Watch one of the following clips from Little Big Man and descriptively discuss (in detail) at least 3 elements of mise-en-scene and how these elements present the implied meaning of the scene and how this scene relates to the film's meaning as a whole.
Clip 1
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/297790/Little-Big-Man-Movie-Clip-Good-Day-To-Die.html
Clip 2
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/297788/Little-Big-Man-Movie-Clip-Gunfighter-Period.html
I chose to analyze the mise-en-scene of the first clip, the “Good day to die” scene. The costume, makeup, and hair design, and lighting and composition are all key in creating meaning in this scene. I think this scene’s position in the film is enforcing the juxtaposition of the humanity of the Native American culture and to the inhumanity of the white culture.
ReplyDeleteMakeup, costume and hair are all linked in creating the difference in characters in the two worlds. The Indians are dressed authentically,not flashily or skimpily, yet individually. Everything in the hut is somewhat dirty, and humble. The white people wear structure, pretentious layers of clothing, but its still dirty. The hair is interesting in this scene as well. The Native Americans have a specific way of keeping their hair neat, in elaborate braids. The white people use hats to keep their neat. The mode used by each group would seem foreign to the other but really they have the same goal, to be retain a certain look, deemed presentable to their society. The makeup is obviously key for Jack to prove to his aggressor that he is in fact a white man.
The composition and lighting as connected as well. The chief and the Jack are seated. In the white culture the man is up high on a carriage, and Jack must be hoisted up unnaturally to join him. The hut scene is closed and dark, it is an intimate moment. The Battle scene is wide open and bright - its the time for change and opportunity. It is the interaction of the two factions that rarely takes place. The battle composition is also scattered and confused. People and horses run all over the screen, it is not a highly designed matchy, rule of threes kind of several shots. Then when we get into town with Jack the composition returns to be seemingly more designed.
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ReplyDeleteIn Little Big Man, directed by Arthur Penn in 1970, mise-en-scene is an important key factor that unites the film as a whole and makes it stand out. There are a large amount of more sets than the average movie; each shift describing a different stage in Jack’s life. This means that there is plenty of aspects of mise-en-scene that make every set look its best. Of those factors set design, costume design, and composition seem to be the three aspects that stand out to me the most. the scene I chose was the scene where Jack becomes a gunfighter in his life and when he is introduced to Bill Hickok(Clip #2).
DeleteFirst of all, set design makes a very symbolic meaning. When Jack turns around to see Bill, they have a good ol’ face off, however it seems to be a one man face against an “old geezer”. The set design is very distinct and different between the two characters. For jack, he is standing in front of the very exquisite bar that has formality and shape and depth in dark colors. Though not exact, this shot also involves the rule of thirds. On the other hand, Bills composition of shot is unbalanced, with normal “homey” items scattered around the shot. There is no rule of thirds or symmetry and his whole composure shows a dissoluted mood. This setting introduces this character’s personality, and also Jack’s gunfighter phase, but not his entire personality. Honestly his acting in this scene makes his made up gun character look fake...For more examples of his fake personality, the mise-en-scene increases that feeling for the audience. Going back to the beginning of the scene, with the medium shot behind the piano, the costume design has very distinct exaggeration: the dancing old ladies. Normally, these ladies would look young and beautiful, however, these ladies are exact opposite. Although wearing what should be on young ladies, these dancers are old and are trying to do something that they obviously cannot.
The ladies’ burst in age is equivalent to Jack’s fake personality by being one of the aspects of the whole set design looking like a play set. The music from the piano is loud and out of tuned also possible to be from a school play. This “school play” aspect just proves that Jack is still immature though he is trying to hide it through one of his fake personalities. Bill’s purpose in this scene represents reality, all in the middle of this “school play”.
Not only does Jack have a distinct fake personality in this scene, but he has theme in many other scenes as well. All ending up to represent his immaturities. Once Jack starts having a family and he has things to live for, his fake personalities are less visible and he becomes very mature toward the end of the film.
Little Big Man was a film directed by Arthur Penn in 1960. This film was a landmark that changed the way Hollywood directors and audiences thought of Native Americans. The old norm for Native Americans in movies is that they’re wild and inhumane. They live a savage life and are unable to be controlled or persuaded by the white man to become civilized. The way Penn enacts many of the scenes, using the different aspects of mise-en-scene, shows that he had a very different idea of how Native Americans should be portrayed in cinema.
ReplyDeleteOne aspect that really stood out to me was the set design. In scene #1 “Good Day To Die” the first part was set up in a very dark tent between Grandfather and Jack. Often times when scenes are shot with a dark and enclosed area it makes the audience feel claustrophobic. One would especially expect that whenever they watch a movie about Native Americans because they are always portrayed as such dangerous beings. This scene, on the other hand, is very heart felt. Grandfather is enclosed in all of his belongings and when I watched this I just got a homey feel, maybe because of how humane they are in this film. Later, when jack gets “rescued” by the American troops the set design becomes totally different. He doesn’t even look happy with his new surroundings because he was used to being a “Human Being” all of his life.
Another aspect of the mise-en-scene that stood out was the costume design. The way the Human Beings are dressed in this film make them look one with themselves, if that makes sense. They are comfortable being half naked, especially Jack. This freeness is contrasted by the stiff get-ups of the soldiers, especially in the battle scene. The Native Americans are riding around on their horses freely, while the soldiers are stiff and in formation. The motive of the soldiers was to get the Natives to conform to their society or die, and this is represented through their stiff awkward costume. Jack is even shown as uncomfortable at the end of this scene when he is going on the wagon. He is not used to this change in setting or change in costume. This exemplifies my point from earlier that Penn is trying to go against the conventional thinking of Native Americans in film.
The scene I chose to analyze was the "Gunfighter Period" scene. In the scene, we learn more about Jack's life through his gunfighter days during which he was a feared marksman. Three elements of mise-en-scene that present themselves in the scene and not only help the scene develop but the film as a whole are setting/set design, costume, and lighting.
ReplyDeleteThe setting of the scene is very important because it sets the time period. Since the movie is really all about the progression of time and various events that occur in Jack's life, understanding what phase we're in is very important. Based on the set design, we can tell that the time period of the scene is in the old-timey west, perhaps in the mid-1800s. The scene takes place in a saloon, which is a perfect setting for cowboy-esque activity. The amounts of crevices and walls within the saloon are perfect for exhibiting how much people feared Jack (then Soda Pop Kid). Whenever sudden movements were made, all of the people in the bar (including the bartender) would find a place to hide and protect themselves.
Next is costume. Costume additionally allows the audience to understand the time period during which the scene is taking place. However, costume also allows for the viewer to understand the difference between a character like Jack (or even Wild Bill Hickok). While the common people in the saloon are wearing ragged clothes, or even more casual suits, Jack and Bill are clad in well-maintained cowboy hats and very neat, prim, proper gunfighter outfits. This separates them into a different category than the other, "common" people and allows us to see how people fear (or to an extent look up to) them.
Lastly, the lighting proves a relatively important element in the scene. Within the scene, there seems to be no variety in lighting, and no special lighting to create shadows. This could be indicative of the public image of the gunfighters. While Jack himself is hiding something (his fear to kill men even though he earns his living/respect by being a gunfighter), their public image remains clear and their status, feared.
Overall, the scene allows for us to understand this stage of Jack's life. The various elements such as setting/set design, costume, and lighting reveal that stage of Jack's life and various events that predict how he will be shaped in the future.
The scene called Good Day to Die in which Little Big Man takes on the whites in a war with the “human beings” shows the differences between the human beings and the “white people” and how these differences make the two groups end up being violent towards each other. The mise-en-scene is used in order to show the differences between the two groups and shows how the whites are the group that is more violent and out to get the “human beings.” The set design, costume and makeup design, and the composition in the frame are used to show these differences between the two groups. The mise-en-scene in the scene first is used to define the “human beings” as very natural and harmless. The opening shots of the scene include Jack and Old Lodge Skins talking in a tepee like structure, giving the atmosphere of a genuine Native American dwelling. The set design includes the authentic looking Native American tepee that we see Little Big Man is in with Old Lodge Skins, and the costume and hair design of Old Lodge Skins seems to be authentic as well. This authentic look of Old Lodge Skins’ tepee is one of the things that adds meaning to the goal behind this film. In a lot of western films the Native American population is typically portrayed in a stereotypical manner, as vicious killers with no remorse. This stereotypical look was portrayed through the costume design and the props that they used, taking out everyone with bows and arrows and everyone having a feather in their head. However the Native Americans in Little Big Man are portrayed much more authentically, allowing us to identify with them a little better than we normally could. So in the tepee we have drawings on the walls of the tent and Old Lodge Skins’ weapons made from sticks and clothes. Then we have Old Lodge Skin’s authentic costume design, having his hair tied with clothes into long pig tails, and his costume made up of colorful fabrics sewn together. This mise-en-scene shows us a world in which the human beings are intertwined with nature and the natural world, while also being authentic to what Native American’s in the real world would have, not being stereotypical.
ReplyDeleteThis mise-en-scene contrasts greatly with the mise-en-scene presented at the end of the scene where we get one of our first looks at the “white man’s world.” Everything about this world industrial and not natural; from their guns, to their clothes to their houses and buggies. All the houses in the town have been constructed industrially probably, along with the all the clothes the characters are wearing during this part of the scene. This creates that contrast with the Indians’ world and style of living that causes the conflict between the two groups, which is what is trying to be achieved. Also if you look at the costume and make up design of the “white world” it seems a lot dirtier. If you look at Jack and his new adopted dad, their faces and clothes seem to be a lot dirtier looking than say Old Lodge Skins, who was covered with face paint at times but that is not “dirty” by any means. This shows to the viewer that even though they are now showing the lives of the “white world”, it does not mean that they are the good guys. The whites are commonly shown as dirty, cheating, monstrous, and even lustful, which is never portrayed in the Native American’s world.
The last aspect of the mise-en-scene is really defined in the middle portion of the scene, where the composition is important. A majority of the time, the Indians are the ones that have the close ups during the course of the film, and especially in this scene the whites are usually shown far off in the background of the plains. Now both costume and props are put together in contrast here; the authentic, natural Indians versus the industrialized monstrous whites. I say monstrous because that’s how the composition portrays them.
Members from both groups are being killed, but when the Indians are being killed on screen up close, and maybe a white dies off in the background or is just wounded more likely, we feel remorse for the loss of the Native American life because that’s who the camera is making us identify with.
ReplyDeleteSo overall, the mise-en-scene in this scene is being used to show the contrast of the Native American world and the white world while making the viewer feel remorse for the Native Americans, not the whites. This is important because later in the film, the Indians are massacred at the hands of the whites and so it was important to establish the idea of remorse early on so it was easier for the audience’s view to be for the Indians later on in the film when this happens
In the scene “Gunfighter Period,” from Little Big Man, there is to a lot to look at cinematically. The very first thing I notice is the framing around Jack as he enters the pub. He is framed by the door and windows in a closed frame, though the window panes make it a lot lighter and positive than most closed frames, suggesting to me that while there will be failure it will not be a dark or painful failure. As Jack walks deeper into the pub, he is framed once more by a ceiling banister and some dancers. As a large man in the pub scuttles away from Jack, there is a more open frame around Jack, suggesting possibly that he holds inside him an inner strength, by his steely gaze and strong eyes. The closed framing by the ceiling/dancers happens multiple times in the scene. When Jack squares up with another gunfighter, Hickok, in the pub, they are placed in the same place in frame, as well as being the same size, reflecting their coming friendship. Also, when they begin to talk, they are placed in opposite sides of the frame, but still the same size, showing that they are on equal ground to each other.
ReplyDeleteCostume wise, from the beginning Jack is separated from the other gunslingers. The other men in the pub have shabby clothes on that suggest a life of toughness, and a more realistic picture of life from this time period than Jack. While the others wear rags, Jack has a fitted and embroidered full on costume, as opposed to what could be called an outfit in the case of the others. The over the top quality of Jack helps represent that even here, though he is a successful gunfighter, he is an outsider. Also, his past with financial security is reflected in his tastes, where others are not so lucky. Also, Jack’s clean shaven and boyish face, paired with his small stature, are in opposition to the hardness and age of the men around him, once more drawing attention to the fact that he doesn't belong. The sharpness and cleanliness of Jack’s costume shows that he has not seen any real action. Hickok has a higher quality costume than the rest of the men in the pub, though not as fancy as Jack’s, showing his importance over the rest of the men. As a final reflection of the fact that Jack is not truly a gunfighter, when Jack pulls his gun on a nearby table of rich men playing cards, their costumes are shown to be rather similar to Jack’s, much closer than the other, gun-toting people in the pub.
Spacing plays a role in this scene as well. When Jack enters the bar, a nearby man slinks away from him, reinforcing the idea that he is an outsider. Also, Jack takes up much less head space than the other men of the scene throughout, showing that he is a less menacing and powerful man than those around him. As Jack walks into the pub, he takes up very little space in the frame, with more space being taken up by all the clutter and action around him, suggesting he does not have very much importance in this environment. Though Jack has less headspace and stature than the men around him, the men all seem intimidated by him, comedically. All of this intimidation leaves him separated cinematically. In a long shot of Jack, he is shown so small and surrounded by so much, it is almost impossible to notice him unless you’re really looking for him.
The scene I chose to analyze from the film “Little Big Man” was the clip “good day to die” and through costume, makeup, and dialogue as well shot composition are key parts of what give this scene meaning for the rest of the movie. I feel this scene emphasizes the theme of humanity in this movie as the whites and the human beings, two different races of the same species fight and call themselves different even though they are the same.
ReplyDeleteMakeup and costume together help to separate the whites from the human beings. I thought it was interesting that the whites were wearing the exact same thing not showing individuality and seeming like one deadly and evil race, whereas the human beings were wearing bright clothes with color and at the same time wearing different outfits and different make up showing individuality and showing that they are more human than the whites even though both are actually human. Because of this use of costume, make-up has a very similar use as the costume. Makeup is used as individuality amongst the human beings and the colors used were bright and showed that the human beings were more innocent and portrayed as the good guy in comparison to the murderous whites in this scene.
Dialogue and composition in the shot is also very important and interesting in this scene. I thought it was interesting that in the hut with his grandpa, they are sitting and not only that but they are sitting face to face. They also talk as if they are on the same level and that there is a mutual respect between the two. The difference here is when he is taken amongst the white people and he gets taken up by the reverend, the reverend is in a horse and buggy making Jack have to be lifted up to be on the same level as the reverend. The other interesting thing to note is the fact that when he gets lifted onto the horse and buggy, the reverend talks down to Jack by saying he is a liar and that he was going to beat the liar out of him. One thing I forgot to mention about costume is the reverend is dressed in all white, and I feel this is used to show that this is Jack’s assimilation back into society as a white male and not and indian like he had been raised to be. Another possibility for why he is dressed in white is because Jack is dressed in black so maybe it is used to just show a strong contrast between Jack and the reverend.