Mise en Scene found in Parnassus

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus was a very different movie. When it came to the actual story of the film; it barely held my interest. However, this film was an absolute feast for the eyes. After learning about Mise en Scene in class, I was able to recognize the importance and significance of every frame. The director had literally every shot intricately designed to convey a certain theme or idea. In class, we learned about the 15 points of Mise en Scene. The first point is dominant. Dominant deals with what our eyes are attracted to first and why. The first thing your eye will most likely see is the character of Valentina because she is above the other characters in the frame. The second is the lighting key. In this shot, the lighting key is low key lighting. The scene is mostly using diffused shadows with pools of light. The third is the shot and camera proxemics, in this shot it's a medium shot. Even Valentina's body is visible from the waste up. Fourth point is the angle of the camera. This shot is very interesting in the angle regard. While it is an eye-level shot; the angle still suggests a power relationship that does not normally come with this type of shot. This shot gives us the idea that Valentina has the choice to direct her attention to either of the two men in the scene. The fifth point is the color values. This point refects what information or clues are given from the lighting. The sixth point of Mise en Scene is the lens/filter/stock. I believe the lens in this shot is a wide-angle lens. Subsidiary contrasts is the seventh point. This is what the eye looks to after taking in the dominant. After looking at Valentina, the viewer is most likely going to look at Heath Ledger's character because of his white suit. The density of the shot is the eighth point of Mise en Scene. The texture is very stark. With their home as the background; there is nothing to see beyond that. This allows the viewers to keep their attention on the characters instead of the background. Ninth point is the composition. The composition in this shot is a triangle composition. The composition in this shot stresses the dynamic interaction between three characters. Form is the tenth point. This shot has a closed form, all the information needed is in the frame. The eleventh point is the framing in the shot. The framing in this shot is pretty tight. In this triangle form, none of the three characters have much room to move. This triangle relationship they share is limiting their freedom. Depth of field, the twelfth point, is a shallow depth in this shot. Character placement is the thirteenth point of Mise en Scene. This scene uses character placement to great effect. Valentina is above the two leading men. She can direct her attention to either of the two. She almost has empowerment over them in a sense. This shot is rich in terms of the character placement. Staging positions is the fourteenth point. The staging positions in this shot are very interesting. Tony and Anton represent profile positions. We see their profile rather than their whole face. However, Valentina represents a full-front staging. The staging positions suggests that we should be relating to Valentina's situation. The final point of Mise en Scene are the character proxemics. This shot represents personal distances between Anton and Tony. With Valentina in the center, she suggests more intimate distances with both of the two characters. I was able to write a whole essay about one image from The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. This should be an indication of how visually rich this film is. Every shot in the film could have an essay written about it. This film was a perfect example of Mise en Scene in film.