Mise
en Scene:
The
Godfather
For
this blog I am doing a Mise en scene on “The Godfather”. I am
going to pick out the opening scene and the wedding scene as the link
between the two scenes are very nice contrasts, as well the scenes
come right after each other and they take place at the same time.
Mise
en scene is the most recognizable attributes of a film, it is the
collective of the setting, actors, costumes, make-up, props,
lighting and all the other natural and artificial details that
characterize the spaces in the film. The term is from a French
theatrical expression meaning “put into the scene” or “placing
on stage” depending on who you ask.
In other words, Mise en scene describes the stuff in the frame of a
scene and the way it is shown and arranged.
Opening
scene:
“The
Godfather” open with a black screen fading in very slowly, with one
man speaking, in a soft spot light. The soft spot light creates a
mysterious and tense feeling to the scene. With the light only shown
on the man’s face. the background is completely black, building on
the dramatic and intimidating tone of the film. The very slow and
precise zoom out in the opening explains to the audience that there
is something about to be introduce to the story, something very
important. Although the scene does open with the man talking to Don
Corleone off screen, it is clear that Don Corleone is the main
character through the use of the zoom out.
The
zooming stops once Don Corleone enters the frame with an over the
shoulder of him at his desk. The next shot is of Don Corleone in the
same soft lighting but its brighter to show the important of his
character. The light coming from behind Don Corleone’s face, which
is from the window, highlights Don Corleone to show him looking down
as he answers the question, this shows him as a powerful man. In
addition, the characters are all facing Don Corleone and he is
literally the center of attention.
The
ending scene of “The Godfather” is another scene composed of
interesting Mise en scene elements. The ending scene starts with a
deep focus shot, presenting Kay in the front and Michael in the back.
Although Kay is in the front of the shot, Michael is the one who is
in focus. Furthermore, even though both Michael and Kay are in the
shot, the two characters are spread incredibly far apart from each
other, creating a mood of disconnection. The long distance between
Kay and Michael, along with Michael being the character in focus,
creates a wanting to see more of Michael. This longing for a closer
view of Michael is answered by a cut away to a medium shot of the
room that Michael is in. The shot shows three other characters
surround themselves around Michael, once again presenting that
Michael is the center of attention. The lighting within this scene is
also pretty minimal. Although there is a long hallway between Kay and
Michael, the hallway has almost no lights on it, and most of the
lighting in the entire scene comes from the window behind Michael and
in front of Kay.
In
its entirety, “The Godfather” has a very dark mood. The lighting
is operated very precisely, which usually only shows the characters
and their faces, and leaves the rest of the setting minimally lit.
The camera angles vary from first person, which presents the scene as
if you are there, observing everything that is going on, to a more
distant point of view, as if you were stealthily watching the
characters in action while trying not get caught. The placement of
the characters in scenes are also used very purposefully. The staging
of the characters in each scene convey to the audience who is the
main character of the scene/film. Usually, the main character will be
sitting down, while everyone else is standing up, or the main
character will be at the center of the group of people.
