Forrest Gump - Mise-En-Scene

Forrest Gump For over a century now, individuals have been flocking to witness the magic of motion pictures. It is a world made possible by a director and a dream. Unbeknownst to many, the making of a motion picture is a tedious event, involving scripts, takes, re-takes, and an abundance of post-production editing. Many people sit and enjoy a movie without realizing the complexities and the amount of individuals involved in creating the film. These individuals create the landscapes and backboards for us, the ultimate image also known as the mise-en-scene. My favorite film of all time is Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump will go down in history as one of the greatest films ever made. This film was nominated for thirteen Academy Awards, and took home six of them. This is in part because of the phenomenal cast and crew members involved in the production of this film; individuals such as the director, cinematographer, and art director, to the actors, sound people, and most importantly the editor, who pulled everything together and created the final cut. All of these plus additional elements such as sound, style, societal impact, genre, and film criticism make the film such a masterpiece. In this paper I will go into detail about these elements and as to why they add character and zest to the overall success of the film. Forrest Gump is a film that draws out every emotion that is available to the viewer; at times it draws empathy, as well as sympathy and sadness because of the real-life elements that are a part of the plot. The film is also loaded with irony and many opportunities to laugh at the naivety of the main character, Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump is a story about an “Unusual man doing unusual things” (Groom, 1996, pg. iv). As a result of how fantastic the film was, and how great the crew and cast were, Forrest Gump was nominated for thirteen Oscars at the Academy; which is a highly prestigious honor. Almost all elements of this film were up

References: Dirks, T. (2010). The oscars 1990s [1994 Academy Awards Winners and History]. Retrieved April 8, 2011, from American Movie Classics Company LLC. website: http://www.filmsite.org/aa94.html Finerman, W., Tisch, S., & Newirth, C. (Producers), & Zemeckis, R. (Director). (1994). Forrest gump [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures. Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. (2011). Film: from watching to seeing. San Diego: Bridgepoint Education. Groom, W. (1996). Introduction. In A. Hopkins & J. Potter (Eds.), Forrest gump [PDF version] (Level 3 ed., p. iv). (Original work published 1994)