (15 points) for has compelling and interesting actors. The actors were good and showed lots of emotions throughout the film. They accurately help show the confusion and the mystery behind the abduction of her mother. The main character was also a flat character because they did not change drastically throughout the movie. An example, would be her face also being the same and her mood never changing.

Total points: 60/80 (recommend for people that love mystery)

Analyzing Technical Elements of Film

Review of a few Camera Angles in the Movie

Missing (2023)

From Producer Nicholas Johnson and Will Merrick

I chose to comment on a few of the camera angles, sounds, and emotions in the 2023 movie, "Missing", because I believe it had one of the biggest plot twists that no one saw coming and it was a really good movie. It uses limited movement and maintains very few different angles therefore using elements such as sound and emotion to play a bigger part, unlike other movies.

                                                        

#1 The movie opens with a point-of-view shot of the main character, June Allen. This point-of-view shot gives a sense of closeness to June's computer as well as some of June’s emotions. Within this same first scene, the camera moves from a point-of-view shot to a close-up shot to captivate June's reaction to her mother's demands. This close-up shot sets the scene and lets us focus on June’s emotions. This first shot also establishes our setting where the movie will be set!

#2 This short clip carries various angles, emotions, and sounds to try and convey the message. It shifts rapidly between low, high, dutch, and eye-level angles. The low angle makes our subject seem intimidating and gives a sense of authority. The high angle makes June seem vulnerable and based on her emotion she does not look pleased. The Dutch angle contributed to her sense of unease as she embodied her overthinking. Lastly, the eye-level angle gives us as the audience a sense of equality with June. Throughout all these angles, she maintains the same emotion of unease, we can tell that the situation with her mom is weighing heavily on her mind. Finally, as the sound of the pictures gets faster and louder, it simulates her state. 

#3 In the climax of the movie this scene contributes to the suspense by throwing a plot twist in the mix. It used a zoom-in and point-of-view shot and sound to captivate and let in the audience on June's emotion throughout the scene. It starts with a point-of-view shot as June's reaction is shown on her computer through her open apps, towards the end it shifts to a zoom-in to signify her reaction to Jimmy on the front porch. The sound throughout the shots helps contribute to the feeling of suspense and uncertainty and leaves the audience on the edge so they don't know what will happen next.

#4 After the police have found a lead toward the end of the movie, it uses a tracking shot to show their way around the house contributing to the falling action and suspense as they find Jimmy also known as June's mom, and herself kidnapper dead in front of the computer with all the surveillance camera on. The intercoms between the police also help poetry sound to the audience that they have finally found the answer they were looking for and help end the suspense.

#5 In this final shot, it uses a slow zoom-out to signify the end of the episode of what we though was the movie. The sound of the text messages in the back helps contribute to the idea that all of the scenes above were just episodes of a series that left the audience with a cliffhanger!

In conclusion, this movie does an amazing job of using various elements to keep the audience engaged. The camera angles and shots, especially the use of screens and technology, create a sense of realism. This makes viewers feel like they're part of the search. The emotions throughout this film are authentic, which adds depth to the storyline and makes the audience deeply care about the outcome. Overall, these elements work together effortlessly to make this movie "Missing" a one-of-a-kind experience.

Sound Art Project

                     I worked as a group with Anabel and Emily 

                         Foley Sound Video 

COFFEE SHOP AUDIO 

                 

1. Footsteps 

2. Barista welcomes customer

3. Customer gives order 

4. Cash register 

5. Money sounds

6. Receipt printed

7. water

8. Boiling the water 

9. Ice

10. Pouring the hot coffee

11. Sugar 

12. Cup shaking

13. Whip cream

14. Close lid

15. Cup slide on table

Composition

 

                                     Rule of Thirds 

This rule of third image portrays me sitting on the couch only taking one-third of the right frame up as I look deeper into my class setting. This helps make my photos look more interesting and balanced.

                                                   Shallow Focus 

This is a shallow focus of me on my phone! Only a small part of the picture is clear, and the rest is blurry. This makes you focus on my actions and wonder what I'm doing on my phone. This is great for highlighting a specific part of the scene, like a person’s face, and making it stand out from the background. It draws attention to what’s important.

                                                   Standard Focus 

This is a standard focus of me and my friends having a conversation in the library. Both the main subject and some of the background are clear. This is useful for everyday shots where you want both the subject and some background details to be clear.

                   Deep Focus 

This is a deep focus of me reading a book! Everything in the picture, from close up to far away, is clear. You can see all the details. This is important when you want to show everything in the scene clearly, like in a landscape shot or a scene with a lot of action happening at different distances

                    Focus Pull

This is a focus pull of my friends in class. The focus changes from one thing to another in the same shot. It helps guide your eyes to different parts of the scene. This technique helps to shift the viewer’s attention from one subject to another within the same shot. It’s useful for storytelling and directing the viewer’s focus.

Classmates Commentary

 Julian Blogspot

1) The first one that caught my eye was the low angle shot because it shows Julian reaction to him looking through his bag from a low angle 

2) The second one was the over the shoulder shot because it shows Leon's emotion with Emily as they have a conversation about Cambridge 

3) Lastly, the Dutch angle was extremely confusing because it never went sideways or stayed that way.

 

Anabel Blogspot

 

1) Firstly, my favorite is the Dutch angle because it shows the true emotion of Anabel as she digs through my bag without permission.  

2) The extreme close up was really good as well because it really captivates Emily emotion as the flower is placed behind her ear.

3) However, I didn't like the over the shoulder just because personally it lacks professionalism without the editing,