Borrowed and Thompson inform us, “Elements Of miss-en-scene accentuate action and engage attention… Many of our most vivid memories of movies stem from miss-en;scene” (pig 112). The film Jurassic Park (1993) is a great example of how miss-en-scene can shape our experience of the film through specific components such as setting, lighting, and costuming. The scene from Jurassic park that is embedded in my memory is when Dry. Grant (Sam Neil) leaves the children in the park restaurant by themselves as he goes to check on the other adults stranded in the park.
At this time, Tim (Joseph Amazedly) and Leg (Arians Richards) feel they are safe behind locked doors from the wilderness they escaped outside. The scene starts with a tired and bedraggled Tim and Leg filling plates of food for themselves, as they think they are in the only predator-free area of the park. The dual lack of dinosaurs in the immediate vicinity and background music causes the viewers to believe the storyline is about to take a turn for the better. As soon as the viewer feels safe, watching the children eat ravenously, the camera cuts to Leg holding a spoon full of bright green jell-o.
She stares off into the distance with a look of pure terror that spreads into the viewers as well. Next the camera cuts to the mural in the restaurant. This mural in this setting instills a positive attitude towards dinosaurs; it is filled with bright colors and dinosaurs painted in an adventurous and friendly manner. The contrast of the dark shadow of a real applicator behind the brightly lit and colorful painting of a raptor in the mural provides a visual metaphor of how the park creators did not understand how these apex predators would behave in nature.
The literal shadow casts a light on the truth that these scientists cannot control the animals like the artist controlled the mural. The use of lighting in this scene plays a major part in the miss-en-scene. Borrowed and Thompson explain, “The proper use of light can embellish and dramatist every object” (125). The director could have shot a frightened look on Lee’s face then the face Of a applicator, but by using lighting and shadowing, it added more suspense and drama to the scene. The film sequence moves into the children running into the restaurant kitchen.
They used low-key lighting in the kitchen, which creates a stronger contrast of shadows and sharper images between the clean cut kitchen and the roughness of the raptors. The comparison of the brand new stainless steel kitchen to the rugged, resistor’s, terrifying raptor creates a chilling scene because it becomes apparent to the viewer how much the dinosaurs do not belong in our time. In the real world, this could not exist, so the performance of this scene does not conform to realism; yet, I would say that the Lexis and Time’s performance could be construed as actual fear because of how realistic the robot raptors look.
Movement and lighting is used creatively in this scene when Leg tries to shut herself in a cabinet but cannot get the door shut. The director plays with the reflection cast onto the opposite cabinet, tricking the raptor into mashing his head against the reflection of her instead of the real Leg. Although the whole film proves the message that man cannot control nature, in this moment, it gives hope that man can outsmart nature just enough to survive. This scene In particular is memorable due to the terror and suspense created by the realistic dinosaurs, creative camera angles, and low-key lighting.
Throughout this film, costume is used to distinguish the differences in social classes between the characters. The extremely wealthy and naive park owner wears his khaki slacks, white button down shirt, and white shoes. These color choices resemble naiveté and reveal that although he only cares about money, he is not the enemy. We also see the boring, selfish lawyer in his bland grey suit; the children in their outdoor excursion clothes; every single scientist in a clean white coat, never to be seen outside of a lab.
The paleontologists are the only characters prepared in costume for the park. This is not surprising because they are the most knowledgeable about the animals in said park, yet it is also ironic because they were not included in the creation whatsoever. Throughout the film the characters remained in the same outfits n which they first arrived, but by the end of the film almost all of the characters’ clothes are torn and dirtied equally, ridding them of their social distinctions.
