Mise-en-Scene: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

Mise-en-Scene, literally the "putting together of a scene", determines the mood of both the scene, and of the characters in it. (For more Mise-en-Scene, see the analysis of M (1931)) Used in many films, both old and new, this technique helps the audience with characters intentions and thoughts, without using any spoken word. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), definitely more modern then M, contains many scenes put together with Mise-en-Scene. From Mike Newell's (director) skill at putting the film together, one can get a sense of what is happening in a scene, even before it is released in theaters!

Both scenes in this analysis are in the Quidditch World Cup scene. Although not back to back, they describe the mood before and during the eruption of chaos. As Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), the obvious protagonist of the series, views the Quidditch World Cup (for all you Muggles out there, Quidditch is a wizard sport), thoughts of his archenemy Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), nicknamed 'Voldy' by his loyal fans, are nowhere to be found. Having a good time with his best friends, this peace of mind is suddenly interrupted by Death Eaters, faithful followers of You-Know-Who.

In this first scene, before the Death Eaters wreck havoc, the trio of friends are setting up in their new 'tent'. As both author J.K. Rowling and director Mike Newell show, the Wizarding world can be . . . fun. From viewing the tents, the audience gets a sense that something is out of place; mainly the smokestacks and whether vanes. From the crazy and out of the ordinary items in this scene, a mood of happiness and joy is expressed to the audience. The main 'good guys' are predominate in the frame, and so are the Wizarding items that represent happiness, such as the tents. In addition to these examples, the happy attitude is also gained from the light (day) on the location. From these elements, Mike Newell tries to emphasize the peace before the attack of the Death Eaters.

Unfortunately, evil arises when happiness is at its peak. With the Death Eaters comes destruction, pain, and a new Mise-en-Scene analysis (not all necessarily bad). The most obvious element of evil in this scene is the outfits of the Death Eaters. Shockingly similar to the robes of both the Grim Reaper and the KKK, this uniform installs fear in the audience, through previous knowledge of other 'non-fictional' characters of the real world. In addition to the real fear the robes create, the hoods are draped over their heads, creating shadows and darkness. The masks also create an element of darkness in this scene. Unlike in the book, the Death Eaters are wearing masks representing a decaying corpse, a future no one looks forward to. The darkness is greatly emphasized in this scene, by the lack of happiness. In the previous scene, many crazy objects, such as weather vanes, are visible, giving the viewer a sense of happiness. In this scene, there are no objects to install laughter; the tents and good wizards are either missing, or are really small in the frame. Good is no longer the focus of the scene, causing it to be weak and insignificant. It is no longer day, and the darkness produced from the lack of light (and color) creates both shadows and a feeling of the unknown. Also, smoke clouds the horizon, showing any viewer that there is either chaos nearby, or that the Death Eaters weren't invited to a Barbeque. (Incidentally, that is probably not a witch being tortured by the Death Eaters, but a Muggle, a non-magical being)

From the wonderful Mise-en-Scene that Mike Newell puts in his film, we can determine both the feeling and situation of the scene before viewing it. Just the simple technique of day and night gives an audience the feeling of the characters, and their intentions. Mise-en-Scene, included in even "children's movies", is in almost every film. Whether in a classic such as M, or a modern movie like Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Mise-en-Scene always guides the audience to the correct conclusion of what is to come in the film, or even the feeling of the characters and their thoughts.

*To my great dismay, I have found out that both of these scenes are not included in the film.*

Mise-en-Scene: M (1931)

Mise-en-Scene!? What's that! Well, besides that atrocious food I ate for lunch, it's French for "placing into a scene". It is the term for what the director does before the camera; how the scene is presented to the audience. For example, if the scene is presented in a dark manner, and has a giant downward arrow in it, the director may be trying to convey the foreboding downward path a character may take soon.

Fritz Lang's masterpiece film M (1931) is an M-azing watch, with each scene thoughtfully planned and placed by the director. Two such examples are the scene captures to the left and right of this entry. A horrible child murderer is wandering through the streets of Germany, already killing 8 children. The cops, unable to cause any real threat to this murderer, feebly attempt to create a plan to capture this crook. However, in the second scene, the everyday criminals are planning to capture the murderer too (and do a much better job than the cops).

In the Cop scene, one can see the circles created by the compass. It creates the illusion that the town is a bullseye; a technique that should hopefully catch the murderer. However, this is an illusion of safety itself, for there is a very small chance that the cops will catch the murderer. As in the game of darts, all your money is on the fact that a bullseye will be hit. If not, then the dart will land on the outskirts. In the scene, the town is placed in the bullseye, however it is all based on luck that the cops will get this bullseye. More likely, they will hit the outskirts. This is shown many times in the film, mostly through the means the Cops are attempting to catch the murderer. The Cops are truly running in circles.

In the Criminal scene, a black hand covers a map of the town, similar to the map of the previous scene. (Interestingly enough, Hitler and the Nazis were big fans of Lang, and based their uniforms of the Gestapo on the clothes that the character Schränker, whose hand is shown here, wears in this film.) Unlike that of the previous scene, there is no false security based on dumb luck (mostly the dumb). Instead, a well developed plan is formed, as can be seen in this scene. With no words to accompany this picture, one can see that a hand is grasping the town, trying to strangle the murderer out of hiding. Unlike the "the murderer somewhere here" attitude of the cops, Schränker knows the murderer is in the town, and causes a giant undercover search to start. In addition to the grasping of Schränker, this scene feels much darker than the previous one, showing a darker intention of what should happen to this child murderer.

M is an amazing film. If you get a chance to see it, grasp it as fast as Schränker. Lang's expression through Mise-en-Scene is not the only thing to watch out for though, M's amazing ability to give fear and suspense (with little to no sound) is a characteristic that causes it to be loved by many a film critic even to this day.