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Mise-En-Scene and Genre Deconstruction: Fantasy
About Fantasy
Fantasy film generally involves a character undergoing a mystical journey or experience, using supernatural and magical powers that are unlikely to happen in real life. They defy the laws of science, unlike science fiction films that base their content on some level of scientific truth. Some people describe this genre as “fairy tales.” Basically, these are the stories with heroes pitted against legendary, fire-breathing dragons to save a princess. This genre of fantasy doesn’t just exist in films, but is also widely used in books and games for their fictional attractiveness and interesting plotlines.
Films with fantasy have been around for over a century, with the earliest mixing science fiction with visions of the future. Georges Melies’ Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip to the Moon) was made in 1902. It featured men going to the moon in surreal rockets with a satirical tone, criticizing the science world of the early 1900s. Stop-motion animation was used in the early days to bring life to objects and beings that don’t really exist. The Wizard of Oz, made in 1939, used costuming to allow characters to move with better flow.
In the 1950s, special effects were put more into play by famous special effect “wizards” George Pal and Ray Harryhausen. Pal won awards for his effects, from the visuals in Destination Moon (1950) to the adaptation of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds (1953). In his directing career, Pal put together effects to show inhuman beings such as Morlocks and Elois in The Time Machine (1960). Harryhausen’s work included a giant radioactive octopus in It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955) and UFOs destroying the United States capital from the finale of Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956).
Special effects came to help aid fantasy even more as the years went on, helping George Lucas and Steven Speilberg to produce countless blockbusters such as Star Wars and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial in 1977 and 1982, respectively. These films had more exotic aliens and spacecrafts, and even entire worlds as shown in the Star Wars trilogy.
As technology increased, so did the imagination of producers and the ability to bring those ideas onto the big screens. Movies such as The Lord of the Rings (2001~) brought back the more traditional storylines with wizards and hobbits and magical rings. By the 200s, technology has advanced so far that these abstract creatures can be shown to look completely realistic, as if they can actually exist. Films such as The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter (2001), and The Chronicles of Narnia (2005) consist mainly of computer graphic images, with humans being the only un-generated figures.
Fantasy can allow directors and producers to present moral values in unique ways. From simple messages of bravery to dark messages of death, different films, through imagination and fantasy, can deliver different messages and values. It can be a way to escape the realities of current society, and use fantastical strategies to show flaws of these societies or show the importance of them.
But perhaps the main aspect of fantasy as a genre is that it allows the audience to take fantastical journeys with the heroes and heroines in the film. In The Wizard of Oz, the audience is taking the same journey as Dorothy as she walks down the yellow brick road. In epics such as The Odyssey, we travel with Odysseus on his long trail back to Troy and his struggles. This genre allows the viewers to experience supernatural occurrences, when they cannot do so in the real world. By this definition, some authors describe fantasy to be the “mise-en-scene of desire,” with viewers being able to experience their true desires, real or not.
Mise-en-scene
Classic (1930s ~ 1970s):
The first clip is from the film The Time Machine (1960 version)
[0:00 ~ 4:00]
This scene from The Time Machine is the scene where George goes down the shaft to rescue Weena and the other Eloi. Here he finds out that the Morlocks eat the Eloi, and so George decides to help the Eloi by using matches after finding out that the Morlocks are sensitive to light.
The beginning of the clip shows George in a dark cave. The lighting of the scene shows the fright of walking into an unknown, mysterious place. The camera follows George, showing his entire body, and always has him in center. The cuts that show how big the caves are, then coming back to George alone, show how large the setting is, which adds to the fear that is felt, and also how lonely George is at the moment. He must rely only on himself, and it creates a larger mystery of the setting shown. George’s actions show carefulness, with him slowly walking and checking his surroundings. All these aspects create a mysterious atmosphere full of fear and creates that feeling that something hidden in secret is about to be revealed.
Then the movie surprises the audience and turns that mood of mystery and tension to pure fear. The camera all of a sudden dollies forward into George’s face as he realizes the skeletons and bones that resemble eaten Eloi. The lighting of the scene puts light on George so we can see his full expression, and the lights behind him are lit red to give a sense of evil or bad-ness. This scene changes the mood from tension to pure fear and devastation of the Morlocks’ real purpose for the Eloi.
The following scenes show George back to cautiously wandering the cave, trying to figure out what is going on. But this time, adding to the fear, there are Morlocks hiding and waiting for a chance to attack George. The Morlocks are hiding behind walls, and are framed so that they are seen from a distance, with lighting that makes them completely black except their glowing eyes. This effect shows how mysterious they are, both to George and the audience. It also gives off the feeling of lurking evil and danger, slowing creeping up on George. George, on the other hand, seems to sense danger, but cannot see it. His head barely moves too look around, only his eyes. It shows just how cautious he is, trying not to move so much to draw attention.
When George finally gathers the Eloi in room, he realizes that he and the Eloi are cornered in. We see that on the other side of the curtains, the Morlocks are slowing approaching the camera, which is now looking in George’s point of view. Only the curtain separates the Eloi and the Morlocks, and the cuts going to and from the Eloi point of view and the Morlock point of view creates tension and suspense. Again, the lighting on the Morlocks make them completely dark, with only their eyes glowing and looking at us, coming closer and closer.
Near the end of the clip, we see George using matches to keep away the Morlocks. Without speaking a word, we can also tell that the Morlocks are sensitive to light because when George lights a match and shows it in front of the camera, the entire screen is flashed with a bright light. After the audience covers their eyes from the bright light, we see the Morlocks doing the same exact thing. George does this a second time, and the same thing happens all over. After the flash subdues, we see George holding the match under a red filter, making everything red. Presumably this is from the Morlocks’ point of view, and we can then tell that the Morlocks sense danger from the light, given from the red filter, and from their reaction to the light (which is similar to the audience’s), we can tell that they are sensitive.
All of these aspects show how aspects of the mise-en-scene adds to the overall mood of the scene itself. It’s made even more apparent if you realize that the scene involved almost no talking by George or any other characters (except his thoughts on realizing that the Morlocks eat the Elois). Through lighting, space, costume, acting, and decor, we can have a great idea of the mood in this scene. We can feel the fear, tension, suspense, and danger that it presents to us.
These also show how the mise-en-scene contributes to defining fantasy as a genre. George’s cautious actions tell us shows us an unknown and mysterious world, filled with beings that don’t exist. The lighting and setting, such as the smoke coming from the weird structures lit in different colors, also show a world full of mystery and lurking danger. George takes the audience with him through his journey into the cave, and our fantastical desires of wanting to save the Eloi (as well as exploring the new setting) are made into reality in this scene, further defining the movie as “fantasy.”
Contemporary (1970s ~ present):
The following is a clip from the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
[2:25 ~ 6:45]
This is a clip from the first film in the Chronicles of Narnia series, and the first time that a human from the current world visits Narnia. The children (Lucy, Susan, Peter, and Edmund) are playing hide-and-seek, and Lucy finds a wardrobe to hide in. She closes the wardrobe door and keeps backing up until, to her surprise, she walks into a snowy world. She walks around until she meets the faun Mr. Tumnus and they interact.
The beginning of the clip shows a contract dolly of Lucy as she walks towards the wardrobe, and a dolly forward in the direction of the wardrobe in Lucy’s point of view. They are both slow movements, making the motion of Lucy approaching the wardrobe to seem cautious and full of mystery. When she approaches the wardrobe, the camera is shot from above looking down, emphasizing the size of the wardrobe compared to Lucy. Before, the shots were in Lucy’s eye-level, making the wardrobe seem larger looking up, but it is then turned to the wardrobe looking down at Lucy. It puts more emphasis on the difference between the size of Lucy compared to the size of the wardrobe, and vice versa.
Once she enters the wardrobe, she closes the door slightly, keeping a small crack open so that she can see outside. For a brief moment, she looks outside, and we only see half her smiling face. To me, it seemed quite scary, but it shows how hidden she is, seeing that the space around her was black, and the space itself was compact. She then walks backwards until she hits the tree branch with snow. This part where she is walking back is emphasized by cuts that dolly away from the wardrobe door in Lucy’s perspective, slowly becoming overcome by the coats around her. There is also a dolly looking at Lucy, as she walks back slowly, fearing that possibility that she might be found by Edmund. Lucy herself is being overwhelmed by the coats as she backs up continuously. There is also a cut that shows her from above, emphasizing how far she is going back, and how the coats are increasing in number as she walks back. Lucy’s facial expressions show that she is slowly becoming more concerned, as her playful smile starts to disappear and turn to worry. She is probably worried about Edmund coming to find her, but there also seems to be a hidden worrying feeling that she is going far too deep into the wardrobe.
Next we look at until she meets Mr. Tumnus in the snowy forest. Once she touches the branch covered in snow, the camera takes on a new angle from behind Lucy, with the audience themselves looking at Lucy from the world of Narnia. There are then cuts of Lucy looking out in glee towards the newfound world, but then also cuts of her looking back at the wardrobe door, slightly opened. We see this in Lucy’s point of view, and we now see how distant we are to the real world, and how far into Narnia we all are. As the camera follows Lucy venturing into Narnia, we see the dissolving portal back to the real world, only emphasizing, again, how far we all are into the world of Narnia, and away we are from the real world.
Lucy then comes to a lamppost, glowing orange. Its orange glow is basically the only color that we see in the scenery of white (other than Lucy’s clothes), and instantly attracts both Lucy and the audience. We also see how far high up the glow actually is as Lucy approaches the lamppost, and as she curiously looks for clues, the audience also looks for solutions as to what this place actually is.
Then, there is a noise that makes Lucy turn around in surprise. The camera quickly shows us the forest from a high point of view, exposing much of the forest. We are then shown Lucy’s perspective as the camera pans around the forest searching for what really lies in the forest. Much like the scene in The Time Machine where George is cautiously walking around the cave while the Morlocks hide in the darkness, we see Lucy cautiously looking around while Mr. Tumnus comes closer and closer to Lucy’s location. After seeing each other and jumping behind the tree and lamppost in terror, they slowly come out to face each other. The characters’ actions are both slow and steady, with each of them slowly taking steps toward each other. While this interaction is taking place, there is also a gradual increase in the size of the lamp glow. When Mr. Tumnus was coming closer and closer to Lucy, the glow only covered Lucy, as if to protect her. But as the faun and the little girl started to come closer and interact, talking in a nervous manner, the light slowly began to engulf both of them, as if to signify a creation of warm friendship in a cold, seemingly uninhabited world.
Again, there is not much talking in this scene, and so we see the importance of mise-en-scene in setting the mood of the scene. The difference of the lighting between the real world and Narnia tell a lot about the scene. The real world, to Lucy, is a dark and boring place, but the bright snow gives a new, interesting feel filled with mystery and excitement. The glowing orange of the lamppost shows warmth and the attracts interest, being the only thing colorful in the scene. The space also goes from tight and crowded to an open, unknown world full of adventure. The costume of both characters that appear, in a way, show their innocence, with their simplicity (especially Mr. Tumnus who only has a scarf). The acting creates a feeling that something big and new is going to happen. Mr. Tumnus’ uneasiness towards Lucy creates a feeling of nervousness and a bit of tension between the two, which is slowly being loosened as they interact and also as the orange lamp glow starts to light them both instead of just Lucy.
The mise-en-scene also helps to show how fantastical this scene is. The setting itself is magical, turning from a dark and crowded wardrobe to a new, bright, mystical, snowy world full of possibility. Our desire, along with Lucy’s, to escape the grasps of the old boring world and enter a new one is made true through Narnia. We want to further explore what really lies beyond the snowy forest, and we are drawn to the glow of the lamppost. We walk with Lucy and share her excitement and wonder as she walks through a new magical world, and we experience the same fear that something is lurking close to us. Lucy is curious as to what kind of supernatural creature Mr. Tumnus is, and so are the audience. The scene takes us from the ordinary and leads us to extraordinary; from a country house to Narnia. We are able to live out a fairy tale, or, in other words, a fantasy.
References:
http://www.filmsite.org/fantasyfilms.html (Pages 1 ~ 3)
http://www.findmeanauthor.com/fantasy_fiction_genre.htm
http://www.suite101.com/lesson.cfm/17284/2862
http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Criticism-Ideology/Fantasy-Films-THEORY-AND-IDEOLOGY.html
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Time_Machine_(1960_film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia:_The_Lion,_the_Witch_and_the_Wardrobe
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