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Student’s name: Professor’s name: Course: Date: The term mise-en-scene is a French word (pronounced “meez-ahn-sen”) that traditionally meant to “place on stage.” It was widely used in theaters until its adoption in the film industry. Moviemakers borrowed the term, and it has since been used to mean the amount of control a director has over a film about individual aspects. It is composed of four elements; movement of figures, costume, setting, and lighting. Each of these elements significantly differs from film to film and have changed over time. The following essay will analyze the four mise-en-scene elements that are evident in The Graduate and American Beauty. The Graduate The film tells the story of a graduate, Benjamin Braddock, as he struggles to balance between his relationships with Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father’s law partner and her daughter Elaine. Although he is entirely uncomfortable with his affair with Mrs. Robinson at the start, he quickly grows into it as the two become lovers. Once he meets her daughter Elaine, he discovers that the two share a lot more than he does with Mrs. Robinson. However, as is expected, their relationship is far from rosy. The Graduate is filled with excellent cinematography, and the lighting done by the director is at times exquisite. In the opening scene, Benjamin is on a shown as he moves from right to left. There is a lot to be taken from this scene. For starters, he is close to a conveyor belt and seems to have given up power to allow some external force determine the direction of his life. Away from that, the direction of his movement is also suspect. As the conveyor moves him from right to
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