What is the importance of mine en scene and/or sound in creating meaning/generating response in the films you have studied?
In an early scene of 'La Haine' there is diegetic sound of a motorbike riding around, whilst the protagonists - Said and Vinz walk through the french neighbourhood, which then switches to mise en scene of Vinz's performance of recognising who is riding on the motorbike and what model it is. This is an important scene because it instantly identifies the idea of the french 'projects' being a very close knit community, since there is a sense of familiarity in their society. Following that, the diegetic siren in the background is a reminder that for Said and Vinz, the police and corruption is an every day situation. The mise en scene of Said and Vinz's clothing appear to be Adidas and Nike tracksuits and graffiti walls, representing the American culture and dominating western culture, resulting in less of the french culture. It also brings aspects of multicultural society into play which is a recurring aspect in urban stories where there are over 60 cultures in the projects.
The scene where there is mise en scene of the youth being on the roof in daylight shows that they are unemployed youth with nothing better to do, suggesting that the crime rate in the projects would definitely be higher than if they were employed. You see mise en scene of Said's older brother showing that he has a role model to look up to, identifying the theme of morals coming into the narrative and that the absense of a father figure means that Said only has his older brother to look up to. Said is seen as brotherhood, showed by his performance, which is from the french moto identifying his morals, always keeping the peace between Vinz and Hubert. On the roof, the mise en scene shows the boys performance where the camera is at eye level meaning there is equal conflict, face to face, leading to the suggestion of multicultural equality in the french projects and that no one has an unfair advantage. During the conflict on the roof, the Mise en scene of the camera recording at the back of the group implies that the youth have a media influence, where everything is documented. This is backed up later on in the film, where there is mise en scene of an active TV in the background. This highlights how the community in the projects are obsessed with the media, as well as Vinz learning american culture by movies and his performance shows how he mimics other idols. This link to the idea that 'the world only goes round by misunderstanding' and that conflict is caused by the westernised culture and the influence of violence originates from that. The shot moves to a mise en scene of a digital clock with diagetic sound of ticking, instantly foreshadowing a coming danger and unease in the narrative because of how a clock shows progression, indicating a sense of urgency. On the other hand, the clock in La Haine could highlight the fact that the youth are doing nothing with their life and it is intact just a recurring motif to symbolise how monotonous life in the french projects is. There is a repeated mise en scene of a media screen in Vinz's home with his back facing it. This shows that Television and American culture is always in the background of his life, perhaps suggesting that it is a form of escapism for the youth. The message behind the media is that society in the french projects are captured in the form of the expected stereotype and that the characters of Vinz, Hubert and Said are not always aggressive but the media picks out those moments to prove that youths are portrayed in a negative light. This then gives a good reason for conflicts to always be happening. Mise en scene of Vinz mimicking his idol from 'taxi driver' shows his performance as aggressive, fitting the stereotype.
