Mise en Scene Goodfellas Evaluation
In this picture the dominant might be the pink table cloth, as I think it clashes with the rest of the restaurant. The colour of the table cloth is a more pink like colour and then the rest of the restaurant is more of a red shiny colour. To me this is the thing that stood out the most because it doesn’t match the setting.
The other thing that might catch your eye first is the lady in the blue dress, as everything thing else is more pink or red and she is in blue. This suggest that maybe she wasn’t expecting to go to that kind of restaurant of maybe she doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the group. Or the flowers might be the dominant, they are right in the centre of the shot, they are big and flamboyant and they look like they are separating the two couples - the boring, unhappy couple on the right and the fun, happy couple on the right.
The lighting key is quite dark. I think this is because they are trying to send out a romantic signal. This doesn’t work because the mood between the characters kills the romantic mood. This only light part of this shot is the lamp in the middle of the table which doesn’t help with the lighting very much. This suggest that the restaurant they are at isn’t very expensive and the owners haven’t spent that much money on the appearance of the place.
The shot and camera proxemics - This is a medium shot, showing the humans figure from the nee’s or the waist up. This is used so you know they are sitting at a table and you can see where they are sitting around the table.
This camera angle is a neutral shot. This is to create the effect that you feel like you are at the same level as the characters at the table.
Colour values - The dominant colour in the is the pink table cloth. I covers the middle of the shot and is a different colour to everything else in the shot. This table cloth looks tacky and cheap. Also the women’s dress because she is i blue and everything else is in pink or red.
Lens/filter/stock - a wide-angle lens was used because it takes in a broad area and increases the illusion of depth but sometimes distorts the edges of the image.
Density - There is a lot of visual information in this shot. You can see that there is one unhappy couple and one happy couple. The women in the blu dress, you can tell that she is not happy with here date, they are sitting further away from each other. The couple on the right are sitting closer to each other and they are laughing and look like they are happy to be in each others company. You can tell they are at a cheap restaurant because, the colours don’t match each other (pink and red), also the flowers in the middle of the shot, suggest that the restaurant doesn’t have that many decorations so it is filled with big flowers to cover more space.
Composition - The screen space is segmented an organised so you can see everything in the background and you can see all the characters sitting at the table. This suggest that it was trying to show how different the couples are.
Form - This is a open shot. It shots them in the restaurant and what is behind them, but it doesn’t show the whole restaurant of everything in it.
Framing - The framing is quite tight but the characters have room to move. They could move their heads without being out side of the shot, but if they stood up, only half of their body would be in the frame.
Character placement - The characters occupy the left and right part of he frame. This suggests that they would like to be more alone together without the other couple getting the in way. Or it might suggest that the two couple don’t know each other very well.
Staging positions - The characters are positioned in relation to the camera, so that you sort of feel like you are at the same level as the characters, like you are sitting at the table with them, which if the women in the blue was not happy with her date, then it makes you feel like you are there as well so you fare annoyed with the guy who isn’t paying any attention to his date as well.
Character proxemics - The characters are positioned in relation to each other so that they couples can learn about each other and have their own conversation without the other couple interrupting. It might suggest that the couple of the left don’t really want to talk to the couple on the right because they are boring and aren’t talking. It also symbolizes that the fun couple are on the left side and the boring couples are on the right side. It is filmed at a social distance so you get the feel that its just a social gathering.
