I would like you to watch portions of Birth of a Nation (if you'd like, watch the whole thing!) and compare it with Falling Leaves. Look at both films and write two well-developed paragraphs that discuss mise en scene. As you watch the film or clip, be alert to the overall design plan and mise-en-scene and to your emotional response to them. Are you comforted or made anxious by them? Describe and compare the framing/composition of individual shots in both films. Do the shots employ a lot of movement or not? Does the design in the movie or clip create the correct times, spaces, and moods? Does it go beyond surfaces and relate to developing themes? Identify the elements of the mise-en-scene that seem to be contributing the most to your emotional response. All statements should include examples from the films or clips.
You can find Birth of a Nation here. Watch from 9:00-14:00, 36:00-41:00, 50:00-60:00, and 2:07-2:15. You should note certain techniques Griffith uses such as the 180-degree rule (right around 13:00) and his use of establishing shots and close ups. Feel free to watch the rest of the movie and comment on other clips as well.
In both "Birth of a Nation" and "Falling Leaves," a lot of attention is paid to the rule of thirds. In both films, there is little to no movement in each shot. The mise-en-scene create the moods they are intended to in both. Both films make me feel sort of anxious for some reason.
ReplyDeleteIn "Falling Leaves," the mise-en-scene is not always able to properly create the time that it intends to. In one scene that is supposed to be night (when the little girl is in bed), the viewer can tell that it actually isn't because of the light coming in through the window. In "Falling Leaves," the design of the spaces is more claustrophobic, which could cause the emotional reaction of anxiety. Whereas in "Birth of a Nation," the spaces presented are more wide and open.
James...You need to include examples from the clips--specific examples--to back up your statements. Why do you think both films make you anxious? Examine the mise-en-scene and write about specific examples that push you into that anxiety. How is the design space in Falling Leaves claustrophobic? How is the design space in Birth of a Nation more wide and open? Discuss using specifics. Your paragraphs should be much longer than this.
ReplyDeleteWriting about film is hard work. You need to get used to being really, really specific when you write.
Birth of A Nation and Falling Leaves are two films way ahead of their time in terms of the way they use mise-en-scene to convey emotion and hidden meaning. In one scene in Birth of a Nation (2:07), a seemingly kind black man proposes to a white woman, and when rejected turns into an angry, zombie-esque caricature, chasing her around a mountainous region.
ReplyDeleteThe scene starts out with slow shots filmed from a reasonable distance. When the man gets angry and starts chasing the woman around, the shots become more panicked, with close ups of their faces as well as fast cuts between the two. The effect achieved is disturbing and unsettling. In Falling Leaves, there are a minimal number of cuts - everything seems to go slowly. The shots are also set up like a play - you can see everyone at all times. This is to reflect the way the family desires to stick by the girl with tuberculosis.
Matt...Nice example from Birth of a Nation. The only thing is you discuss editing, but not mise-en-scene. Try again and examine the mise-en-scene closely.
ReplyDeleteThe design space of "Falling Leaves" is claustrophobic because in almost every scene, the shot shows a small area in a small room that is either filled with people (such as at 0:20) or is filled with furniture items (1:00, 5:00). As well, "Falling Leaves" only has one scene which goes outside of the house (6:30), and mostly stays inside of the rooms of the house, adding to the claustrophobic feel. "Falling Leaves" creates its anxious atmosphere through the use of its claustrophobic design space, as well as dark colors and the frightened or sad looks of the characters.
ReplyDeleteBirth of a Nation's design space seems much more wide open in comparison for a number of reasons. In indoor scenes, the shot is very wide and the people and furniture are not cramped together (10:32). In outdoor scenes, the shot is also very wide and allows a lot of space for the characters to move in even if a lot of people are in the shot (6:30).
The mise-en-scène in both "Falling Leaves" and "Birth of a Nation" are both beautifully crafted, but both in unique ways. "Falling Leaves" had a very believable mise-en-scène , but less magnificent and a lower magnitude compared to the grand mise-en-scène in "Birth of a Nation" with it's large scale battle scenes and beautifully decorated houses. None the less, "Falling Leaves" mise-en-scène was still good and was great at symbolizing moods and themes and encorporating an emotional response. Some examples are the scenes with when the sister is sick, the room is lit dimly and Trixie, the little sister, is wearing black as if to represent the darkness about to overcome her sister, but the sister of Trixie is wearing white as if to symbolize hope of her survival. Another example is how the things in the sisters room are dark, but her bed is white as if to symbolize that she will recover in due time. When Trixie wakes up and has the light shine on her in her white gown, she no longer represents the coming of the fatality of the illness, but becomes the symbol of hope and is determined to save her sister. When she went outside to tie the leaves to stop her sister from dying, as if they were the actual cause of her illness. This is very emotional and symbolizes how much simple hope is to a child, no adult would think the leaves are the cause, but to a child they acquire hope very easily. That is something to take from it, to always have hope. When the sister is better and the room is more brightly lit, this gives a sense of comfort to me and of happiness. The mise-en-scène in this film definatly correctly portray the right time, when medeicine was not as advanced, spaces, the rooms were believable, and the moods, dark when time was dark and bright when times were happy. Light was very important in portraying meaning in this film and in my emotional responses to the situations portrayed. "Birth of a Nation" does not rely as much on lighting as much, but uses spectacle a lot more. The scenes at the beginning have a feeling of comfort to them and very relaxed, just showing the family have a nice time being rich. Things become anxious when the families sons are sent to war and they begin to worry about them. The mise-en-scène of the battle scenes are more dark and violent, the burning buildings, the dead people. This is obviously a sad time and is more dimly lit. Since this is a longer movie, the mise-en-scène changes a lot more and harder to talk about as a whole. The overall design was very beautiful and looked very realistic, probably since some of it was real. The beauty of the houses at the beginning seem to symbolize the beauty before the war and when the houses are on fire they symbolize how the war changed America and it's beauty. The theme of how war makes things ugly is presented by the mise-en-scène. The element of setting and design is the contributed the most to my feeling of amazement.
ReplyDeleteThe framing is very different in "Falling Leaves" and "Birth of a Nation", because "Falling Leaves" uses landscape shots that do not move that much, while "Birth of a Nation" uses a lot of shifts from landscape shots, medium shots, and close ups and looks more like a modern movie ( due to the many shifts like in today's movies). "Falling Leaves" have less happening at once and is more relaxed when compared to "Birth of a Nation's" battle scenes which use a lot of cuts from close ups and medium shots to landscape shots to increase the feeling of intensity and anxiety.
"Birth of a Nation" and "Falling Leaves" employ mise en scene to make the films enveloping and believable. The sets, costuming, and direction, far ahead of their time in terms of intricacy, contribute to the meaning and effectiveness of the films.
ReplyDeleteThough both films have static cameras, they both use direction effectively. In Falling Leaves, the camera stays at a distance the whole time, to imply unity in the family against the forces of tuberculosis. The costuming conveys meaning - in the scene where the doctor comes to alert the family of Trixie's illness, the family is all wearing black, representing the grief the family is to come under.
In Birth of A Nation, though the camera is static, the sets remain much wider - giving the audience a feel of expansiveness previous films had not afforded to give them. In the scene I referenced in my previous entry, the set helps to terrorize the audience along with the editing and acting. With such an expansive world around her, the already-helpless woman seems especially doomed, with no protection against a ravenous black man.
The prominent theme of "Birth of a Nation" is most explicitly manifested in the chase scene between a black man and a white girl. The director's racist prejudices are expressed all too flagrantly by his portrayal of the three members of this chase: the black man, the white woman, and the white man. The black man is portrayed as lecherous and uncouth, dressed in a shabby shirt and pants which underscore his presumably feral nature. His wardrobe most sharply contrasts that of the white gentlemen who is fully decked out in a suit, top hat, and bow-tie. The girl's dress is less extravagant but still significant because it emphasizes her femininity (though she would only be wearing a dress in that time period anyway)-a central element to this scene, which is presumably her escape from a libidinous black man. So in almost nauseatingly explicit form, the black man is portrayed as the villain, the girl as the damsel-in-distress, and the white man as the magnificent and collected hero of the scene.
ReplyDeleteThese characters are essentially representative of the rest of story in the second half of the film. The rapacious blacks attempt to overtake the whites but are valiantly stopped by the Ku Klux Klan (the significance of each character’s role is preponderant to what actually happens at the end of this scene).
Looking at the scene from a structural rather than a thematic point of view, its intensity is heightened through its framing and juxtaposition of shots. Attaining to the 180-degree rule, we are presented with the illusion of a chase as the characters generally appear in the left side of the shot and run out on the right; or if they don't, then they at least appear and run in a direction that seems in accordance with where they are going. The scene also demonstrates a variety in composition, switching between close-ups, farther shots, landscape shots, etc. In one landscape shot the filmmakers create suspense by having the girl appear in the scene far off in the background; when suddenly the black man appears in the middle ground, runs to the center of the screen, then towards her. The forest itself is used to augment the tension: the girl hides behind trees and bushes only to be found by black man. Finally at the climax she climbs to the peak of a mountain and threatens to throw herself off. The cuts between each shot are quick, the tension heightening with the pace.
In “Falling Leaves” the viewer is not allowed beyond two rooms save for one scene. When the younger sister of the girl walks outside, the mis-en-scene is very grim. The trees are bare and skeletal and the stone wall with its pointed gate stands against a faintly misty sky in a sort of nightmarish vision. Contrasting the dismalness of the setting, the little girl, sweet and ingenuous, stands in a pure white nightgown tying leaves to the naked trees. Every facet of her character is portrayed here: her childish hopefulness and, her endearing simplicity, and most of all her role as a sort of beacon of goodness.
The significance of this scene is enhanced by the fact that this is the only time that the viewer is allowed beyond the constraints of the little house. Breaking only fleetingly from the claustrophobia of the walls, Guy takes a chance to present the viewer with this ethereal image.