Mise en Scene 11/6

The movie I chose to observe was " Mean Girls". Mean Girls is a popular movie created by Paramount's theater , but is often overlooked when looking at the technical aspects of the film. Typically , Disney movies are what we think of when exploring the world of mise-en-scene areas , because the High lighting and unique costumes are often memorable.

The movie features a scene where the main character, Cady, is invited to sit at the Plastic's lunch table. The Lighting is noted to be a high lighting feature, which is commonly scene in comedies or musicals. The brightness of the scene represents optimism , which may even indicate that Cady meeting this group of girls is a positive achievement. The presence of light in the scene is key to telling the story of how Cady would meet these girls who played such a key role in her position in the movie.

The evolution of the main characters wardrobe plays a key part in the progression in the movie. Seen in the opening of the movie, Cady wears outfits unique to her own style and that of the style her parents have chosen for her. As Cady is recognized as becoming more " popular", we see her style become less of her own and more of a Plastics. Her character develops with her style; the more trendy her outfits become, the further gone she is. Towards the end of the movie, the final scenes show Cady wearing her club jackets and finally embracing her true self.

Examples of blocking are seen throughout this movie, with the placement of the plastics appearing to give them more power. In a particular scene in the middle of the movie, Cady is left standing on the driveway after Janice yells at her for not coming to the art show, and calls her a slew of names. In this moment, Janice appears taller than her because she is yelling at Cady from her car; giving Janice more power over Cady. This scene shows the turning point of the movie, and the low point for Cady. In fact Low lighting is shown during this scene to create a contrast from the Cady in the beginning of the movie to the current Cady.