Mise en scène (Acting and Acting Styles)

Title: Girl, Interrupted

Year: 1999

Writers: Susanna Kaysen (book), James Mangold (screenplay), Lisa Loomer (screenplay) and Anna Hamilton Phelan (screenplay),

Director: James Mangold

Actors: Winona Ryder (Susanna), Angelina Jolie (Lisa), Clea DuVall (Georgina), Elisabeth Moss (Polly), Whoopi Goldberg (Valerie) and Brittany Murphy (Daisy).

Movie Summary: This film is based on the book and true story by Susanna Kaysen. Set in the 1960’s, it is the story of a depressed and directionless young woman named Susanna (Winona Ryder). After a suicide attempt, Susanna is sent to a mental institution named Claymore. While there, she befriends a group of women in her ward. Lisa (Angelina Jolie) becomes her best friend, but it soon creates many problems. Lisa (Jolie) is a manipulative and charismatic young woman who is seemingly the “puppet master” of the other girls. Susanna struggles through many hard experiences, thoughts and feelings during her pursuit to “find herself”.

Acting and Acting Style: Three prominent actors in this film are Angelina Jolie (Lisa), Winona Ryder (Susanna) and Brittany Murphy (Daisy).

Winona Ryder’s first significant role was in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice (1988). In Girl Interrupted (1999), Ryder is character acting. Her portrayal of Susanna Kaysen is realistic yet specific to the movie. The following clip demonstrates her character acting:

Brittany Murphy was also character acting in Girl, Interrupted (1999). Her earlier roles, such as in Clueless (1995) consisted of very different personalities and characters. Murphy plays a sexually abused and severely disturbed girl in this role:

Angelina Jolie’s performance earned her the 2000 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Although her first film was in 1982, her first breakthrough role did not come until the 1990’s, when she starred in the television film Gia (1998). Gia (1998) landed her a Golden Globe for Best Actress. Up until this point, she had primarily been a character actor. After her performance in Girl, Interrupted (1999), Jolie achieved Star status. In Girl, Interrupted (1999) Jolie was a character actor or even a wildcard. I would say this because Jolie is not yet totally recognizable and yet she has already established that she can play a variety of roles (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011, 3.4). The following clip shows Jolie’s portrayal of Lisa and her realistic portrayal as a manipulator and a bully:

I would say that Angelina Jolie is definitely a Star, which is a strong personality character (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011, 3.4). It is difficult to define and yet her personality is what makes her movies so successful. Jolie has also starred in several action movies, such as Salt (2010):

Jolie is often typecast as the sexy “tough girl”, as seen in these films. Other action films that show this personality include: Gone In Sixty Seconds (2000), Tomb Raider (2001), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) and The Tourist (2010).

Resources:

Brittany Murphy In Girl, Interrupted [Pills Addiction] [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7jv6qNS2t4

Girl, Interrupted (1999) – IMDb. (n.d.). Retrieved July 8, 2014, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172493/?ref_=ttco_co_tt

Girl Intterupted ( what’s your diagnonsense?! ) [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=164rFFVL9cI

Girl Interrupted – Strong Scene [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEtcP9Tf0YE

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From watching to seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Mangold, J. (Director). (1999). Girl, interrupted [Motion picture]. USA: Columbia Pictures.

Salt Movie Clip “Missile Launcher” [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcoejPfV4x4

Mise en scène (sound)

Title: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Year: 2013

Director: Ben Stiller

Writers: Steve Conrad (screenplay), James Thurber (original story)

Actors: Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, John Daly, Sean Penn

Music: Theodore Shapiro

Movie Summary: This film is loosely based on the original short story, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1939), by James Thurber. Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) is a daydreamer who escapes his boring and predictable life through vivid heroic and romantic fantasies. Mitty has a crush on a co-worker (Kristen Wigg), who is often the object of those fantasies. When his job is threatened, Mitty must embark on a global journey in search of lost film. He goes on his first real life and action-packed adventure.

Sound: Three basic categories of sound are dialogue, sound effects and music. Each serve an important function and must be carefully balanced to make the story work (Goodykoonz&Jacobs, 2011, 6.4). Sound plays an important role in this film; each fantasy is spurred by a sound, word or event in the real world. The film switches back and forth from fantasy to reality, which establishes the theme. This also allows for its inclusion to the fantasy film genre.

Simply put, dialogue are characters talking to one another in a film. The dialogue can inform and add clarity or it can greatly impact the mood of a scene. Sometimes the dialogue can be imaginary and very fantastical. This is the case in the following scene between Walter Mitty (Stiller) and Cheryl (Kristen Wiig) As Mitty stands listening to the sounds of Cheryl talking to a co-worker, he begins to daydream (below):

The actions scenes in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) are filled with sound effects. The sound effects in a film add power and adrenaline to action sequences (Goodygoontz & Jacobs, 2011, 6.4). During the following scene, the use of sound effects reflect the urgency of the situation (the alarm) and the power of a volcanic eruption as the car speeds away:

Music can set the theme for a movie and the mood for an individual scene. Early in the movie, Witty is made fun of at the office by his new boss and is called “Major Tom”. During a later scene, Mitty feels frustrated during his mission and he imagines that Cheryl (Kristen Wiig) is singing “Major Tom” to him. It motives Mitty to act boldly and creates an elevated, hopeful and excited mood. It is a very pivotal moment in the film:

As you can see, if you removed the music from this particular scene, it would make no sense. The scene would not have been nearly as powerful or memorable.

The music in the individual scenes is much more dramatic than the overall soundtrack. According to supervising sound editor Craig Henighan, “The approach we took from a sound design standpoint was: in Walter’s everyday life the sound should be bland – a simple and basic soundtrack. When we enter the fantasies, we’d go into huge sound moments, open up the sound field to big-7.1, buildings could explode. From black and white to technicolor. We were trying to do the sonic equivalent of that idea” (Cunningham, 2013).

As you can see, the importance of sound in this film is clearly demonstrated. The mix of dialogue, special effects and music make the story come to life.

Resources:

Cunningham, K. (2013, December 5). Contenders – Sound Editor Craig Henighan and Sound Mixer Danny Michael, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty | Below the Line. Retrieved from http://www.btlnews.com/crafts/post-production/contenders-sound-editor-craig-henighan-and-sound-mixer-danny-michael-the-secret-life-of-walter-mitty/

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From watching to seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) – IMDb. (2013, December 25). Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0359950/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt

Rich, K. (2013, July 30). Ben Stiller’s Secret Life Of Walter Mitty Debuts Stunning First Trailer – CinemaBlend.com [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Ben-Stiller-Secret-Life-Walter-Mitty-Debuts-Stunning-First-Trailer-38765.html

Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Pub Scene) on Vimeo [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://vimeo.com/85156527

The secret life of walter mitty video clip [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytf3mnY1wK

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Clip – Eruption (HD) Ben Stiller [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hijJxwlmCAY