post eleven - mise-en-scene in ferris bueller

( POST ELEVEN )

MISE-EN-SCENE IN FERRIS BUELLER

parade scene

The scene takes place in a big, well built city with huge crowds surrounding floats as a parade continues in the centre of the street and the tall buildings don’t seem overpowering or overwhelming. The genre of the film is comedy and although a cityscape isn’t particularly comedic, the setting is light and fun which is normally expected of the genre. As the scene continues with all of the crowds and characters dancing together the comedy genre is indicated because it is quite unrealistic and out of the ordinary. I think although the setting doesn’t automatically indicate a genre, we can guess that it wont be a horror or thriller because there is no sense of darkness or mystery which would be expected, but instead it is more joyous and exciting. The setting without the parade would be dull and uninteresting, but with all of the crowds and floats the mood is immediately uplifted and the whole feel of the scene is a lot lighter and makes the audience smile and laugh along with the character, I think because the city is familiar to most people this scene would normally be boring, but this scene is far from that and I think it is because is actually happening within the scene instead of the setting. I don’t think the setting really says much about the characters, although they all seem quite comfortable and happy about where they are so it tells the audience that they aren’t overwhelmed by the crowds or any of the buildings and have almost certainly been on that street before. I think because the main characters seem to be enjoying where they are we can guess that they don’t actually live, but that they are just visiting for fun, and we can also assume that they don’t have jobs because they are taking part in the parade. Overall I think the setting is very important for this scene because it really shows the scale of the big crowds and at the end when everyone is dancing the audience really gets to see how comfortable and enjoyable the whole parade is. 

The film was created and released in 1986 so all of the costume and make-up in the scene are typical 80’s, although there are groups within the scenes which are dressed up differently like the band, the women on the float and the group dancing on the steps. Towards the end of the scene the camera pans out, and because Ferris is wearing a plain white t-shirt he stands out against the rest of the crowd, this helps the audience keep their eyes on him as the camera angles change and he appears a little further away. When the camera completely changes to the people dancing on the steps, they are all wearing dark trousers with brightly coloured tops which has been done to make the dance more appealing aesthetically and it is also quite funny for the audience because they are not wearing the same clothes by accident, but Ferris joining the parade was supposed to be spontaneous and this part makes it seem more planned. The clothing doesn’t suggest any genre, although we can tell that it will be a light and not dark or depressing so it does suit the comedy genre. As well as this, in the middle of the scene when everyone begins to dance, the camera focuses on several different faces with head shots, each person is wearing quite different clothing and are all different classes and probably have different jobs etc. but they are all still very happy, which I think really makes the audience happy and leaves you feeling uplifted. Again, I don’t think the clothing of the main characters really says anything about their cultural or social background, but it does look quite expensive which would suggest that they have money and are able to spend it on expensive clothing. The camera turns to different people working on their day jobs and the clothes they are wearing are typically what you would expect for a builder or window cleaner for example, I think they have chosen different costumes for different people to really emphasise all of the different lives that people have and how in ways everyone is the same, which is what we see when they are all dancing together, also all of the ‘honoured guests’ on one float are old and grumpy at the beginning, dressed in quite wealthy attire, and then as the scene progresses they are a lot happier and don’t seem as ‘snobby’ or rude which is often a stereotype used to portray the upper class.

The lighting throughout the whole scene is high key and natural from what I can tell, it doesn’t seem to be three point lighting as all of the shadows are natural and visible. I think because it is so light and obviously day time the mood is also light and happy, the dancing also creates this mood as the audience are as happy as the people dancing. The lighting doesn’t indicate any genre because it is so ordinary and not particularly unusual. The lighting is exactly the same in each different shot within the scene so the mood is the same throughout which I think is a good thing because the audience too wont change moods within the 5 minute scene or the rest of the movie because it is a feel-good film. Similarly, the colour of the light doesn’t change at all through the scene, again for the same reasons I previously mentioned. I don’t think there are any particular lighting techniques which have been used to create a particular mood but the fact it was filmed in day time makes it fit in with the rest of the film because every event that happens in the whole movie is supposed to be in one single day.

There are lots of different camera angles and shots in the scene so he is seen at many different points although he mostly remains at the centre so the audience focuses on him, also it is because he is placed at the centre that we know he is the main character as well as everyone in the crowd looking toward the centre of the frame. He stands on the float very confidently as he mimes a very popular song to his girlfriend in the crowd, and because of his facial expressions, and everyone else's, we know that he is ecstatic and enjoying every minute.