Mise en scene in Professional Film

In order to discover mise en scene in a professional film, I watched the 2018 Marvel film, "Black Panther".

Various examples of space were seen throughout the course of the film and they each were used in specific times. Both deep and shallow space were used in times of battles in order to show both the point of view of a spectator and that of the subjects engaged in battle. Frontality was common in the film in times of suspense, when Black Panther was on missions and had his body suit equipped, the camera would often face him as he was talking through a microphone to his sister, Shuri who is the Wakandan technology expert. Shuri is also often shown with frontality when she is communicating with T'challa, her brother. For example she controlled a car by using a hologram, and then in real time the car would act as if she was inside driving it. Offscreen space was the most crucial spacing technique as there was often narration occurring that conveyed a message, or in times of battle when Black Panther was soon to make an entrance.

Lighting played an important role in the movie as it helped add an effect to many scenes. Lighting was used within the armor of the Black Panther's bodysuit, the vibranium was used on T'challa as it would build up all of the energy that had been forced upon it, and would release the energy it had formed onto the target. You were able to see this coming due to the lights that appeared on the armor where the energy was being stored. Low-key lighting was another factor in the film which was used when the plane of Wakanda was flying over Chicago and reflected an image of a panther through the clouds that was seen on the ground in a mysterious fashion. High key lighting was used in the scenes at Warrior Falls, where battles occurred over a steep waterfall that were occurrent when somebody wanted to fight the King in order to overthrow him as Black Panther. The sun here was reflected upon the subjects in order to create an equilibrium in color and lighting.

Staging allowed for the film to be controlled into the different sides of conflict in relation to the world, and also the overall affect of acting on the movie. Performance style was exemplified as thick accents were apparent throughout the entire movie because they showed the origin of which a specific character was from and furthermore who they stand with. The people of Wakanda had a thick African tone of speech that distinguishes them and their support to the Black Panther and the safety of Wakanda whereas American and British accents are apparent and are seen to be the opposition to the secrecy of Wakanda. Blocking was also very contributive to the overall message of who the people of Wakanda were and what they stand for. They respected their King and supported the idea to maintain their hiding spot in the world who believed they were one of the weakest nations on Earth, therefore they served to him and supported the causes that he did.

The setting of Wakanda was what made the most prevalent issues in the movie. They were a nation of secrecy who contained the world's most advanced technology and the richest resources in all of Earth, but it was all invisible to bystanders who saw the ground of Wakanda as a poor and deprived nation. This allowed for the problem to arise that would challenge T'challa throughout the movie as to if he should reveal the true identity of the nation and bring wealth to the world. T'challa has a prominent villain, Killmonger who forces the decision upon the Black Panther due to Killmonger being a Wakandan who is challenging the throne and was not raised in Wakanda so he therefore goes against the beliefs of the nation.

Costume was arguably what made the movie so enjoyable to the world. Various body suits and pieces of armor and jewelry showed the tradition that is presented as unique to Wakanda, but is very original and was derived from designs in African culture. Although there was a strong sense of African originality within the costumes, a superhero effect was also very apparent due to the fact that Marvel was the maker of the film and their movies come from a series of comic books that are being constructed into professional films. Uniforms of the warriors showed great detail and also showed the hierarchy of Wakanda through more advanced costumes belonging to those who hold greater power. Makeup was also very significant in the costumes because it added onto the culture that was shown in the body suits and it adds a tribal vibe to the nation as a whole. The makeup also added onto the knowledge that we acquired about different characters. For example, Killmonger who is the enemy of both T'challa and the kingdom of Wakanda has marks that cover his body and are seen as bumps on his skin which represent the number of people that he has killed.