Mise-En-Scene

PREP Analyse how mise-en-scene is used in the extract from Cuffs to create meaning. Refer to at least two examples from the extract in your answer. (This means that a good candidate will write fully and freely, covering more than just 2 examples, as we practised in class).
Worth 5 marks: write half a side of A4 and post on your blog tonight.

A first example of when mise-en-scene is used is in the opening scene when the chief superintendent is giving a speech. You can see the salience of this scene through many ways like the formal location they are using, the chief is standing on a raised podium. There is shot which is outside of the room looking in where it shows a sign saying 'suite' which shows that this is a ceremonial event and therefore largely important. The clothes that are worn in this scene further emphasise the importance of the meeting for they are all wearing suits and ties with their police helmets on and they are wearing white gloves which you would not really wear unless its a very formal occasion. Also the way some people hold their hands together in front of them, submissively shows that the chief is someone of significance.

Another scene, also at the beginning is on the beach when the officer is walking to the fight scene where the nudists and the criminals in this scene are fighting. The criminals are carrying a lot of props like wearing viking helmets and carrying plastic swords and also beer bottles, this shows that they are obviously drunk and aren't that serious. The fact that they are also wearing football shirts refers to the stereotype of people who enjoy that sport: inappropriate, quite vicious and mock people who are unaccustomed to themselves. The nudists are covered by nothing but towels, which they use to cover themselves when the officer arrives almost as if they are embarrassed by it for they are getting to much attention, at it also gives a large effect of humour especially contrasted with the voice over of the chief and his powerful speech about police respect.

In a scene where a drug addict has been self-harming. Firstly the man is completely scruffy and wearing old torn clothes with greasy hair and covered in dirt and blood, this shows that this man has no sense of self-pride and has basically lost all of it, also shown with the way he points the knife at the officers while his hand is shaking. Later on in the scene there is a wide shot of his entire living room which is shown in quite a dark filter and like him is also messy and littered in beer bottles, plastic bags old food waste and dying plants, all of this emphasising how depressing and calamitous this particular scene is.