You Don't Know What You Got 'Til It's Gone

          The world in a work of art shapes the person the character becomes when the character either adapts to the world, or refuses to adapt to their surroundings. While watching Silence of the Lambs, we see Hannibal Lecter placed in a sort of underworld. In the cell underground, he is deprived of all sunlight and views that one normally overlooks daily. To adapt to this world, Hannibal generates images from memory and places them on his walls. He modifies the world he now is forced to reside in by creating his own windows with fantastic landscapes. When Clarice Starling motions to the wall and asks if Hannibal drew the picture of Florence from memory, Dr. Lecter smiles and says he had. When Clarice mentions that she needs Dr. Lecter's help to solve the Buffalo Bill case, Dr. Lecter says that he will help her if she agrees to transfer him to a prison where we he could have a window that had a view. This request seems so small and trivial to someone on the outside, but means the world to Dr. Lecter. Dr. Lecter has modified his priorities being in the cell, not having a view has become such a huge loss. It makes me think that people overlook so much in life and gain a new appreciation for things when they are taken away. I doubt Dr. Lecter thought he would miss the outside so much. It's like the saying, "you don't know what you have, until it's gone."

Mise-en-scene

In this scene of LA Confidential, viewers watch as Ed Exley sits at a desk over-flowing with papers sorts through the mess and comes to some crucial realizations about the Night Owl case. Movie director, Curtis Hanson, clearly made very precise decisions when it came to how this scene was going to be shot, and would be included in the frame.

The typewriters in the foreground are used to show both the time that this movie takes place in, and that there are supposed to be more people in the room. This idea that more people should be in the room gives the viewer the idea that Exley is not in the office at a regular time and may not even be allowed to be in that office in the first place. Exley is also overdressed to be in that room. The room is cluttered and disorganized much unlike Exley, who is dressed in a suit and tie; he even has his jacket on.

It is important to notice that the tiny space is overwhelmingly cluttered with boxes and paper, presumed to be case files. In fact, right by the left desk lamp, there is a drawer opened perfectly laying in an intersection of tow lines in the rule of thirds which leads me to believe Hanson wanted us viewers to take notice of it.

In the background, we are given an important detail about this cluttered room. It is in fact the “Records” room according to what is printed neatly on the door. By noticing this, viewers are given a better sense of where Exley is in the station. Knowing he is in the records room and isn’t the designated records keeper nor is the records person in sight, we know Exley is digging to find something once buried in all the paper and forgotten with time. Once Exley removes his glasses, we know that he has found something. This gesture is often seen in other movies—the character removes his/her glasses when they come to a realization as if saying, “now I see.” Hanson chose this gesture for a reason, just like he chose to include the typewriters and the mountains of paper, to create a detailed, realistic and meaningful scene for his viewers. 

      After re-watching scenes of Minority Report, starring Tom Cruise, I noticed that Tom Cruise was consistently on the left side of the frame. This intrigued me, and after searching my theory on the internet, I found that this was actually a technique used in most movies depicting heroes and villains. Tom cruise is on left because he is on the "heroic" side. At this point in the movie, Anderton (Cruise) doesn't like the detective (right), therefore the detective is on the left, presumed to be a villain. The man in the middle is both Anderton's friend and an advocate for the detective, making him neutral, this is why he is in the middle of the frame.
     I also noticed the lighting hitting the character's faces. The board they are looking at is a board that tells the future and helps Anderton catch crimes before they are committed. It could be  argued that this is a board of enlightenment, hence, the characters are physically brighter as they are obtaining more and more knowledge. The light is also casted down on the characters, coming from above them. Anderton's arms cast a shadow over the other two characters as well as himself with the gloves to show that he is above the other two men are usually in his shadow. Anderton clearly is used to running the show at PreCrime.
     This shot is a medium close-up shot of all three characters. Not much of the background is shown, it is plain, suggesting that the director wants us to strictly focus on the characters in the scene, not what is going on behind them. In fact, because of the lighting and the type of shot it is, our eyes are drawn to Anderton first and then fall to the rest of the characters in a line, following the rule of thirds. We learned in class that we often read shots like we read English, from left to right, that is why our eyes are immediately drawn to Anderton.
     One specific prop that catches my eye is Anderton's gloves. The little lights on the tips of the his fingers draw my eye immediately. People are drawn to looking at light, especially fine points of it in a big picture.

This is another picture of Anderton, with him on the left showing that he is again depicted at the hero on the heroic side of the frame, following the left, vertical line of the rule of thirds.