According to the textbook, “Mise-en-scene means literally staging or putting on an action or scene” (Monahan 154). In the textbook an example of Mise-en-scene is the county court-house in 1965 in Alabama during the civil rights movement. The scene would be constructed with objects and elements that reflect the time and era. For example they would expose warm lighting on wooden fixtures to invoke a sense of old southern tradition. According to youtube, Mise-en-scene means set design, “placing on stage.” In the movie Meet the Parents, the viewer we’ll see a lot of scenes containing the main characters as well as the house. The viewer will see bright lighting to invoke daytime. The costumes of Greg is the same outfit for most of the film as his luggage is missing and everyone else changes clothes based on the day and for their age. The backyard plays a crucial role in the movie as that is where the wedding will be held. One will see the prop of where the husband and wife will take their vowes before Greg lights in on fire. The colors of the film are bright and colorful to show there is life and the scenes are shown during the day because at night they are going to sleep and the scenes are darker to demonstrate nighttime. Critics notice the mis-en-scene is revolved around Greg and all scenes contain his character. The mis-en-scene is only one aspect of cinematography and the next is the actor’s performance.
The actor’s performance plays a vital role in cinematography. According to the textbook, Acting is “an actor’s performance on the screen goes beyond what we see and hear; it also includes many intangibles and subtleties” (Monahan 272). The performances in Meet the Parents is considered realistic as it is believable they are all human as they all speak in normal tone and speak English. The performance I find most remarkable is when Greg exaggerates what Dad has to say about the circle of trust. He makes a mockery with his facial expression and over annunciates how he says it using his voice. The film has star performances from the entire cast Ben Stiller, Robert DeNiro, Owen Wilson, and Blythe Danner. The performance makes an outstanding impression on its audience based on its cinematography.
Cinematography of the film Meet the Parents is a comedy and therefore it is a well-lit bright movie to invoke happiness and laughter. There were no close-ups of the film It was all filmed in wide shots. The camera angles were wider to be able to include the entire cast in most shots. The framing was a long shot to show where they are as well as the characters. The camera position was high. The cinematography relates the genre as many comedy movies do not have close up because it entices a different emotion then what the director is going for.
The FX of the film Meet the Parents is minimal but it is needed to make the film great. The fx serves the purpose of making the scene believable as well as detrimental to the success of Greg being able to marry his girlfriend. The fx of the fire of the entire backyard is meant to simulate reality. Greg lights up a cigarette and abruptly puts it out on the roof of the house. The cigarette begins to quickly light up the backyard in flames. The fx of the film is digital. I could not find any information regarding the Fx in this film.
Monahan, Dave, and Richard Barsam. Looking at Movies /: An Introduction to Film. 6th ed., W.W. Norton and Company, 2018.