The Role Of Mise-en-scene In Supporting The Classical Hollywood Storytelling In Double Indemnity Film

Your Critical Analysis must make constructive use of 3 academic references – two of these must include Jewell’s “Narrative and Style” and Bordwell and Thompson’s "The Shot: Mise-en-Scene" readings from the course.

Academic references are defined as scholarly books, book chapters or peer-reviewed journal articles. The following do not count as appropriate references: newspaper articles; blog sites; Wikipedia; IMDB; film and media examples; dictionary entries; online course notes; and lecture notes from this or any other courses.

Your response is to be written up in the form of a short academic essay that uses appropriate citation in a consistent bibliographic style (i.e., the Harvard referencing system as required by UniSA.

No essays will be accepted without the citation of specific page numbers when you quote or paraphrase from academic references. For instance: “Richard Jewell argues that all classical Hollywood narratives are founded upon ‘tales of providential order’”.

The Concept of Mise-en-scene

The art of film making is a composition of audiovisual skills tactfully balanced together. A film as an art can be better comprehended through using numerous aspects such as performance, costume, setting, and even lighting. This not only constructs but also makes a description of the world of narratives and in order to cue the emotions and responses as well as expression of both the atmosphere as well as the theme. The main purpose of this critical analysis is to present information on how the mise-en-scene is capable of supporting the classical “Hollywood Storytelling” in the Double Indemnity film (Jones,  2010, p. 20). The responses that will be made in this critical analysis will put into consideration on how both the classical and the Mise-en-scene narrative will work together in order to develop not only the general narrative themes but also the development of a coherent sense of time and space, obstacles, character goals, the characters, as well as the location and era.

It is asserted by Richard Jewels that all the classical Hollywood narratives are actually founded on the tales of the “providential order” (Jewel 2007, p.152). It can truly be asserted that the film known as Double Indemnity by Billy Wilder that was made in the year 1944 is indeed a good classic example of the “film noir”. This is because the author (Billy Wilder) indeed uses numerous techniques in the film and the more prominent one being the “Mise-en-scene”.  Mise-en-scéne or more commonly known as placing on stage is no doubt one of the greatest aspects of visual story-telling, it depicts the culture, the situation, and it creates emotions and helps the audience connect with a scene.  It is not only restricted to props or the design of the set it is the design of the entire frame that a viewer is seeing on the screen. According to Bordwell and Thompson (2010, p. 175), some of the aspects of mise-en-scéne are: setting, costume and make up, lighting, staging: moment and acting. He says that each of these elements is interdependent on each other and creates an impactful vision. He explains some of the principles that can be used to analyze how these elements of mise-en-scéne operate together. Unity, disunity, similarity, difference and development helps in the process of analysis.

Some of the most evident mise-en-scene that has been used by the producer in the film include but are not limited to lightings, settings, and costuming. It can truly be ascertained that the Double Indemnity film highly contains some of the dark themes which are quite pertinent to the genre and they include but they are not limited to corruption, crime, genre, as well as the femme fatale which is ever present in the film (Brookes, 2017). The mise-en-scene aspects or elements that have been used in the film and which are listed above greatly add towards the “unsettling, dramatic, and mysterious tone of this film. That apart, the elements are also known to effectively lend themselves towards the numerous aspects of the Film noir (Geiger &Rutsky, 2013).

Mise-en-scene in Double Indemnity Film

In the film, it can truly be ascertained that the costuming element has mostly been effectively used in order to depict Phyllis as being the “classic femme fatale”. This is attributed to the fact that when Phyllis first appears on screen, this character is only clothed in towel thus not only capturing Walter’s attention but also capturing the attention of other viewers as well. According to this, it thus comprehended that this character Phyllis is not only sexual but also alluring. It can also be truly asserted that Phyllis has also got a sort of “troubling air” around herself. The scene that follows is actually a “close-up shot” of this character Phyllis whose ankle is beautiful well adorned with a gold bracelet (Walton, 2017). This anklet is known to serve a symbol of Phyllis’ overt sexuality that is to be a “definitive characteristic” that is associated with a “female fatale’. Immediately the moment that Walter noticed this anklet, he became overly excited by not only the anklet but also by Phyllis as well. Of course, Phyllis notices this fact and opts to use it for her own advantage both in this specific scene as well as in the entire film. It can also be truly asserted that Phyllis as a character is also costumed typically in the clothing which can better be regarded as being “a bit racy”.

The clip starts with the scene of Walter (Fred MacMurray) in front of a lowly lit front of a garage, the light and the shadow that the hat casts on his face instantly creates an aura of suspense with the character and his intension, if a person who has started watching the movie form this scene they will understand that this man is up to something. And it also directs the spectator to the next step that this character is going to take as the backdrop of the scene is the garage door, this is the part where the mise-en-scene helps in leading the story ahead (Bordwell and Thompson 2010, p. 175-183).

The lighting in this scene helps create the atmosphere, as the narrator has a deep and reckoning voice on the backdrop it adds to the light and the noir in the scene. For at least 20 seconds this static scene is on the screen, it is a prolonged scene to create impact of what he is describing as an act of murder which is going to be held in the next couple of minutes.  The light source of the scene is form a window which is also rather faints and has considerable impact as the viewer can see Walter approaching the car, the figure of which can be identified from the highlighted areas. The highlight of the scene is the dialogue and the deep tome of the voice that is played in the background and the darkness of the setting.

Lighting, Setting, and Costuming as Mise-en-scene Elements

From a prolonged scene in darkness the edit cuts to this where there is a couple, the woman is taking the lead and the man is behind her and is slow paced. There are many elements in this scene that is strategically placed:  the number plate which indicates the house number which is significant of a settled life that the couple has. The trees and the brightly lit surrounding emphasizes on the fact that the person is blissfully unaware of what is going to happen next. This is an example of classic Hollywood story telling as it develops a contrast form the first two scenes building up the intention of the two people (Bordwell and Thompson 2010, p. 175-183)

The prevision scene is a tracking shot which is followed by back to back cut shots of the people who are involved in the incidents that is going to take place. This is a scene where Phyllis (Barbara Stanwyck) face and her style is more evident than the previous scène, all the elements of mise-en-scéne setting, costume and make up, lighting, staging: moment and acting; are in perfect balance. The light just focuses on the face that produces the expression of an indication that all is going according to plan along with Walter’s nervousness and Phyllis’ joy, again draws a contrast of the expression in terms of the depth of intention among the two people in the scene. The setting is the back of a car which is perfect as the most significant act of the movie is going to take place in this setting. The shadows that the low light cast, brings up the intensity of the act and the expressions.

This is the next scene which is connected to the scene that has been talked about above as the setting is the same, the lighting and the costume is also the same the difference is in the angle of the shot and none of the actors face is towards the camera, this again helps in establishing the suspense and the also leads to the next scene which is an intense close up of Phyllis. This also establishes the Walter is in the same car and that something is going to happen

This scene builds up the narrative with the help of acting and make up, lighting is clear and the scene is a static mid shot which establishes the motive of the character despite her dialogues in this scene are not anything concerning her motive. Phyllis' costume, heavy lipstick and perfectly pined bleach blond hair established her role as a femme fatal.  She looks straight into the camera which establishes her fearlessness and gravity in her personality. This is the scene which continues when with the help of background music that the deed is done

This scene has a lot of elements that has to be considered there is minimum requirement of acting though it is important as it suggests the plan that is being executive flawlessly. The name of the station is at the backdrop suggesting the setting; the car drives up to the parking from where they take the plan of murder (Bordwell and Thompson 2010, p. 175-183).

This is the last scene of the sequence where Phyllis drops off Walter and ends the scene with a kiss establishing the relation between the two people. This is also a setting inside the car and acting, make up and lighting plays the most important role in the scene (Bordwell and Thompson 2010, p. 175-183). The expression of guilt and fear in the face of Walter and the expression of content and accomplishment in Phyllis draws a major contrast in the narrative owing to the classic Hollywood style.

References

Bordwell, D. and Thompson, K., 2010. The Shot: Mise-en-Scene. Film art: an introduction, 5.

Brookes, I., 2017. Film noir: A critical introduction. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.

Geiger, J. and Rutsky, R.L. eds., 2013. Film analysis: a Norton reader. WW Norton & Company.

Jewell, R.B., 2007. The Golden Age of Cinema. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Jones, E., 2010. A Review of “The Golden Age of Cinema: Hollywood 1929–1945” by Richard B. Jewell. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 2007.

Walton, B., 2017. Techniques Used to Establish the First Person Narrator and Perspective in Double Indemnity and Murder, My Sweet. Arsenal: Augusta University's Undergraduate Research Journal