A Single Man mise-en-scene
How has the mise-en-scene been constructed in the opening of A Single Man in order to communicate particular images to the audience?
In the opening of the film, A Single Man, mise-en-scene has been used to communicate different images and messages to the audience. This has been done through the use of setting; performance and movement; and props and costumes.
There are four different settings in the opening of the film. These settings are: underwater; ‘the snowed over road’; George’s bedroom and the communal areas in George’s house (bathroom and kitchen).
The shot behind the opening credits could give the audience the impression that the character, George, is having an out-of-body experience (OOBE). In the shot you can see George slowly sinking under water, whilst he is naked. George is alone within the shot, showing that he is feeling lonely and isolated, which is a factor of an OOBE. Being depressed can make you feel like you’re drowning, which can come as a result of sinking and being unable to resurface. Which is why the water is an important element in this shot, as it would start to give the audience thoughts of how George is feeling and what genre it might be.
On the ‘snowed over road’ setting, first the shot is black and you can hear a screeching of tyres before a large smashing sound. The shot then cuts to a car on its roof with tyre tracks leading up to it, just before the edge of a cliff. You can infer from this that the driver attempted to avoid going off the cliff by braking harshly to try and slow down enough on the slippery surface, and trying to steer away, making the car end up on its roof. In the snow you can see the body of a man and, behind his head, that of a dog. They both have blood on their heads, showing they were likely flung through the smashed driver’s window.
The setting then changes back to George sinking, but now he has begun to panic. He attempts to swim to the surface but cannot do so, this suggests that the car crash has
In the opening of the film, A Single Man, mise-en-scene has been used to communicate different images and messages to the audience. This has been done through the use of setting; performance and movement; and props and costumes.
There are four different settings in the opening of the film. These settings are: underwater; ‘the snowed over road’; George’s bedroom and the communal areas in George’s house (bathroom and kitchen).
The shot behind the opening credits could give the audience the impression that the character, George, is having an out-of-body experience (OOBE). In the shot you can see George slowly sinking under water, whilst he is naked. George is alone within the shot, showing that he is feeling lonely and isolated, which is a factor of an OOBE. Being depressed can make you feel like you’re drowning, which can come as a result of sinking and being unable to resurface. Which is why the water is an important element in this shot, as it would start to give the audience thoughts of how George is feeling and what genre it might be.
On the ‘snowed over road’ setting, first the shot is black and you can hear a screeching of tyres before a large smashing sound. The shot then cuts to a car on its roof with tyre tracks leading up to it, just before the edge of a cliff. You can infer from this that the driver attempted to avoid going off the cliff by braking harshly to try and slow down enough on the slippery surface, and trying to steer away, making the car end up on its roof. In the snow you can see the body of a man and, behind his head, that of a dog. They both have blood on their heads, showing they were likely flung through the smashed driver’s window.
The setting then changes back to George sinking, but now he has begun to panic. He attempts to swim to the surface but cannot do so, this suggests that the car crash has