Mise En Scene Deconstruction On Bedlam



First Shot

•  In the first shot the audience denote an over the shoulder shot of a woman walking into a room. The shot allows the audience to see where the woman is arriving.

• The audience also see the camera zooming out of the shot, gradually. This may be to establish the shot even further, allowing the audience to get a clear instinct of the room.

• The woman looks rather sinister, which is seen through her dark black coloured costume. The colour connotes a quite mysterious character.
• She arrives in a room, quite torn, tattered i.e. torn wallpaper, missing tiles from the floor. There also seem to be several baths. The setting instantly raises an enigma. Clues to genre are given - old, haunted type sets are conventions we expect to see in horrors.
• The slight low key lighting in the set, adds to the eerie atmosphere in the room.

Second Shot

• The audience see a man working at his desk, dressed quite smart. His actions and costume may symbolize an intellectual man.

• Again we see a room looking quite battered. Chairs are stacked on each other in weird positions, objects are on the floor. Could this be a haunted house?
• Top lighting creates a suspenseful effect.
• If you note, a long shot may have purposely been used in order to make the man's actions seem more secretive. Could there be something hidden from the audience?

Third Shot

• Instantly witness the camera panning. The camera displays another daunting looking room.

• The pan was incredibly short, barely enabling the audience to examine the whole room. This achieves audience pleasures, as the audience become more eager to know what this place is like.

Further Interpretations Within The Mise En Scene

• One other convention we see in horrors is blood. Blood seems to appear later in the sequence, giving the audience again, a clue to the genre.
• This blood appears behind the young smartly dressed man, this may mean he is on the verge of dying. However, the audience do not really know what this black substance is. Perhaps it could be a metaphor for blood.

• We see a man, dressed in a suit, quite old looking agitated. His body language certainly suggests this as he fiddles with his tie, meaning he may be stressed.

• Elements of possession are also shown. A young girl appears to be scratching her leg viciously. Note how a close up is used to exemplify the theme of possession. This signifies the  sub-genre, supernatural horror.

•  The girl is dressed in white, a symbol of purity. This is juxtaposed with her state portrayed in the sequence. The juxtaposition implies that she is a victim, one innocent who unfortunately received possession.
•  Flickering lights connote the house is nearly becoming invaded by possessive forces, allowing no hope to be left.

• The paperwork on fire falling above the man's head connotes he may be facing high levels or stress with bad thoughts on his mind.

• The audience then see ghost like figures moving around rapidly, signifying the genre further.