Wednesday 9 November 2011

Investigating Mise-en-Scene


This is an image of Billie Joe Armstrong. Within this image both back lighting and profile lighting are used, creating shadows and almost a silhouette. The fact that most of his face is covered in shadow could mean that he wants his identity to stay hidden from the public or possibly from the law since the background is on fire meaning they could have done something daring that’s prohibited. In summary, the shadow gives him an enigmatic or nonchalant look.  The light on his face is a different colour to what you’d expect; meaning it’s coming from a different source we’re not aware of, adding to the enigma and making our eyes concentrate on the light that shines on part of his face.

The background seems to be on fire which is making the artist stand out. This could be highlighting the fact that the band wants to stand out in the music industry and the fire could represent their fiery passion for music and the phrase ‘we’re so hot, we’re on fire’ comes to mind. The brightness of the fire could also embody their talent and that their bursting with ideas. In addition the fire could represent a sense of rebellion.

The artist’s hair is made up in a messy fashion giving him a rebellious look which could reflect his personality and the genre of music that he plays. His body language of spreading his arms wide shows that he is bold, reedy for anything to come at him and not anxious about expressing himself. These kinds of personality traits are stereotypically assigned to men. You can also faintly see a microphone which is an example of music iconography.




This is an image of the Foo Fighters. In this image you can see that the band members starnd out because of their black clothes against the light grey sky backgroung of natural lighting. This can emphasize the fact that the band whiches to stand out and be seen as something that is completely uneqie and different. The sky background could symbolize that the band want to be free and be able to express themselves withought being restrained like birds in a cage.

All of the band members are wearing matching colours. This could mean that all the members believe theiy are equal and all have the same vision of what they what their music to bring to the music world. Since the colour is black, you’d expect the scene to be more sad or gloomy, but it actualt looks lively and energetic. So the band are purposfuly contrasting themselves from what the audience would think. Their body language indicates that their vigorous and full of life. This stresses the point that their ready to burst onto the scene and devote their strenght to their music.

All of the  band members also have a simillar messy hair style and facial hair. This makes them seem more ruged and gives them a ‘fighting back’ look. The scene also has a lot of  music iconography like the guitars, drumbs and amp. These items alre also closely linked with rock music because you usually see them in rock music videos and always at performances.




This is an image of MIKA.  As you can see, he is looking straight into the camera with a vicious expression. This makes him look bold and daring. The expression on his face almost looks like that of a cross spoiled child which makes us think of the riches of famous rock stars and that they have those riches at their disposal. He is also leaning into the camera with a kid of ‘bad ass’ attitude like he’s ready to fight. These personality traits that he is showing are stereotypically assigned to men.

The clothes that MIKA is wearing show that he likes the style of classic rock bands of the 60’s that wore similar outfits like the Beatles, but he has added his own twist to the outfit by attaching things like crocodiles to the shoulders and flowers and polka dots to the front. This adds to the childish imagery he is sending across and maybe even pointing out his personality that he is still a kid at heart. His hair is made up in a messy fashion to give him a rebellious look like many other rock artists.

The background of this image is of a messy and cluttered room. The mess adds to the childish look because children are known for not wanting to clean up their rooms. Or it could be laying emphasis on the stereotypical rock star attitude of trashing a hotel room after a performance. Either way, it gives of a rebellious feel and makes the artist look nonchalant about the current state he is in. There is also the some music iconography with the amps in the background, and the glasses with the Union Jack show a celebration of Britishness by the artist.




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