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Pound
Analyzed by Travis Pelto
In making a short film an obvious challenge is presented to every film maker: “How am I going to make this film memorable and attention grabbing in a limited amount of time?” One could argue special effects or a catchy soundtrack but every good director knows that manipulating mise en scene is a classic way to draw the viewer’s attention instantly. In terms of film, mise en scene is how one arranges the objects, actors, set, lighting and whatever else could occupy a frame. Although a rather simple and "trendy" video, Pound by Evan Bernard uses simple yet effective means in mise en scene to carry the film further than expected. In Pound, the simple use of color in terms of mise en scene pushes this film from being ordinary to impressive.
During the first handshake, which is most of the film, many things are said about the characters and relationship with the mise en scene. First, the painted brick wall is used perfectly. It is aesthetically pleasing, and gives the scene some life in comparison to a regular red or brown brick wall. Also the frame is centered on the red and white division line in the wall which is where the center of the handshake takes place. This pushes emphasis to the elaborate greeting and every time the a hand moves from one color to the other it seems as though a barrier is broken and a bond is being formed from this. This gives the relationship between the characters some unspoken depth that would not be as effective with a plain brick wall as stated before. To borrow a term from Giannetti, the wall serves as the dominant contrast and automatically draws the eye to the handshake. The two guys could have been three feet to the right of the division line in the wall and we would still be looking at the split in color.
Color, not in terms of the wall but of the different races shaking hands in Pound, is also something that cannot be ignored. The director made a conscious decision in casting a white and black male in the film. Because of this, the handshake serves as a connecting bond between the races. The length and flamboyentness of the handshake tells us that the director believes in equality and good relations between the races.
The most provocative use of mise en scene comes a little after a minute into the film. The shot turns from a long shot to a close up to the handshake cut off at the shoulder. At this point, the white bricks are taking up most of the background and Mikey, the white guy, very quietly says "Just trying to stay up in the game." An obvious dub over because his mouth is clearly not moving, this line had no reason to be thrown in unless it had a purpose. With the particular shot of the white bricks almost taking over the screen, Evan Bernard makes a huge statement on white culture. He seems to be saying the white culture is trying to absorb or take over black culture. This doesn’t seem too far fetched with the rising popularity of “urban” culture in mainstream media, and it appears to be the undertone of the whole film.
The use of color shows that the subtly and slyness of mise en scene can change a film dramatically. It is a vital tool to any aspiring filmmaker.
References
Giannetti, Louis. Understanding Movies. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008.
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