MIS EN SCENE- Casino Royale

In lesson we had to answer the following question as an assigment in order to show our understanding of exactly what mis en scene was and how its been used in a real life piece (Film)

How does the director use Mis En Scene in the opening of casino royale to identify the characteristics of bond?

 Firstly, i tried to analyse the body language and facial expressions of the characters in the sequence and what the directors intentions are in terms of what he/she is trying to get the audience to think about and the mood he/ she is trying to put the audience into.

 The man in the lift looking everywhere-  makes him look like his suspicious of something

He is walking fast- The audience might think that he is in a hurry to carry out a task

When the man got into the office- he stood still and did not blink and this might represent SHOCK!

Both the man and bond are looking on one side in a particular shot in the sequence- This might represent determination.

When the man sits down casually-  Shows that he is relaxed and is not scared of Bond.

  

Summarising the Opening sequence of Casino Royale; The director uses two sequences to show us the characters of Bond. Casino Royale is based in two different settings one in which is based in aoffice while the other is set in the toilet. Low- key lightning is was used in the office to create very deep shadows making the background dark in general.

                    The scene of Casino Royale opens ina fade in of an establishing shot which then shows their location. The scene is shot in black and white and this might have been purposelu put into the sequence in order to suggest/demonstrate a change in time which could be either in the future or the past. The movement with the first shot is smoke coming out of a car then a black car pulls up outside the building and then a very low angled shot of someone getting out of the car is used in order to present the character hs having a high status and belonging to a particular class. The man looks michievious as though they have a secret.The director uses another low angled shot to show the elevator going up. They show the floors changing on a little screen inside the elevator  and personally, i believe this could be interpreted as a countdown.

But the Big question is..........a countdown to what?

As the man gets out of the lift, we see him speedily walking away and this may suggest that he is in a hurry to crry out a task or have an important discussion with the main character James Bond. A medium long shot is used for this and the camera slowly pans left and zooms in. They also use a low angle shot to hiw the door of the office opening. The room is quite dark which might be showing a hidden agenda maybe. There is a quiet noise which does not , match the man's movement, which is known as a contrapuntal sound, and then they quickly cut to a close up shot of his face in order to show the udience his reaction and emotion at that time. His face is well lit on one side and not very on the other side, which suggests that the man might not be completely truthful. On the other hand, the fact that the director has purposely made thesame side of their faces dark while the other sides of them light might possibly be to symbolise the fact that the dark sides of both of them represents anger and determination while their bright side shows more of them negotiating and having a proper discussion.

                                    We hear speaking and the man quikly turns around and the camera pans left.We see Bond sat down and he's barely lit. They use a high angle shot and james Bond is positioned near the bottom of the screen showing he may be venerable at this moment in time. The man moves across the room and sits down, slightly and slowly opening a draw containing a gun. They use as medium long shot which we can only see James Bond in as he is barely lit. The man asks." You arent a cricket fan by a chance are you?" and the scene changes to a cricket match. Its still black and white , showing a change in time. Writing fades in at the bottom saying, " LAHORE, PAKISTAN". You can see a normal atmosphere, people are playing cricket while others are watching. The cricket players are wearing white maybe showing their innocence while James Bond on the other hand is wearing dark clothes. Then we see a shiftly looking audience member who keeps looking around to see who's watching. When he notices James Bond who is once again, barely lit, the man quickly makes a move like hes got something to hide and as a result of this reaction, James Bond follows quickly. The music cuts in and is fast paced. A hand held camera shot is used at this moment in time in order to demonstrate and show the anticipation as well as how the tension begins to build up. There is a cut shot and we see the man frantically running up the stairs when James Bond slowly walks into the room. A hand-held camera is used again . We see the man run into the toilets and pull out a gun , when James comes into the room. The music gets faster  and the cut shots are getting faster. They begin to fight. The director decide to use a medium long shot and close up shots for the scene in other for the audience to be able to see whats happening and the expressions of the characters.

          

       The colour begins to turn sepia colour and we hear the mystery man hit James Bond witha bin, and when the scene changes back to the office and we can see the man pull out a gun and point it at James Bond. Although we can not see James because we know its him as they have use thesame angle previously. The music slows down a lot in order to build up tension. They use a close up of the mans face and we see him slowly smile and speak. He pulls the gun and nothing happens . Theres a cut shot to james who slowly lifts his hand as he holds the gun.

Finally, the directo uses a cut shot and we hear the man crashing against something and it breaks. Theuy use a low angle shot and the man finds himself in a venerable position. They use a close up of James Bond face to show his anger. We see the man who we thought was dead reach for the gun and the a reverse shot is used to show james who quickly turns around and then it turns into the opening titles.