Preliminary Exercise 4: Analyzing Mise en scene

The movie I used for this assignment was The Guardians of the Galaxy. The genre of this movie is action, and the main theme the film producers are communicating is that finding a group of people you can trust and call family is important. The opening of the movie is a montage of Peter Quill, the main character, dancing through a place and a planet called Morag. He's searching for an orb that he plans to steal. The film producers introduce hair, makeup, and costume first, showing Quill's face, body, and outfit. Then they show setting and set design by showing the background and all the various objects on the ground. Then lighting by showing the light that peers through the two circles at the top, which creates a sort of natural light. With color, they show the bluish-grey to give a sort of mysterious, otherworldly atmosphere. The mood/feelings the director is trying to communicate to the audience is a humorous, carefree feel by showing Peter Quill dancing through a dark planet.

Setting

Definition: The place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where an event takes place.

The setting of this scene is a bunch of pillars and broken buildings on another planet. You can see the main character, Peter Quill, dancing to music on his Sony Walkman through the scene.

Message: To show how Peter acts and how he is inside.

The atmosphere/mood of the opening sequence: To create a light and humorous tone.

Location (Where and geographic description): He is on another planet called Morag.

Time Period:1988 and 2014

Time of Day: It seems to be at night

Culture/moral values of the setting: To show Peter’s personality

Job title:

Acting

Definition: The art or occupation of performing in plays, movies, or television productions.

The acting is comedic

Messages: To show his humorous attitude.

Atmosphere/mood of the opening sequence: To show how Peter is carefree and likes to dance

Character portrayed: Peter Quill

Character appearance: Male, tall, fairly muscular, brown hair, pale skin.

Character actions: Dancing and singing

Facial expressions and body language: He looks happy and carefree, his movements flowy and loose.

Voice quality/ tone: He doesn’t talk much, but when he sings, the quality is fairly good.

Job title:

Set Design: Décor and Props

Definition: The process of creating the physical space for a film scene, including the scenery, furniture, props, and overall look.

Set design (décor and props) There are rocks and a tall pillar and some leaves.

Message: To show the look of the scene and how the planet is.

Atmosphere/mood of the opening sequence: To show the atmosphere of the planet Morag.

Décor: Various sizes of rocks, sand on the ground.

Props: An alien animal on the ground, a large pillar.

Job title:

Costumes, Hair and Make-up

Definition: Essential components of a film’s visual identity, and are used to convey a character’s personality, status, and role in the story.

The costume is to show how he is from earth and that he’s used to casual clothes.

The hair and make-up is carefree and light, like he doesn’t care much about his appearance.

Message: To show how carefree Peter is.

Atmosphere/mood of the opening sequence: To show his appearance for the first time.

Costumes: A light blue T-shirt with a reddish-brown leather jacket and some black jeans with a pair of orange-brown gloves.

Hair: Brown, wavy hair that is pushed to one side.

Make-up: Light, pale makeup and colored in eyebrows.

Job title:

Lighting

Definition: The use of light by the director and cinematographer to create mood, tone, and visual style.

The lighting is minimal and dark with a little bit of pink from the sky.

Message: To show the dark tone of Morag.

Atmosphere/mood of the opening sequence: Dark and moody.

Light Direction: Down towards the ground

Light Source: The sky

Light Quality: Decent, considering it comes from the sky.

Job title:

Composition

Definition: The arrangement of elements in a shot, including their relationship to each other and how they are captured.

The composition is well put.

Message: To show Peter and the planet he’s on.

Atmosphere/mood of the opening sequence: Dark and moody, but with a little of humor.

Blocking in the frame: Peter is using his boots to fly across an open part between the ground.

Framing Balance: Peter is in the air while the light is shining down between the holes of the sky.

Depth of Field: There is a spiky object on the left and a pillar by the right.

Focus: The focus is good, but the picture is a little blurry because Peter is moving.

Job title:

Color

Definition: The use of colors to evoke specific emotional and psychological responses from the audience.

The color is a cool grey-blue color.

Message: To show the dark mood of the planet.

Atmosphere/mood of the opening sequence: Dark and moody with slight humor.

Dominant Colors: Bluish-grey and black.