CINEMA STUDIES W4 LOG

The term ‘Mis-en-scene’ as I’ve learned this week means ‘to put in the scene’. It describes all of the elements placed within the scene to create meaning. Whilst watching the screening of ‘Play Time’ this week I found myself looking at particular shots and scenes and trying to find relevance. “Why are all the characters in this scene wearing dark shades of clothing?” “Why is the sound of feet approaching a stand-out sound effect?” Unfortunately I can’t say I found many answers as after a while, I realised I really disliked the film. There were some elements of quirky encounters that I found amusing at times but mostly the film was a struggle to sit through as it’s structure wasn’t something that I was used to. I had to try really hard to focus on what was happening without zoning out and to me, that’s never a sign of a good film. After watching it, I went and read up a little about the film to see if I could gage what had actually occurred within it. It became clear that the set and costumes were very much centred around the idea of a ‘post-modern’ Paris, as well as conformity and rigidity. This then gave more meaning to the repetitiveness of the certain sound effects and situations that occurred. I realised that there was no essential plot to the film as such, it’s really just made up of a series of occurrences that relate to each other in one way or another.

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