Annie Hall, Woody Allen (1977)
In the movie Annie Hall directed by Woody Allen, the mise-en-scene is a key component for the development of the story.
As a case in point, there is a scene when main character Alvy (played by Woody Allen) discusses tennis with Annie (Diane Keaton). Allen uses subtitle to skew their dialogue. Usually, subtitles aren’t a device that would be considered as part of the mise-en-scene because it isn’t so much the director who writes them but rather a translator. Essentially, the main purpose is to translate the dialogue from one language to another. However, Allen makes use of these subtitles in a way that goes beyond their typical purpose. The subtitles don’t read what the characters are orating, rather what they are thinking. With this mise-en-scene decision, Allen points out the raw content behind their conversation. The subtitles add an effect of comedy, as the double meaning is revealed but also develops the character’s relationship. The film is all about Alvy’s nostalgic memories of their relationship but also the miscommunication that would eventually lead up to their break up.
In another scene the two characters see their analyst and discuss their troubled relationship. With a split screen, the two characters tell the same stories but with different point of views. Alvy complains that three times a week isn’t enough to fill his sexual urge then the voice of Annie comes on as she complains that it’s too much, and Alvy constantly wants more.
Allen is a brilliant director and is very attentive to the small details. More about mise-en-scene can be said with this movie such as the style he chooses which is reflexive and talking to the camera. But the subtitles and the split screen are two techniques he uses to show the relationship between two characters as being the same but with opposite views.
Battleship Potemkin, Sergei Eisenstein (1925)
Battleship Potemkin, directed by Eisenstein, was made in 1925 and remains one of the ultimate movies ever made. The famous stairs scene in Odessa where the soldiers arrive and the people are fleeing is a perfect illustration of the power of mise-en-scene.
Eisenstein is known for his mastery of montage. The scene’s pacing is very abrupt as the shots are very short and terse. They show people in fear and running away. Soldiers are attacking them, and Eisenstein uses scenes from the port in rapid successions to illustrate the tension. About montage, Eisenstein said, “Any two sequences, when juxtaposed, inevitably combine into another concept which arises from that juxtaposition of two events, two facts, two objects.”
Lastly, the stroller rolling down the stairs is one of the iconic moments of this movie. The whole picture is a giant metaphor. The baby represents prototypical innocence. The soldiers are going down the stairs and terrorizing the people. They have no pity or compassion. The stroller rolling down the stair demonstrates the ripple effect of collateral damage. The mise-en-scene is very important in this movie and especially during this scene. Eisenstein’s movie is a model that has been inspiring to the entire film industry.
D.W Griffith invented the concept of montage in 1915 with his movie The Birth of a Nation. The image of his movie is syncopated because there are 16 frames/second as oppose to the traditional 24 frames/second. But Eisenstein perfected it and also wrote several essays about the theory behind the idea of montage.
Film Theory and Criticism 