Mise-En-Scene And Metaphors In Visual Literature - Movie Review Example

Mise-En-Scene And Metaphors In Visual Literature Movie-making is an art and a film can be called a visual literature that not only tells a story with a beginning, middle and an end but also creates ideas using metaphors, ironies, and sarcasm. It is in this regard that mise-en-scene plays an important role in developing and emphasizing the underlying meaning of the apparent actions in a movie. It is, therefore, the whole presentation, the story-telling process, the development of the scenario and background that makes a movie worth watching. The whole effect of a brilliant mise-en-scene is subtle and often common movie-goers fail to decipher the brilliance of the visual style used in a film. Nevertheless, there is no denying that the mise-en-scene of a movie plays a crucial role in setting up the mood and the momentum. While the audience thinks it is watching what is happening on screen, in reality, it is the camera and the mise-en-scene that is governing its eyes and engaging its attention through the length of the film. In this direction, director Alfonso Cuaron's 2013 movie "Gravity" has set up a new standard for the construction of mise-en-scene. Dealing with an almost impossible set of weightlessness, where movement is not governed by gravity and the backdrop is not the sky or a sea or a town but the earth as seen from space and nothingness, the creation of the mise-en-scene was immensely difficult. Taking the help of modern technology, Gravity's cinematography was instrumental in depicting a weightless universe. Apart from "Gravity", Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street" is another movie from 2013 that has been able to stir conversation in the critics' circle due to its cinematography and boisterous mise-en-scene. However, the point of discussion is not what the mise-en-scenes were but why certain mise-en-scenes were created the way they had been. This essay, therefore, will discuss how certain mise-en-scenes in these two movies create metaphors. Before moving into the discussion regarding the mise-en-scenes employed by the two movies, it becomes imperative to first look at the metaphors present in the two movies. Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity," tells the survival story of a medical researcher who is self-alienated from Earth and human communications and flung into the shrieking silence of the space where she faces her deepest demons and emerges as a victorious survivor back on earth. Dealing with a subject like space inevitably lends itself to metaphorical undertones. "Gravity" is driven with metaphors; a character is drifting to avoid getting away from human connections and a victim of her own inertia. There is also the metaphor of death and rebirth, setting out on a voyage and ultimate return, quest on a mythic journey and many such intriguing metaphors at work. However, what overpowers all the metaphors is the "immensity of nothingness" and human beings' survival in cocoons; starting from the constricted scape suits, to the space stations, the earth in the universe and finally the body itself is a cocoon. The man is tremendously vulnerable outside these cocoons. It is these metaphors that the mise-en-scene repeatedly tries to establish. Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street" on the other hand deals with drugs, sex and money laundering. Depicting the true story of New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort, the mise-en-scene helps to create the metaphor of a chameleon whose story cannot be believed. Lust for money is metaphorically related to addiction to drugs and the audience here is metaphorically compared to the dwarfs who are mercilessly thrown onto a massive dart board with a dollar sign for a bull's-eye. The movie uses the direct audience-address style continually to break the stage illusion and make the audience a part of Belfort’s crime. The common public is as much guilty of lust for money as Belfort himself is. Coming to the detailed analysis of the metaphors used in the two films, in "Gravity", the immensity of the Universe and the character's metaphorical drifting into the void can be seen in the very first shot that continues for eleven minutes. The shot which at first seems to be an extreme close-up of the earth from a point in space gradually seems to be an extreme long shot of the Hubble Space Telescope that is found approaching towards the screen. The telescope gradually occupies the maximum screen space with the astronauts communicating with people on earth. It is interesting to note that the audience can hear the communication between the Kowalski, Houston and Dr. Ryan long before they could actually see the telescope. This not only points to the size of the Universe as compared to the creations of the human beings but also highlights the factor that keeps human beings going, that is the communication. The dropping of the nut from Dr. Ryan’s hand is a premonition of the accident yet to occur that will drift her from all human contact. As the Hubble is hit with the debris, Dr. Ryan is seen drifting away from the screen. She loses all communication with the earth and the sudden static camera shows her drifting into space. The metaphor of utter loneliness is established throughout the movie through the character of Dr. Ryan who constantly tries to establish the connection with other human beings. The camera movement in this scene is remarkable as it first seems to be a static eye of the universe which then becomes curious of the human beings at work and scans the whole machine. However, as soon as the machine is hit by the debris, it seems that the camera once again assumes the position of the third person, not affected by the debris and watching humans getting drifted into the nothingness of space. Another remarkable mise-en-scene is created at 24 minutes into the film as Dr. Ryan and Kowalski head towards International Space Station to use their Soyuz for re-entry into the earth. The shot once again begins with an extreme long shot with the earth covering three-quarter of the screen with a rising sun forming a diamond ring. While the magnificence of the earth captures the breadth of the viewers, Dr. Ryan's immediate statement that her oxygen level is down to two percentage points to the harsh reality of the Universe. Kowalski's advice to use the oxygen in the space suit points to the metaphor of human being's existence in the cocoon. The reference to the earth as mother and home draws the metaphor of cocoon once again, as the earth creates a cocoon around living organisms where they can survive. The womb or cocoon metaphor is once again established in the scene where Dr. Ryan enters the ISS capsule and detaches herself from the space-suit and goes to sleep in an umbilical position. The camera gradually zooms out with Dr. Ryan placed at the middle of the screen to point at, on one hand, her safety inside the station and on the other her vulnerability as a lonely child in the hostile universe. Analysis of "The Wolf of Wall Street" will once again point out how mise-en-scene are used to hint metaphors in a film. The very first two scenes of the film drive a strong metaphor of gullible common man. The first scene shows the advertisement of Stratton Oakmont, Inc. where a lion is seen walking past a room full of blue collar professionals talking on cell phones. There is also a board meeting going on and as it passes that room, the voice-over says, "stability, integrity, pride". With a sudden flash on the face of the lion, the audience is led to a room where dwarfs are being thrown into a dart board. Interestingly, in the second scene, after a long-shot and a top angle shot of the scenario, the camera takes the position of the dwarf looking straight into the face of the dartboard. The screen is full of white-collar professionals who a few seconds ago, had asked and seemed to have gained the trust of the viewers. The bet on the dwarf and the extreme money laundering shown in the scene is metaphorical of what happens to the viewers who trust the movie makers blindly. The dwarf being flung onto the dartboard is metaphorical of the audience being flung for a play. Immediately after Jordan Belfort's self-introduction, the audience once again is duped of its trust on the story-teller. Jordan Belfort is seen speeding a red Ferrari only to change its color from red to white and mentioning that his Ferrari was white and not red. This whole mise-en-scene draws a metaphor between Jordan Belfort and a chameleon that can change color and narrative whenever required. This mise-en-scene hints that Jordan Belfort's statements are not to be believed. However, for the rest of the film, it is his voice-over that governs the narrative. The audience is put inside the mind of the Wolf of Wall Street. Another use of metaphor can be found in the scene where Belfort describes the introduction of sexual activity in his office. The description of the first day at office shows a man enjoying sexual favor from a colleague in the elevator while Belfort and his associates are standing on the ground floor. The gradual upward movement of the elevator and the characters’ activity inside it indicates Belfort’s rise and what it consisted of. That the common man will always remain gullible and hungry for money is suggested by the last scene of the movie which is preceded by the voiceover asking "wouldn't you like to learn how to make money" and we are led to the voice introducing Jordan Belfort to a room full of people interested to listen to his sales training. From long shot to mid long shot to medium shot the camera brings us closer to the young group of people who are eager to make quick money. The pedestal movement of the camera shows the curious faces of many such young faces who want to become a Jordan Belfort one day. A movie, therefore, is not a monolithic narrative but a visual literature created by directors, cinematographers, editors and screen players. From lighting to camera angle, to costume and movement of characters in a movie does have a meaning associated with it. The understanding of the mise-en-scene, therefore, provides an insight into the mind of the director and what he wants his viewers to understand or realize. Both "Gravity" and "The Wolf of Wall street" are meshed with metaphors guiding the judgments of the viewers. Works cited Gravity. Dir. Alfonso Cuaron. Perf. Sandra Bullock, George Clooney. Warner Bros. Pictures. 2013. Film. The Wolf of Wall Street. Dir. Martin Scorsese. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill. Paramount Pictures 2013. Film. Read More