Saturday, August 24, 2013

Introduction

Steven Spielberg, Duel (1971) is a thriller film about two motorist. David Mann is a businessman on his way to a meeting.  The thrill begins when Mann encounters a big rig truck driver who seems to be viciously stalking him on a long stretched interstate.




The Use of Mise-en-scen

Mise-en-scen is a French term for how a filmmaker arranges people and props on a set.  There are five key elements that go into mise-en-scen:

1. Settings and props
2. Costume, hair and makeup
3. Facial expression and body language
4. Lighting and color
5. How people and props are positioned



Settings and Props

This film was set on what seemed like miles and miles of road.  I could tell that it was a hot summers day because of the lighting in the film. As well as the clothing that the main and supporting characters were wearing.The main props in the film were the red mustang that businessman David drove, the rust colored big rig that the truck drive drove and the road that stretched for miles.


 
 


Costume, Hair and Makeup

When watching a film, one can always tell what time period it is set in.  Some key elements that can help you determine the decade of the are what the character is wearing, how the characters hair is styled and the style of the makeup that is worn.

In Duel the clothing that the main character wore could be somewhat timeless.  However, his wire constructed optical lenses that sported a coffee colored tint to them lets us know that this film came from the 70's.

A clean shaved face, thick mustache and elongated side burns was sort of what the 70's was known for.




 




Facial Expression and Body Language

This film was full of confused/scared facial expressions.  So much so that as a viewer I wanted to jump into the film and tell him to just turn around and go home.  I mean, the poor guy was so confused and frightened by the whole situation.  At the end of the movie you did see a sense of relief on his face when the big rig fell over a cliff to its doom.

 
 


Lighting and Color
 
The lighting in the film was mostly bright.  The only time that you would see a dark/dim shot would be if the camera went straight to the truck driver (who was barely seen throughout the whole film).  The neutral colors gave viewers a sense of calmness but that all went down the drain each time the road raged truck driver would reappear. 
 
The scene that stood out the most to me was when David Mann thought of a plan that would get the big rig driver off his back.  As the scene played out the sun had begin to set. To me, this symbolized the ending of Mann's horrific encounter.
 
 


 
 
 
How People and Props are Positioned
 
The café scene in the film gives viewers a great understanding of the positioning of people and props.  In the scene David Mann sits at a booth in the café and nervously drinks a glass of water.  While there David notices that the big rig (which did not contain a driver) is parked outside.  Never before seeing his face, David remembers that the truck driver wore cowboy boots.  David looks at the bar and notices about five men wearing cowboy boots. Then and there, he has to decide who to confront. 
 
 Seeing all of the men wearing various styles of cowboy boots instantly took viewers back to a previous scene at a gas station which showed only the truck driver's boots as he hoped out to fill up.  Viewer's began to get confused because we, just like Mann, could not remember the details of the boots. This led us and the main character to pick a bad guy off of assumptions instead of facts.