LO1 Task 2: Mise-en-scene- Updated for 21st October

Mise-en-scene is French for "what is in the frame", each part of Mise-en-scene is encoded or embedded on purpose to give meaning or represent stereotypes in the film. There are 5 elements to Mise-en-scene; location, costume, props, lighting, and gestures. Firstly, location is where the film is set and seen as 'The Simpsons Movie' is animated there is undoubtedly going to be made up places, this is like their hometown 'Springfield' in the movie which doesn't represent any real towns in the US under the name Springfield. But the verisimilitude and iconography of Alaska in the film is very familiar, it's stereotypically shown with snow, mountains, lodges and lakes, this connotes that the place is peaceful, natural and in touch with nature and this goes with the narrative structure of the film as this is the resolution, which means that its a new beginning, that happens in the middle of the film before it goes back to problems. Another location in the film is the Simpson's hometown of Springfield, this is the location at the start and the end of the film and this connotes familiarity  and comfort for the Simpsons family as it's where they grew up and live so it only makes sense that this is the equilibrium, where there is balance and everything's fine, and resolution where a new equilibrium starts after the disequilibrium is resolved.

The next part of the Mise-en-scene is costume, costume is was the actor is told to wear. In the Simpsons Movie because the characters are animated it crosses between both costume and clothes as they aren't necessarily told to wear it but are designed to wear them. The protagonist who are the Simpsons, are wearing casual clothes you'd expect from a middle class family like t-shirts, skirts, shorts and jewellery, this connotes that they are an average American and this is also because the target audience is an average American. On the other hand, there is a binary opposition of classes as the antagonist is the president of EPA which is a government organisation so he is most likely high working class as they earn more than middle working class, so the antagonist wears a suit and tie which may also connote that he is more educated, important and formal as he would need to be to get a job that the high class people would get, and this contrasts against the Simpsons family which aren't as educated or important as him. The stereotype of a government official, or anyone involved in a big business or enterprise are stereotypically shown with a suit and tie which connotes that they are smart and ready for business.

Then there is also gestures and how people act in the movie, Homer Simpson in the film does a kind of catchphrase-gesture that appears in the TV show a lot, which is strangling his son Bart, this connotes binary opposition of age as Homer is the dominant parent over Bart who is weaker as he is younger. There is also a scene where Homer is walking through Alaska trying to make it back to Springfield to save it as he learnt that he needs them, in the scene he is tired and is determined to get there, this connotes that Homer is strong-willed and determined because if he wasn't he would of just gave up. The antagonist on the other hand is of higher class in society than the Simpsons and he shows this by standing up straight, this connotes that he is superior as he is trying to look taller so that he can look down on people like the Simpsons who are lower class.

Props are apart of Mise-en-scene as it's what's in the scene and can show meaning in the film as well as being an object. One of the props used is a policeman's gun and this denotes a gun but the connotation of
the gun is superiority as a gun is very dangerous and can decide if a person lives or dies which means that it holds power, especially when it's used on Bart, which is another example of binary opposition of age as it shows that the older police officer is more powerful than the child.

Finally, the last Mise-en-scene element is the lighting and colouring of a scene as this can create a mood or feeling of the scene, there are two types of lighting, low key, which is normally used in the disequilibrium of the film and the scene is normally dark, and high key, which is when a scene is well lit and bright which is normally used in the equilibrium and resolution. An example of low key in the film is at the start of the disequilibrium when the Simpsons family's home is getting sucked into a sinkhole, which is also the way they escape the dome and their life's are ruined as they have no one to go to, this makes the audience feel sympathy for the family and worried about them because they don't know how the family is going to get out of the mess.

 

Then there is the high key lighting in the scene when Homer is having fun with Bart as they try to retain their relationship as father and son, this connotes that everything is fine and nice as it creates the effect of the equilibrium.