As we continue to learn and experiment with various topics in class, Mise-en-Scene has become our latest topic. Reviewing the various things that make up mise-en-scene and examples of it. I enjoyed this topic as we were able to analyze 1974 vs the 2013 version of The Great Gatsby. While many things come into play with the major differences and improvements of Mise-en-scene in the time difference between, you can see how much Mise-en-scene has improved over time.
Furthermore, our class was assigned to gain further knowledge of the mise-en-scene of a movie of our choice. The movie I chose was the 2019 thriller, Parasite. This film begin widely acclaimed worldwide and became a first for many Korean movies and director Bong Joon-ho. There are many levels to this movie in comparing the two classes shown, upper and lower class, along with the infiltration of the classes. The main parts of mise-en-scene are setting, lighting, dressing, and staging.
To begin, the first part of the mise-en-scene that I will discuss is the setting. In this scene shown, the movie takes place in two parts of Seoul, South Korea. The main setting is the "Beverly Hills" of Seoul and the other in the "slums" of Seoul. In this particular scene, the lower-class characters are seen running back to their home as heavy rain comes down. The scene is to show the stark difference between rich and poor, where the rich family is seen watching the rain in peace while the poor family runs back to find a flooded home. This occurs as the rich are on higher land and the poor below where the rain quickly foods. Although this happens in the middle of the movie, it emphasizes what has built up the whole movie, the distinction of rich and poor only to come to the climax of the movie.
Onto the second part, lighting affects every part of the movie; to portray the mood and context of the scene. The house of the rich family always seems to be brightly lit, while the basement is very dark and gloomy (typically as basements are seen). This stark contrast in the house levels also gives the level of the movie where on the top the rich are prospering, and on the basement levels, people are suffering. From the calm atmosphere to the chaos happening down below. This lightning ultimately leads to how the audience portrays the scene, the saturation of the colours, to the shadows seen in the photo above. You can see just in the picture how the lights fade as the stairs go down toward the basement from the main level of the house. This not only leads to a twist in the storyline but continues with the overall theme portrayed in the movie, rich and poor are at different levels that collide but will never coexist in peace.
Equally important to how the film is conveyed, are the costumes. Clothes can distinguish many things, especially wealth and cleanliness. The movie portrays a rich family and a poor family. Looking at the photo one can tell who is rich and poor; those in the middle dressed in simple and sleek black and white clothing that appears very nice and clean, this being the upper-class Park family. While the other four in the outer parts are seen wearing blues, greys, and other various colours that seem dirty or unfitting for them, the lower-class Kim family. This small detail makes a major part in the roles of the characters and the overall movie portrayal. Parasite heavily emphasizes how the Kims are dressed in almost like rags and emphasizes the smell of sewer as they live in the slums, contrary to the Parks who are always seen in clean, well-fitting outfits.
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