Exploring How Mise-En-Scene Constructs Meaning and Provokes Response

Exploring how Mise-en-scene constructs meaning and provokes
response.
For this task I will be discussing the way in which the Mise-en-scene
constructs meaning and provoke response in the film extract. Taken was
made in 2008, written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen and directed
by Pierre Morel. The genre of this film is thriller.
Taken is about a girl called Kim a young seventeen year old, played by
Maggie Grace, whilst on a trip in Paris gets kidnapped along side her
nineteen year old friend Amanda. All of which happens whilst Kim is on the
phone to her father Brian, played by Liam Neeson, who used to be part of
the C.I.A however is now retired.
The part of the film I have chosen to analyst is where a gang kidnaps the
two girls after meeting a French man at the airport who shares a cab to
Amanda’s cousin’s apartment. After he invites them to a party Amanda
gives the flat number and gives information about how they have the whole
5th floor because her cousins are away instantly setting the scene for
something major to happen.
Props and Costume

Kim calls her dad to let her know that they are ok whilst on the phone to
them Kim see’s men enter the apartment and witnesses them kidnap her,
she frantically runs and hides under the bed, this type of prop is a typical
thing to be shown in an apartment however I feel the director has shown
this because as Kim in technically a child it is a child like thing to hide under
the bed when scared. He uses a recording device he has to record the
telephone in which is another thing associated with his type of job director
again re-enforcing the type of person he used to be he uses this to record
and hear the conversation and track his daughter’s kidnappers through the
things he hears and accents he picks up as well as the description he asks
Kim to call out before she is snatched from under the bed. Brian travels to
Paris and find the gang, confronts them, and throughout kills many in order
to find his daughter. He finds a girl with Kim’s jacket in a brothel she was
wearing and asks her where she got it from leading to him Kim, which leads
him to a gang known for sex trafficking of women.
Both of the girls throughout this scene wear typical

clothing of teenager. Kim is wearing a denim jacket,
a white dress and leggings. Her white dress
connotes to the audience that she is pure and
innocent with the colour symbolizing this and
always an association. Also fitting in with incident
that the audience is about to witness. Amanda
wears a hooded jacket, simple t-shirt and jeans. The colour of her clothing
may connote the audience that she is strong however because she is
blonde she is also stereotyped in to being stupid in which she proves in the
film when she gives the French man their address before she even knows
who he is, then everything unfolds.
Lighting
The lighting in the apartment is very light and natural I believe it is natural
day lighting used. When Kim is in the bathroom it is light on her face
however when it cuts across to Amanda dancing it is darker showing
something is about to happen which it does where seconds later men enter
the apartment and take her. When it cuts back to Kim the lighting also
changes with it being a lot heavier, showing the intensity of the scene and
how scared the girls are. When we see Kim under the bed we believe she is
safe because lighter light is used again, however again it changes when she
is dragged out from under the bed. The lighting changes according to the
mood of the scene and the mood in which the director wants the audience
to feel. When Brian (Liam Neeson) is on the phone to the killer even though
they are in different times zones it is clear to the audience that the lighting
is changed because it is more drastically darker to when he is on the phone
to his daughter. As his voice is lowed so is the lighting again matching the
mood of the scene.
Camera Work
The camera work throughout this scene shows the different ways in which
the scene changes from close ups to medium close ups setting the scene.
The way in which the camera moves shows the intensity of the moment
Kim is taken. When she is on the phone to her dad the camera is close up to
only seeing her face so the audience can see the panic on her face and feel
as though they are going through the emotions in which the character is
feeling also. When the camera is on her dad and he is speaking to his
daughters kidnappers the camera is showing his body so again the audience
can see his body language when speaking and when saying “I have a various
set of skills that I have acquired from a long career” the camera is close up
on his face showing intensity and creating enigmas for the audience to
endure.
Location
Paris is the main setting for this film where they use the airport, the city
centre, boat port and the river as well as various other different places to
shot scenes. The apartment that is used in this film and clip I have chosen
to analyses is very modern compared to what is known of Paris being like.
The apartment itself is just like any other with a normal modern look. I
believe the director has done this to make it fit with the target audience
and also fit with the ages of the two girls. Also in fitting in with the scene as
it are lightly coloured and then changes again in the bedroom with the
colour’s to match the intensity and mood of the scene.
Sound
There is a lot of diegetic sound used throughout the film but in this clip
there is a lot of dialogue used. The dialogue exchanged between Brian and
his daughters kidnappers is very intense with the only thing being said by
the kidnapper was “good luck”. Chilling the audience with fear for Kim.
However from this he managed to find out the origin of the man and who it
was by using his various set of skills in which he tells the man before that he
has. I feel the writer only had the kidnapper say this so that it brings an
element of fright to the audience and creates enigmas wondering if he will
actually ever get her back and safe again. The way in which Kim speaks to
her dad is the way a typical teen would. Explaining to him that the cousins
are in Spain but “she didn’t know” again sending enigmas to the audience
especially if parents are watching because they may feel what her dad is
going through. Her tone of voice changes when she is looking across at her
friend dancing and a gang of men enter and take her away, she beings to
panic and sending chills down the audiences spine.
Non-diegetic sound is used through the use of mood music, the music
played matches the seen with the use of percussion and music building
throughout giving it intensity with high to low noises included shocking the
audience. There are sound effects added as the seen goes on. When Brian
asks Kim to shout out everything she sees we hear things being smashed,
screams, her shouting out information and the phone sounds. This again
gets the audiences minds working as we cannot see what is happening
there we can only go by sound, which is chilling to hear. Again I feel all of
which is added to create an atmosphere and to make the audiences minds
play tricks and make up there own mind of which they believe is happening.
Conclusion
In conclusion the Props, Lighting, Camera Work, Location and Sound all aid
in the making of this scene to making it such an iconic part of the film. The
atmosphere the audience can feel is deliberately done by the Director,
Writer and Producer. It’s a favourite scene of mine in the film and
personally I think it what makes it. It sends chills down my spine.
Word Count: 1,420

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Exploring how Mise-en-scene constructs meaning and provokes

Props and Costume

Both of the girls throughout this scene wear typical

Word Count: 1,420

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