In this task we were asked to watch scene one and two from the film 'American Beauty' and the write about it. The main character in the film who we study is Lester Burnham a father and husband. The film was directed by Sam Mendes starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Mena Suvari, Chris Copper.
Scene 1 - At the start of this scene it shows us a bird’s eye view of Lester lying face down in bed, the above shot makes him look small and unimportant. His wife is out of bed and the whole room is white and beige which are colours that are classed as dull and boring, this gives us the impression that his personality and life is dull and boring just like the colours of his bedroom. Then we are showed a shot of Lester getting out of his bed and his slippers are already in the perfect position to slide straight onto his feet, this shows us that Lester is a man of routine. After this we are shown a shot of Lester masturbating in the shower and his voiceover says 'this will be the highpoint of me day'. This can shows us that his sex life with his wife isn’t very good and it makes us think that he is a lonely person. The shoot is filmed so that the glass of the shower makes Lester look trapped, we get this a lot in this film. The next shoot we have Lester’s wife outside gardening and talking happily with the next door neighbour and there is Lester hiding behind the window watching his wife and neighbours, this makes us think that he is an unsociable, lonely character. This shoot is also filmed so that it looks like Lester is trapped behind the window. There seems to be no emotions on Lester’s face and it seems like he is very distant from his family. Throughout the hole film the colour scheme is either white and beige (dull and boring) or red, white and blue which represents the American flag. Towards the end of scene 1 we see that Lester’s wife gives him very little respect neither does his teenage daughter. Lester sits in the back of the car asleep and his wife driving with his daughter in the passenger seat. This makes us compare him to a child about how he behaves and how he is treated. Throughout the whole scene we have a negative voiceover from Lester but right at the end he says ‘it’s never too late’. This shows that there is some positivity in Lester’s life.
Scene 2 – At the start of scene 2 its shows Lester sitting at his desk at work on the phone. His general mood seems quite happy or maybe sarcastic when he is on the phone to a customer. Also it shows Lester’s computer screen and his reflection on the screen which is another point of where it shows that he is trapped. Then Lester’s boss calls him to his office and talks to him. How Lester is position makes him look small and powerless and how the boss is position makes him look big and has all the power. The whole conversation seems to be tense and we start to see Lester’s anger come out of him when the boss is talking about firing people. Then it shows Lester being drove home from work by his wife and they are talking about what Lester’s boss said to him, Lester seems very angry and frustrated about this. The two of them walk inside and then we are showed Lester, his wife and daughter all eating round the dinner table. His daughter describes the music played as ‘elevator music’. This type of music matches the mood between Lester and his daughter (Jayne) as they haven’t been speaking. The whole misc en scene shows the colour scheme red, white and blue and it shows candles light on the table like it’s a special occasion. The family are so far spread apart which shows us that this is what they are like in really life, distant. Lester is sat all slouched like a child and his wife has correct posture like someone of her age would have. Jayne ends up stomping out of the room into the kitchen as she has an argument with Lester. Lester follows her into the kitchen and they talk, he apologises for not being there for her and being a good father figure. This shows us that he is a genuine warm hearted man but he isn’t acting like it. Right at the end of the scene we are showed a man filming Jayne and Lester from outside the window. This man doesn’t look trustworthy and it just adds to our thoughts of what is going to happen next.
No comments:
Post a Comment