I want you to think about the mise-en-scene in Let the Right One In. Examine all aspects of mise-en-scene: lighting, composition, set, properties, etc. This would include color as well. Discuss the concept of "monster" through the mise-en-scene of the film. This exercise will help prepare you for your Independent Study. Examine CLOSELY and offer me many details and examples. Think about what the director is trying to say IMPLICITLY. Please do this in at least 2 well-developed paragraphs.
Use whatever scenes you can find on YouTube or come into the Library and use my copy.
Due: Friday, 10/3
Mise-en-scene throughout Let the Right One In portrays Eli as an innocent girl as well as a monster. During the scene in which Oskar tries to mix blood with her, Eli is exposed as a monster. This is greatly caused by mise-en-scene. The room that Oskar and Eli are in is very dark, but light shines on Eli and Oskar. However, when Oskar slits his hand, her breathing and swallowing becomes audible to convey her inner struggle not to hurt him. Initially, Eli stays lit and controls herself. However, this soon changes as drops of blood fall quickly from his hand. The speed of these drops adds to the anxiety of viewers and Eli, causing her to lose control. When this happens, Eli is no longer lit fully. Instead, a shadow comes across her face. Oskar stays well lit, implying that he is still innocent in pure, but a change has come over Eli to take this away from her. When she dives at the puddle of blood on the ground, she is only a silhouette, no longer lit from the front. This takes away her facial features and makes her less human and more monster. With this change comes growling and slurping as she laps up the blood left on the floor. However, she is shown from a high angle, implying that she is not in power, but that she has lost control and despite appearing stronger, is actually weak.
ReplyDeleteIn another scene, where Oskar is told to stay underwater for three minutes or his eye will be cut out, Eli is portrayed as both a monster and a girl, simultaneously. In an MCU of Oskar underwater, clanging noises come from above water. Then a pair of feet dip into the water in front of him, without him seeing. These feet are dragged through the entire distance of the pool before being pulled out and replaced by a severed head. Without being able to see Eli’s face, these malicious acts would seem monstrous rather than heroic. After Oskar is pulled out of the water, we see an ECU of Eli’s eyes, with drops of blood and her black hair in focus rather than her eyes. As the camera dollies back, her eyes become the focus, humanizing her so she no longer appears a monster.
Color also plays a role in the mise-en-scene of Let the Right One In. Red is of course prominent in this film due to all of the blood. This red represents more than just blood and violence, however. Eli often has red on her during her most human moments. Frequently, this red is blood, however she also wears a red sweater when her and Oskar first kiss. Early in the film, a tree is shown with red buds. This tree appears beautiful and serene, establishing red not as a color of anger and violence, but of peace and happiness. When Oskar asks Eli how she solved the rubik’s cube, he holds it with the red side facing the camera the entire shot, which also happens to be when she first opens up to him and introduces herself. Red throughout the film represents both violence and humanity. This is especially relevant for Eli because she contains both of these qualities.
Let the Right One In is a film that is all about the fine line between humanity and monstrosity. To convey this theme, Alfredson focuses on the mise en scene of the film. one of the characters who most often struggled with the parallel of being a monster and being a caring human at the same time was Hakan, Eli’s caretaker in the beginning of the film. Alfredson focuses on the two sides of Hakan’s conflicted self in the scene in which he burns himself with acid. The scene opens with Hakan standing ominously outside of a boys’ basketball practice. The shot is from inside of the gym and initially, only the players are visible. However, as the camera dollies around the boys and in on a window, Hakan can be seen through it. His character is framed by the window which draws the viewer’s attention immediately to him. Also, half of his face is covered by shadow, further drawing attention to Hakan’s dual nature. For the viewer, it makes little to no sense as to why the boys don’t question the appearance of Hakan in the window, but, this could be interpreted as one of the ways Alfredson portrays Hakan as a monster. Hakan, while easily seen by the audience, is invisible to the boys thus making him far more menacing, a trait that is essential for any stalker or “monster”. The next shot shows the same window with nobody in the room and with Hakan no longer in the window. The lights go out, leaving the symmetrical shot in almost complete darkness, until a train rushes past the windows. This could possibly be some foreshadowing about the fate of Eli and Oskar.
ReplyDeleteWhen Hakan captures his victim, he does so offscreen. The viewer can hear the thrashing and screaming of the boy but the act itself is not shown. Instead, There is a shot of the hallway just outside of the room where Hakan is and the viewer can slightly make out the movement of shadows in the blurry window, the only thing that is in focus in this shot. As the scene continues, Hakan proceeds with his ritual as the boys friends come searching for him. Hakan begins to realize his defeat after the boys peer in through another blurry window. Hakan sinks down on a bench and looks at the boy who he was about to kill. Next, there is an extreme close up of Hakan’s jar of acid being pushed off the bench and burning his coat on the floor. The final shot in this scene is one of the most defining moments of Hakan’s character. This shot is split down the middle by a wall. On one side, the boy is thrashing around calling for help with the lights on. On the other, Hakan sits in the corner of a shower, surrounded by darkness with the jar of acid in his hand. Hakan appears utterly defeated in this shot; he is surrounded by darkness and the people searching for him are literally just around the corner. The fact that this is all in one shot further emphasizes that Hakan is both human and a monster. The lighting gives the viewer a sense of duality; there is a contrast of darkness and light in this shot just as there is a contrast of darkness and light within Hakan himself. The scene closes with a brief shot of Hakan accepting his fate and pouring the acid on his face, but, the camera cuts away before anything gruesome is shown. Whereas Hakan was displayed by the mise en scene to be a stealthy, invisible murderer in the beginning of the scene, he is now shown at the end to be nothing more than a helpless, defeated human being.
Throughout “Let the right one in” this idea of what truly makes a “monster” becomes a motif and permeates through each cinematic element. Oskar being an outcast forms a strong bond to Eli as she gives him the strength to fight back against his bullies. Due to this and Oskar’s romantic ties towards Eli he chooses to ignore the true monster that she is. That’s not to say he is not aware of the fact she is a vampire, but rather he chooses to look past this fact and attempt to deny the reality of his and Eli’s situation. Oscar is displayed as an innocent young boy who is very much unaware of some of the horrors the real world have to offer. This does not only come forth through his character but also through his costume design. Oskar is shown throughout most of the film wrapped up completely with a heavy jacket and scarf in a way an over-protective mother might dress their child. Not only this but the extreme pale white of Oskar’s skin and hair really drives home this idea that he is still an innocent party throughout most of the film. Compare this to Eli who has black hair and while is also wearing heavy clothing, she is shown in significantly less than Oskar to contrast the innocent naivety from her harsh reality. This contrast of colors become an interesting focal point as Eli, who is considered the monster in the narrative, is really the only one who has any color in her costume. Whether it be the green in her eyes, or the red in her cheeks or the red shirt she puts on when Oskar comes to visit her. It seems that while the outside world is full of white and other bland colors, Eli is shown to have very vivid and intense colors surrounding her. While she is a monster in the eyes of the community, these colors so the new life Oskar has gained from meeting Eli. It is this new life that allows Oskar to ignore the the more gruesome side of Eli’s nature and accept the monster inside of her. Take the shot in which Eli attacks and kills an intruder. This shot is framed in such a way that it gives us a glimpse into Oskar’s mind. The shot consists of Oskar in the foreground and the man framed by the door in the middle ground. As soon as Eli attacks the man the camera pulls focus onto Oskar as to make the actual killing out of focus and not the main component of the shot. Oskar proceeds to close the door and walk away, the camera remains on the other side of the wall as sounds of the man being mutilated can be heard until a bloodied hand bursts out of the door and smears the white walls in blood. This shot shows how Oskar wishes to remain innocent and not accept the monster side of Eli, so rather than watch he walks away until the act is completed. However the red blood being smeared on the white wall seems to suggest that Oskar has lost his innocence through his interactions with Eli. Another instant in which Oskar refuses to acknowledge the monster inside of Eli is the end scene in the pool. As the shot under water depicted the carnage occurring above the water we are never shown Eli’s attack on these boys as we are seeing the scene not so much from Oskar’s point-of-view but rather his mind set. Once pulled up from the water by Eli the camera immediately cuts to an extreme close-up of Eli’s white face with speckles of blood on it with her green eyes bright. It is not until later after Eli and Oskar that the camera cuts to a long shot of the carnage left behind by Eli. This indicts that Oskar sees Eli as the girl he loves and cares about, nothing more. It would not be far-fetched to expect Oskar to panic or at the very least scold Eli for her actions but Oskar is too focused on the Eli’s face to acknowledge the massacre that had just taken place.
ReplyDeleteThe use of mise-en-scene in Tomas Alfredson's Film "Let the Right One in", is very apparent and crutial to the movie. The director uses mise-en-scene in order to evoke emotions from the viewers as it develops the story. It is used to create a unique contrast between the stark isolationism and unity shown in different ways, both through mise-en-scene. This contrast helps to show the anguish and pain that the monster evokes later on. When the characters are at either end of the spectrum (unified/isolated), it gives the feeling of helplessness when the monster attacks, however that may be. First and foremost, this story takes place in winter, arguably the most isolated season. The cold and bleariness of winter leads most people to stay isolated away indoors, mostly alone. In shots when Oskar was alone outside, the contrast of the pure white of the snow and the pure black of the sky made him seem so very alone. But in scenes when he was with Eli, the world seemed warmer, framing their shot together among other object that made the whole scene seem very much less frightening. Another way Alfredson presents the bleak contrast between light and dark, good and bad, Oskar and Eli is through color in the scenes containing people. It is easy to notice that in the scenes where Eli is not present, the background and mise-en-scene seem much brighter, using shades of light grays, light blue and whites. In scenes where she is present, more darker blues, greens and greys are used to give a sense of uneasiness to the viewers. This also leaves a foreboding for what is to come.
ReplyDeleteThe scenes in Let the Right One In that I find to have the strongest showing of the importance of mise-en-scene are the scenes where Eli and Oskar are both outside the apartment complex on what I suppose is a playground. It is in these scenes that Eli and Oskar develop their friendship and eventual love for each other. The setting of these scenes is what I consider to be most important because they are completely out in the open. It is interesting that with all of the private scenes where the two are indoors and safe, these scenes out in the complete open and freezing cold are where the two seem to have the most friendly and intimate of encounters. The scene of the playground appears to be a desolate wasteland. While one would think plenty of people pass through and see the pair, throughout the entire film we see none. I believe this to be the director's way of actually getting across my earlier point that this is intended to be their most intimate meeting spot, especially considering it is where they first met. These are also the scenes where we see the brightest of colors. While they might not be colorful per say, they strong use of white light in these scenes shows that these scenes are meant to provide hope for the two as provided by each other.
ReplyDeleteThe film also attempts to change the perception of a monster. While Eli is indeed a murderous vampire, her gentle appearance shows that monsters are exemplified by what is on the inside rather than the outside, thus "gentle giants" and even monsters that are hideous on the outside while kind and caring on the inside. The shooting of Eli in scenes with Oskar is rather flattering considering her actions as she looks very nice while in scenes where she kills we never see her face up close showing that she is a different person in these instances. With Eli's attempt at masking her evil to Oskar we see that she truly does have good intentions and is more of an anti-hero if anything in the film as opposed to a villain.
ELI ET OSKAR
ReplyDeleteThe Swedish film, Let the Right One In uses a variety of techniques to demonstrate the idea of a “monster”. This is mainly done on Eli, the vampire in the film. There are other instances where characters such as Eli’s old caretaker and even Oskar are portrayed as near monsters but she is the main target. Eli is portrayed this way in the film through composition of the shot, costume design, and lighting. In the scene where Eli attacks Virginia and turns her into a vampire, this is evident.
The scene’s composition is set up in a very specific way by the director in order to show that Eli is not part of society even if shes wishes to be. This is done through a variety of techniques. The first is the use of offscreen and onscreen space in the scene. Eli is primarily offscreen, which along with creating suspense and fear, also serves to isolate her. Sound design goes hand in hand with this throughout the film. When she enters the frame from above Virginia, attempting to jump onto her, she is small in the frame and her face cannot be seen. She is merely a scary monster at this point. Right as she lands on Virginia however, she disappears from the line of sight of the camera. Upon cutting, Eli is once again not in the shot as the camera slowly pans toward her. Revealing her, but not her face. Once Virginia’s boyfriend kicks Eli off of Virginia, Eli is once again thrust from the frame. Showing that she is very much unwanted in society. As people start to arrive, Eli looks around and runs off screen again and out of sight. This shows that she can never be seen, not only because she has just murdered someone but because she will always be considered a monster. Focus is also important in the scene. When Eli is shown in a close-up, the depth of field of the shot is very shallow which essentially displays her in a world of her own. Once she runs away, there is a rack focus onto the wounded victim. These two groups are extremely separate. Also, when the boyfriend is coming up the stairs, Eli and Virginia are out of focus for half of the duration of the pan as the boyfriend realizes slowly what is happening. This of course shows his realization. As the bloody mess of Eli and Virginia comes into focus, so does his horror.
Costume design is another very important part of the scene. In the earlier part of the scene, where Virginia walks away from her drunken boyfriend, she is wearing a red coat and pink pants. This is very important to the scene because red is the color of blood and this means that she is a target from the start. Another victim of Eli’s was also wearing red just before being attacked. Eli, however wears clothes of a normal little girl, which I think expresses her need to be considered normal or at least to lead a somewhat normal life. This of course eventually ends up seeming almost impossible when her face is drenched in blood.
Lighting in the scene plays an important role in an interesting way. Instead of the street being bright and the dark alleyway where the attack happens being dark, the lighting of the two locations are switched. This really serves two purposes, one is to draw Virginia out of it. Her boyfriend is giving her a hard time and following her, so when she heads toward the lighter underpass area in order to leave him. The area where they currently are is black essentially, except for a few streetlights and when there is a cut between the boyfriend who’s back faces the dark side and Virginia, whose back is facing the area where she will be attacked, there is a contrast. Behind the boyfriend it is very dark which adds to his angry complexion and behind her it is light. This shows their disconnection as well. Lighting also helps with the suspense of the film because, aside from the tense music that is playing, the lit area seems safer. The lighting near the area where Virginia is attacked also serves the purpose of exposing Eli.
Since it is lit very well all around, Eli seems out in the open. When people start to arrive, this is clear and once again makes her feel like a monster when compared to them.
DeleteEach of the cinematic elements in the scene add to the separation of Eli from society and her depiction in this instance as a monster.