Today I watched Barry Lyndon by Stanley Kubrick as part of the 1975: A Year in Cinema program.
Beforehand I looked up the movie to see what it is about and what genre it belongs to. On Google it is listed as “War/Adventure.” Right from the beginning I was surprised by how many comedic moments – both visual and in dialogue – Barry Lyndon has. The first half feels almost like a comedy: Barry acting childish by throwing a glass at Captain John Quin, Barry getting robbed, and Captain Quin’s facial expressions during his duel with Barry.
The second half, however, is much more serious and features some very dramatic scenes. Here I noticed the use of the main theme as a kind of introduction to death. Each time the main theme is played, somebody dies.
Another thing that stood out to me was Kubrick’s use of zoom shots. Was he a pioneer in popularizing this technique?
Mise-en-scène – the art of presenting a scene to the audience. There are five components that make up mise-en-scène: lighting, composition, costumes, setting, makeup, and staging. There are hundreds of individual ways to illuminate your stage and therefore evoke certain emotions. It consists of quality, direction, and source, and color also plays a big role when shaping the atmosphere. When reading chapter 4, I was amazed by the focus put on lighting. And as the text states: “No component of mise-en-scène is more important than what Sternberg called ‘the drama and adventure of light’” (p. 132). But is light really the most essential aspect of mise-en-scène? Isn’t every element of great importance? Perhaps sometimes more weight is placed on lighting, in another case on staging, and in yet another on framing.
As an example of how mise-en-scène can create fear and unease, I want to look at a scene from my favorite movie – Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. In this sequence, we follow Danny riding his bike through the corridors of the Overlook Hotel. After riding for a while, he suddenly stops after turning a corner and sees two girls standing at the other end of the corridor, staring at him.
For the setting, we have the long and symmetrical hallway. The camera is centered behind Danny, focusing on the motionless twins at the far end of the corridor, who are staring at both Danny and the camera. Furthermore, the emphasis on the girls is enhanced by all the vanishing lines leading to them – our eyes are naturally drawn to this point. This setting evokes an uncomfortable and claustrophobic atmosphere.
The two girls are both wearing old-fashioned dresses, making them appear ghostly and implying that they belong to another time and should not be in this hotel. Additionally, the light-blue color of their dresses match the darker blue carpet and the white/light-blue walls. This suggests that the girls are, in fact, part of the Overlook Hotel (which they are, if you haven’t seen the movie or read the book) and therefore personify the horrors that have happened in the past. Through the color scheme, they visually merge with the hotel. In contrast to them, Danny is wearing a bright red sweater.
The top lighting, the source of which is part of the set design, also contributes to making the scene frightening. It comes straight from above, is harsh and cold, and creates an unpleasant feeling.
I would argue that the composition, setting, and choice of costumes are the most impactful aspects of mise-en-scène that make this scene terrifying. Of course, lighting also supports this feeling, but I can imagine many different lighting arrangements that wouldn’t diminish the sense of unease created here.
Do you agree with me, or do you think I underestimate the impact of lighting in this scene?
