American Beauty Study

Dining room scene

Representation- There is a lot of sarcasm used in the dining room scene, especially from the daughter Jane. Lester is resented as being bland and average from what he wears to how he speaks. Also in this scene, Jane is wearing a jumper with roses on. This shows the audiences themes of this film.

 

Mise en scene-  The colours used around the whole production are red, white and blue. Tis is to show a typical American family. In this scene, as shown above, the lighting is set so the parents are in the dimmer areas and the daughter is in the lighter area. The set is old fashioned and the family are at the table. The roses come up again on the center of the table and it looks as though there was a lot of effort made into setting the table and making the dinner. Lester is wearing bland colours which blend him in with the interior design of the house. The mum is wearing a formal dress and also has slightly better posture than Lester. The props in the background include photos of happier family memories which further represent Lesters depression.

Camera work- Throughout the scene, an extreme slow zoom in take place. It is so slow that it could be unnoticeable if you are focused on the film. There is also a change in camera, film to video, video back to film. This is to represent eavesdropping on the daughter and fathers conversation. This shows a sense of intrusion showing the directors reminiscent of the theatre. There is also a cross cut: a short reverse shot and a two shot of Lester and daughter as well as an extreme close up of the person hiding in the bushes.



Sound- A slow tempo song is played called 'Bali Hai' which shows how the family misses the past. The music played makes the person hiding in the bushes seem sad as well as the cricket sounds showing that it is night. The guy in the bushes is shown as creepy as he is filming the girl. He is also unexpected and looked confused/ concerned. Bali Hai is a diegetic and it switches to a non-diegetic 'soundtrack' sound.