Mise en scene in -This Is England

We watched the combo fight scene in This Is England.

In the lesson we discussed Mise en scene and we broke it down into the word 'Place'. P- Production Design (Sets, props and costumes), L- Lighting (Ambient, artificial, natural), A- Actors (Performance, C- Color (Through production) and E- Era ( how is the time/place represented?)

First I analysed This is England to discuss the Production Design of the scene. The costumes are very basic the main character and his worker 'friend' (shown in the image below) are wearing a plain white shirt with  black strap. As they are both wearing the same clothes this could represent that they are both working in the same place, maybe factory or low paying job because the clothes are very basic. The bald, white guy has a tribal cross tattoo on his forehead which makes him seem more aggressive ad that he lives in a rough place. Also they are all sitting in a flat which is very dirty, plain and basic. It is very horrible living conditions, especially for a child which emphasizes the harsh conditions and the financial troubles these people are going through. There is a massive flag of the St George flag which could represent these people as patriotic and maybe racist. This racist view is later evident when the white guy calls his companion a 'N**ga'. Also there are photo's up of naked women. This brings up the sort of It is a mans world sort of vibe.

The lighting in this scene is rather bright compared to what we'd expect from a British social realism film. However I realized why they used this technique of artificial bright light.Without the light we would not of been able to see the harsh. horrible conditions that these people are living in. The gritty setting emphasizes the struggle that these people are going through. The fact that there is not natural sunshine or light outside to lighten the shot could connote that there is a lack of hope.

The actors also say something about the film. I do not recognize any of these actors as being famous. I think that it gives this film a good effect as it gives it a sense of reality that they are normal people because if an a list Hollywood actor played a person from the underclass it would not be that believable. All the actors seem to be normal everyday people of the underclass working people of Britain. The image below displays all the actors in this scene.

The colour of the scene is basic. It has an unsaturated effect to the scene like the colour has been dulled which connotes that there is no colour to these people's lives, that they have a boring, dull, hard life. The colour represents the grim reality of working life.

I believe also that the era is displayed. There seems to be some racial dispute between the black and white guy. Giving a sense of reality of the time and giving an idea that maybe this was filmed in the 1980 or earlier. Also these people look as if they are in a time where Britain is struggling. This is also evident in the opening sequence for the film. So this connotes that maybe this was filmed during the recession or when Britain had problems with riots or war. 

The video below is the opening sequence to This is England. This shows clearly what era the film is in.