Download - Mise en-scene micro analysis - The Descent
S
The Descent: Mise-en-
scene AnalysisSam Carpenter
Clip 3 - Hospital
Lighting
LIGHTING: The colour of Sarah in the
hospital suggests the cold loneliness,
fluorescent lighting, and an
abandoned, uninviting industrial feel
to the scene. This contrasts to the
(although dark) warm, orange glow of
the opening scene with the birthday
cake.
The green tint is in contrast to the end
of the scene where Sarah falls into
Beth’s arms, where reality kicks back
in and everything turns to a pure
white to suggest safety and a clean
environment. The green is washed
away and there are no more harsh
shadows like in the corridor-running
scene.
Location
LOCATION: The hospital at the
beginning of the clip presents a
surprise to the viewer. All of the
medical instruments and tools in and
around Sarah present a strange new
environment to the viewer, and create
an effect of imprisonment – or even
being pulled away from the warm
location with the birthday cake. In the
corridor, the white walls and lack of
people create an eerie, industrialised
and uninviting scene. The same
location was made to look so different
with the green colour tint, which
displays a great example of how
colour can change the atmosphere of
a scene.
Costume
COSTUME: Sarah’s costume remains
the same throughout the scene – the
hospital gown suggests that she is
helpless and is a patient in the
hospital. We now know that she has
had a bad accident and is in hospital
due to that. In contrast to the
hallucination scene, the gown in the
reality scene suggests that she is
safe in the hands of the hospital. The
costumes of the people around her
are typical of what would be found in
a hospital, with doctors and nurses
roaming around past Sarah and Beth
which further cements the idea that
she is back in reality.
Props
PROPS: There are two props in the
hospital sequence – the heart monitor
and the cake. The cake symbolises
Sarah’s daughter and the importance
of her daughter’s birthday party that
she never got. and when Sarah is
dreaming, she is with her daughter. It
symbolises that she could be with her
daughter if she stays asleep (dies).
The hear monitor as a prop the
breaks that dream, and displays that
Sarah is waking up and back in
‘reality’, and stops the dream. The
fact that the heart monitor is showing
0 bpm could be foreshadowing to the
predominant theme of death in the
movie.
Clip 4 - Cave
Lighting
LIGHTING: In the beginning of the
scene there is only the head torch
light and the darkness of the cave.
Later on, the lighting becomes more
effective from Holly’s camera – using
the Night Vision. However, the green
spooky tint returns. This was most
likely done for the purpose of making
sure that the audience can see the
creature and it is sure to scare them.
The green night-vision gives another
uninviting and spooky feel to the
scene, and along with the dialog
creates a very tense environment.
LocationLOCATION: The cave is extremely
frightening – the night vision allows
for the cave to be seen a lot more
comprehensively – whilst still
maintaining a dark feel. The large
rocks, big shadows, human bones
and the water create an epic and
intimidating environment.
The colour in the cave scenes can
make a huge difference. For a lot of
the scenes, the colour theme is black,
yellow and orange - Warm colour
temperatures. This gives the cave an
epic, large feel. But in the night vision
shots, the colour temperature is much
colder, with lots of greens and blues.
This makes the caves seem a lot
smaller and more claustrophobic.
Costume
COSTUME: The girls’ costumes
remain the same throughout the
scenes in the caves, though they
slowly get worn and bloody
throughout the movie. They represent
the situation that the girls are in –
especially when Sarah becomes a
monster herself when she is covered
in blood and kills a crawler violently.
The crawlers’ appearance
themselves are very scary and work
very well with the environment. They
are very light-skinned and
featureless, which contrasts with the
dark of the caves.
Props
PROPS: A lot of props are used in the
caves in this movie – the most iconic
being the icepicks. Most of the girls
carry one, and they play a huge role
in the movie – killing both Beth and
Juno (Indirectly).
The icepicks represent everything
bad about these girls – they are never
used to do something good, it is
either killing crawlers or killing each
other.
Other props, such as flares, torches
and flashlights only seem to reveal
trouble – such as a crawler in the
tunnel up ahead or one behind Sarah.