With its incredible combination of suspenseful lighting, striking cinematography, and vivid set design,
Rear Window, stands as a testament to why Hitchcock continues to be remembered as one of the world's most influential directors. Because you were recently asked to read about mise-en-scène, I'd like you to focus on one particular aspect of MES in analyzing
Rear Window: setting. One could argue that the apartment in the film takes on a life of its own and is just as significant to the plot as any character who lives within its walls. Discuss the construction of the setting, commenting on what it adds to the storyline, to our understanding of characters, to the suspenseful nature of the film, etc. While you're at it, you could also discuss the film's other elements of
Mise-en-scène. Think about how costuming contributes to characters' identities, for example. Or, consider how lighting functions as a tool for advancing plot, adding suspense, etc.
This video might provide some inspiration. Its creators recreated the entire apartment complex using panoramic timelapse. It's fascinating to see what the entire building would look like, rather than as the fragmented shots we see in the film.
In the movie "Rear Window" the theme of the movie is driven on suspense and murder. The director wants you to feel the suspense the same way the main character Jeff was feeling. Jeff knew that something strange was going on with his neighbor Lars Thorwald and it was driving him crazy trying to find evidence of the murder that he thinks he did. The way that the characters are dressed is one aspect of telling the audience if the character is good or bad. Another aspect would be the lighting. One of the scenes it is night time and Jeff is watching Thorwald through his window. Jeff is sitting in his chair in the dark but the street lights are shinning through to kind of dim the room. When Lisa goes over there Jeff is carefully watching what Thorwald is going to do to her. When Lisa becomes a almost victim of Thorwald she looks over the Jeff through the window. Thorwald sees what she is looking at and as Jeff sees him looking over he leans back in his chair and the lighting of that part is that it just makes Jeff's face dark enough but Thorwald still sees him spying on him. Lighting in movies is almost like a foreshadowing effect. The lighting makes the mood of the movie and the scene.
ReplyDeleteThe setting in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window plays a large role in the mise-en-scene of the movie and it part of what makes it so popular to audiences and helps it stand the test of time. The setting of the apartment buildings in the movie looks much like a staged set although in reality this film was shot on location, apartment buildings and all, which was an important contribution to the feel and believability of the movie. The filming and mise-en-scene is tightly controlled and filmed from a standstill point of our main character L.B. Jefferies who is in a wheelchair with a broken leg and finds entertainment through watching the lives of his surrounding neighbors through his window. Although the space of the film is mostly enclosed to this particular setting of the apartment, the structure of the buildings, the glass paned apartments, the brick walls, it all adds to the overall mise-en-scene of the movie and the staging of the scene.
ReplyDeleteOne important but small factor that some may not notice that greatly contributes to the mise-en-scene of this film is the bamboo shades that rise after the beginning credits and close before the ending credits. This is important because it is symbolically giving us a peek into the lives of these people by opening the shades and looking into their lives through the whole movie, but then at the end Hitchcock has the shades shut again, restricting our view of how much of their lives we are allowed to see.
Other elements in Hitchcock’s film Rear Window add to the mise-en-scene of this motion picture such as the costuming of the characters, the lighting, and the suspenseful nature of the film. The costuming is a distinct feature that if we look closely and observe we can see that much of the time, Jefferies wears pajamas throughout the film, which shows how he is stuck at home with his broken leg, and can’t really get out much. Lisa wears beautiful dresses showing her liking for nice things, but later on her outfits change and are toned down a bit as she gets more involved in the murder. The lighting of the film is quite natural but contributes to the look of the characters but also plays a role in the suspense of the film. The movie is quite suspenseful in the nature that it uses restricted narration and limits the information that the audience knows about a character, in our case Lars Thorwald. Frightening events have Jefferies as well as the audience on edge about what will happen next. An important time when we see a good use of lighting in the film is when Thorwald finally learns that Jefferies has been spying on him, and comes after him in his own apartment. Although there is some light in the scene, Jefferies uses the shadowed areas in order to hide from Thorwald, and uses the flashbulbs in his camera to momentarily blind Thorwald and we suddenly for the first time see the movie from Thorwald’s point of view as we see the light blinding him, which is important as well.
The film Rear Window is quite amazing in terms of the location and its scenes. The construction of the setting is old by definition, but it adds to the scene of the film. The old apartment complexes create somewhat of a verisimilitude as far as how the apartments looked in the 1950’s. The way the construction is portrayed gives us a feeling of suspense and intense curiosity. The theme of light and dark are very prominent throughout the movie. From one perspective, complete darkness allows Jefferies to see the neighbors while the neighbors can’t see him. Lighting effects create the mood and emotion in the movie. Darkness also makes us wonder what is happening in the neighbor’s household. It also limits the narration because it’s hard to hear from Jefferies’ window. The old colors of the buildings and the structures itself makes us audiences feel like to watch out for the neighbors. Open windows makes us wonder whether the people don’t care if someone else knows their business. The director created a twist in the film in a way that somebody is watching the entire neighborhood and they don’t seem to care or noticed at all. One neighbor’s business becomes everybody’s business. The costuming in the film creates a set of identities for the characters. Miss Lonelyhears for example, she looks like a very sophisticated, gentle woman, yet she is very lonely. The colors of her clothes and even house are delicate. Lisa’s costumes are playful in nature: the colors, the fashion style, and glamour. Jefferies on the other hand is more of a typical man who sits in the house relaxing and nothing else to do. The reality aspect of it seems unbelievable that all windows are almost always rear.
ReplyDeleteAlfred Hitchcock had an immaculate vision when he created Rear Window. He made the best decisions about the setting, characters, and most importantly suspense. When we first get to look at the setting of the movie we see the bamboo shades go up and we see three apartment complexes that are made three stories high and made out of brick. Something that I found interesting about the construction of the setting was that with having a three story complex it represented three levels of a relationship. The first level we see through the eyes of the main character Jeff that Miss Lonleyhearts is having a hard time in life without someone by her side which you see her depression progress throughout the movie. Unlike the second level Jeff sees that Mr. and Mrs. Thornwald are having troubles in paradise with having each other around. Then you have the complete opposite situation on level third level where the man and woman that sleep on the fire escape seem to not get enough of each other. Just having three windows in one building you learn five different characters in just a few minutes.
ReplyDeleteThe audience and learn even more about the characters based off of their costumes and through even the lighting. When we see how Jeff dresses in PJ’s you can tell that he is not planning on going into public due to his broken leg. With Lisa she dresses like her profession where she is a model and she must take good care of herself. One part where you really get to see he feelings of the characters are based on. You see the lighting drastically change when Mr. Thornwald sees that Jeff has been watching him. Jeff has his server Stella turn off the lights to hide their faces and you see a dim of light on Jeff’s face as he realizes that danger is coming.
The setting in Rear Window is a crucial component to the overall storyline that plays out in the film. For nearly the entire film viewer are in the apartment of L.B. Jefferies. The apartment is rather ordinary, and the furniture in it simple and practical. There are a variety of cameras and camera parts lying out around the apartment, and the walls are covered in photographs taken by Jefferies. The apartment as well as the way it is furnished tells us a lot about Jefferies as a character. The simplistic practical design suggests to viewers that Jefferies is a single working class man, who may not spend much time at home. The cameras and photographs suggest that Jefferies is a photojournalist that travels often and has experienced many exciting things in his lifetime (also a photo of crash that possibly lead to broken leg). These components of the setting all add to our understanding of Jefferies as a character and when combined with costume, dialogue, and other various components viewers gain an in-depth understanding of this character. Another aspect of the construction of the setting that adds to the storyline and our understanding of characters are the large windows in each of the apartment building. In fact, some of the apartments had windows that make up almost the entire outward facing wall. Without these large windows there would not be a complete story, and it would be very hard to get to know the characters. The large windows give us an intimate view of the daily lives of various characters, and in each window there is a different story being told. If the apartments instead had small windows the viewers would only see glimpses of reality, which would lead to confusion and an incomplete story.
ReplyDeleteOther elements of Mise-en-scene, such as costuming and lighting, also play an important role in contributing to characters’ identities, advancing the plot, and adding suspense. For example L.B. Jefferies is in his pajamas the entire time, which contributes to his identity and suggests that he has not left his home nor does he have plans to do so(due to his broken leg). Lisa’s costuming not only contributes to her character’s identity, it also helps to advance the plot. For example, when we are first introduced to Lisa she is wearing an outfit right of the Paris runway, this suggests that appearance is important to Lisa and she most likely comes from a wealthy background. Towards the middle of the story her costumes begin to change a bit. For example when she breaks into Thorwald’s apartment she is wearing a housedress that is much simpler than the dress she was wearing at the opening of the film. The dress still looks like it is expensive, but it gives viewers the idea that Lisa may be trying to conform to Jefferies’ lifestyle. In the final scene of the movie Lisa is shown wearing loafers, jeans, and a button-up. This look is drastically different than what we saw in the beginning of the film and in my mind suggests that Lisa is in love with Jefferies, and has made changes and sacrifices in order to better fit into his life (She does pick up Harper’s Bazaar during this scene while Jefferies is asleep suggesting she still has an interest in fashion, but it is now less important).
The lighting in Rear Window adds to the suspense of the film in a variety of ways. Jefferies’ apartment is often dark which adds to the fact that he is doing something he shouldn’t be doing and also reiterates the idea that Jefferies sees everything that goes on with his neighbors, yet the see little of him. The lighting during the scene in which Thorwald enters Jefferies’ apartment is another strong example of how lighting adds to suspense. The darkness before Thorwald enters the apartment as well as the light created by the flashbulbs makes the scene more dramatic and suspenseful keeping viewers on the edge of their seats. Overall setting, costuming, and lighting play a crucial role to the overall success of this 1950’s film.
The setting in Rear Window was perfect for this movie. It created a place the viewer could imagine living. Because of the realistic apartment complex, the viewer felt as maybe they moved in with Jefferies' for four days. The bustling traffic goes by the restaurant/bar across the street is busy. People are walking their pets and driving to work. Even people in the complex are busy relaxing in the courtyard. The different apartments also seem to fit the particular characters that live inside them. The man who is constantly playing the piano has large windows in which to gain insight an inspiration. The young woman, Ms. Torso has a back deck in which to entertain guests and Mr. and Mrs. Thorwald have many areas in the house that are not visible which represents the secrets that may be hiding in their apartment.
ReplyDeleteAnother element of MES that I found to be extra incredible for the film was the lighting in Mr. Thorwald's apartment. Many times he sat in the dark by himself in the living room. This showed much about his character. It often left the viewer wondering if he was doing something that he didn't want anyone to see. However, when you see the light of Mr. Thorwald's cigarette coming through the darkness, the viewer realizes he is truly just sitting in the dark with all of his secrets around him.
Rear window is a look into the mind of bored man with a short term disability and too much free time. Rear Window’s Mise-en-scene functions as a major part of the story; as it does with most films, but only here do we have a good look at how it works and how it affects the movie. Each piece of the never changing scenery has a significant part to it, from Thorwald’s flowers to the curtains of the newly married couple. As Jefferies is entranced by the various stories of his neighbors, so is the audience and the mise-en-scene does its job. Not only through scenery, but lighting and music helps make up the mise-en-scene. The lighting tells whether someone is hiding or hiding something as well as conceal answers to the audience’s questions. The music also reflects the status of the story, playing “That’s Amore” during a scene of peace and showing the multitude of characters especially the various married couples. The pianist’s even serves as a mini plot device, changing to mind of the suicidal Ms. Lonelyheart.
ReplyDeleteThe setting of Rear Window is striking. It’s very closed off and only allows us to see only a certain part of outside as well as inside. But this is all we need to see which is amazing. Only seeing this part of the setting allowed to the film to be very suspenseful. With the murderer across the way and also when he comes over to the other apartment. Seeing only a part of the street added to the suspense as well because it often left you wanting to see more. Adding to the suspense of this move, lighting played a huge role. At night time there was a lot of spying which amped up the suspense level, especially at the end when you can see the shadow under the door of the murderer coming over. It created anticipation and suspense.
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