With Mise-en-scene, getting the
correct themed items will be a problem, but one that will have to be overcome.
The main problem is that our film is going to be themed around the 50’s, and
some things may be unobtainable. Mise-en-scene and location can be considered
one of the same in this context as well, as wherever we have to film will have
to be based around this specific era, and customising this set to our liking
will take time, and perhaps money. Costumes are important for inferences of
specific ideas too, such as wear and tear of clothing, objects on the pieces of
clothing, and what other clothing will be visible in the background. Colour is
not too much of a big deal with this film opening as it is going to be in black
and white, however, some colours give off certain shades of grey which will
help give definitions between the background and the character in the shot. If
we want the film to be dark, and have little contrast between the character and
the background, we will also have to consider lighting, and how that will
affect our scene, and on top of this, time of day we need to film to set the
scene.
Everything here will be taken in
to further consideration in separate parts, it also means it will give a focus
to a certain message that we want to portray through the use of objects in the
foreground and background, and make it so that everything leads towards the
same or near the same connotations, to imply these secret messages within our
scenes to portray more meaningful scenes.
Lighting:
- The lighting needs to be crude and artificial
- Artificial lighting mixed with the tones of
darkness, revealing a whole new world within the dark. That particular white
light.
- Filming in near darkness will mean this light
will have more effect, producing more shadows if placed in the direction we
want it to.
- If we did want one of these lights, it would
have to be battery powered, easier to transport about, easier to change the
position of the light if needed
- A black lampshade over this light will add to
its effect, especially if it swings
- The lighting can make the film look realistic,
so it is very important that was get this right
Connotations of light.
- Hope – light has had multiple references in
literature to be a sign of hope and life, especially the sun – we may need to
contrast this meaning by using little to no light
- Dying light – The coming death of hope and life,
contrasts the meaning above, perhaps drain the bulb so it flickers
What
sorts of lights were used back in the 50’s?
Mise will help hint towards the
time period we want this movie to be set.
This specific light here (part of
the G10 collection) was designed and retailed in the 1950s by Greta Grossman.
We won’t be able to have one of these apparent in the opening, however, it is
good to take in to consideration the design of it, and try to get something of
the same design, maybe in a lower quality (shows the grittiness of the scene)
and cheaper too (the ones here cost around £300). As the film is black and
white, the intensity of the bulb wont mater as much, however it will be
visible, as dependant on its intensity, a brighter white colour will be shown,
and less shadows will be drawn, which is not what we want.
As well as a ceiling light, we
also as a group decided we want a desk lamp, as it would highlight what would
be apparent on the desk at that time (such as case files, illegal things during
the time the film is set, etc.). For this, we will probably need a desk lamp
which has a similar design to these ceiling lights.
Costume design.
- Within the costume concepts and designs it will
be good to consider what the main character will be dressed like, and what
things would be present on the things that he’s wearing
- Dirt and blood may be a good hint to the genre
of this film, and connoting as to what will happen in the events after this
opening scene
- However, representing these things will be
difficult as our film is going to be black and white, so things may blend in
with the shadows, but that may be due to lighting to, which is something our
group will need to consider at a later date (set lighting).
- We need this character to blend in with the
rebellious society of the time, but we also need him to look established as he
is a detective. (refer to the use of dirt, blood, etc.)
- Perhaps some costumes will also be visible in
the background on hangers, paying attention to detail would mean that we could
see what sort of job this detective lead before becoming one.
Connotations of objects that
will most likely be present on this main character’s costume:
- Dirt – having this grit and mud can lead the
audience to believe that the area around or the places where he’s been a
struggle, as well as run down (otherwise it would be cleaner)
- Blood – The key connotations as to the films sub-genre,
blood shows that his character deals with the corruption within the police
force with violence.
- Coat – although dirty, the coat will make this
character look established. Because this is set in a 50’s, we will probably
have to consider what the usual detective would wear at this time. And that
would be perhaps a suit (a grey-ish colour) or a coat which goes down to about
the lower legs, one of the key staples of a detective archetype
- Shirt – we will have to consider what sort of
colour we want to portray on the shirt. Pure white suggests purity, but our
character is not pure (as stated before, he deals with the corruption with
violence), but a pure black shirt would connote sinister intentions (which is
not true, he’s still clearing this corruption of society). So perhaps a light
grey colour would be fitting for our character.
Small attentions
to detail
- Gloves – suggestions of crime, but he does know
what he’s doing. Knows how to get away with murder with leaving no evidence
(such as fingerprints) behind.
- A badge of some sort – shows establishment,
perhaps a fake badge to show that he is undercover. Perhaps this will be subtly
shown.
- A hat – this is not as necessary as everything
else, but around the time the film is set, a typical businessman would wear a
hat, especially in this line of work. If the group decides that we ultimately
want this to feature in our film, I will have to research as to what hat should
be worn, or whether it should be on a hat rack in the background, to show his
formality even in the current situation.
What
sort of clothes would be worn back in the 50’s?
From these pictures
it is easy to tell that businessmen of this time started to care a little more
about current trends in clothing. We can also see that the most prominent
colour here is grey, and even though our film is black and white, we will be
using a grey suit or coat, as different colours may give different tones, which
is definitely not what we want as colour needs to be taken in to consideration
when portraying specific meanings. Clothing during the 50’s compared to now has
changed dramatically, as most of the clothing trends back then revolved around
formality and work, so replicating this same look may be a problem. Perhaps the
mood board will help, and some specific research on market sites will sell
things that replicate the looks from these eras
Hats
The common hat of this time would
be the fedora or the trilby hat (information sourced by vintagedancer.com).
there are differences between the two, but it wouldn’t really matter what one
we choose, as both give the look that we want. Although expensive, it would
most likely be possible to buy at a cheaper price from alternative sites. The
bottom row second one is the style that our character will need, alternatively,
the one just above it will also be good, as it relates closely to the source
images provided
Gloves
Gloves
will be important when making our main character look established, having the
right sort of gloves will be key. These are the sort of style gloves that we
will be needing, but it’s just a question of where to get them. I like the
ideas of using the black gloves because of the connotations of black. Black
suggests death, mystery and formality, which will be common themes throughout
this opening scene and the rest of the film (story-line wise anyway).
Coats
The coat needs to be dirty, but
needs to show formality and authority. For this, a coat such as a long coat, or
something similar will be good for showing this. It also fits with the 50’s
detective inspector theme, especially if this film is set in an alternative
England or America. If the coat is to be grey, perhaps the shirt will be white
instead, or a really light grey. Although this confuses the connotations, it will
make the film look better with our given colour scheme.
Shirt
The shirt shows formality and a work-like ethic being revealed in the character created. The 50’s gave rise to a good mix between formality and style within the workplace, so getting this costume correct will help show the time period this is set in, hence why I’ve researched key themes from the time, such as styles, hats and gloves, and what sort of clothes would be worn in this line of work stereotypically. The shirt needs to be a colour that will also work well with the grey colour of the coat, considering this is black and white, I can’t really expand above the monotone colour scheme, so perhaps a light grey or white shirt would work. I think the light grey shirt would work more in terms of connotations as white suggests purity and peace as stated before. However, the colour white can be used as a counter statement or to show the intentions of this character, so perhaps a white colour would be better than light grey, as grey will become overused in this character’s colour scheme.
Dirt, Blood and small facial
details.
The small details will perhaps
reveal themselves dependant on the camera shots that we use whilst filming,
which will have to be planned at a later date. Dirt and blood will help reveal
this character’s line of work, and what may occur whilst doing this. Dirt and
blood also reveals genre such as mystery and some elements of action, which our
film reveals some elements of throughout. Small facial details such as laugh
lines, lines in the face, dark eyes suggest tiredness, lack of sleep, and
perhaps weariness, we will need to take this in to account if we do a close up
shot of our actors face. Shadows from the hat could be of used to our
advantage, seems our film is in black and white, and contrast values on our
film editing will be high. The connotations of shadow suggest that it is where
a person or group hides, and could lead to negative connotations such as death
or darkness.
Conclusion:
Light and costume will have huge
tie ins to each other, as light will definitely affect how we use the costume
when representing our characters, which is why I looked in to both on the same
subject. As far as acquiring everything needed to represent these connotations
and suggestions of the backstory to our film, it might be difficult, especially
when it comes to buying things that actually look like they’re from the 50’s, such
as the lamps or the hats and gloves for example, but having these within our
scenes will improve the quality by a mile
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