Mise-en-scene

There is a film entitled American History X, which incidentally happens to be my favorite film of all time, that  has so many cinematic qualities, it could be used to teach classes about cinematic composition. To illustrate this point, I have decided to analyze the mise-en-scene of a very powerful moment within the film. The scene is placed at the beginning of the film and serves to set the tone, as well as the driving force for the entire piece. The scene is shot in black and white, which emphasizes the black vs white conflict of the film. At .03 seconds, the viewer is shown two large swastikas, both of which shine boldly on the screen due to the black and white contrast. After the character Danny tells Derek that there is a black guy out front trying to break into the car, the scene coordinator follows Hitchcock's rule and has Derek move over to the right as and the camera shifts slightly over to the left and pans in to emphasize the swastika on the wall at .08 seconds. This shows alerts the viewer to the political ideologies that are in place within the scene.

Shortly afterward, at .27 seconds, there is a close up shot of a gun being loaded, which sets the viewer up for the violence they are about to witness. As the two brothers head down the stairs, the viewer is made uncomfortable because Derek is rushing toward the character, this sets up the confrontational aspects that they are about to witness. There is a moment at .36 seconds where they both pause and the viewer is shown a two shot which emphasizes the camaraderie and differences between the two brothers, which is something that is emphasized to a greater extent toward the end of the scene.

As Derek rushes out to open fire at the crooks, the viewer suddenly becomes aware of the differences between the white and black clothing of the figures within the shot. The crooks are all clad in mostly dark colored clothing, while Derek is clothed in only white underwear. Then the viewer is immersed in a barrage of over the shoulder shots, medium-shots, and close-ups as Derek continually fires shots at the moving vehicle. When Derek comes back to the wounded crook on the pavement, the viewer is immersed in a steady stream of medium shots and close-ups until there is the extreme-close-up at 2.18 which emphasizes emotion and desperation in the character. The camera zooms out to fully capture the violence of the action within the scene but cuts to a close-up of Danny at 2.33 to fully encapsulate the horror depicted on his face.

Once the police have arrived on the scene, there is a close-up of Derek within the frame to emphasize the raw hatred and evil within his eyes at 3.03 which quickly cuts to a medium shot of Danny who is kneeling on the grass in disbelief. The next frame is a low angle shot of Derek with his arms outstretched and his eyes focused on Danny. As the police officers close in, the camera angle begins to rise, which begins to take the power of the scene away from Derek at 3.24. The viewing angle turns into an over the shoulder shot from Danny's perspective at 3.28. There is a moment where the camera captures the disbelief on Danny's face once more before it pans to a medium shot of Derek grinning until the handcuff is placed on his wrist, which lends to the idea that the handcuffs had a sobering effect upon the character. At 4.05, the officers pick both brothers up at the same time, reinforcing the difference between them as one is taken to the car and the other is forced inside. the scene ends with the camera zooming out from a worried mother and consoling daughter, ending a brilliant display of cinematography.