Scott Pilgrim VS the World- Evil Ex No 1 Fight Scene:
I chose the film Scot Pilgrim to look at for this task as I really like it as a film and I think it has a really unique and interesting style to it. I looked at the four essential elements of mise-en-scene which are setting and props, Costumes and makeup, lighting and colour, staging of figures and there movements, expressions and body language.
Firstly it is obvious that this scene is set in a music club/venue. This is made obvious to us by the fact that there is a stage area and a dance floor area with a crowd in it. We can see lots of props as well that reinstate the fact that it’s a music venue such as the musical instruments on stage and being used by some of the characters. One prop that becomes particularly important to have in the scene is the drum kit because it is one of the symbols off the drum that is then used to kill the villain which in this scene is the evil ex.
Scott throwing a symbol at the Villain
I think the use of the symbol as a weapon is good because Scott is a musician himself so it almost shows that his music is better than the music sung by the evil ex so it is a battle on many levels. Another prop that is particularly important is the coins that fall to the floor at the end of the fight scene.
Coins falling to the floor
I really love how symbolic this is of a video game where coins drop when you win. It is combing the two mediums into one. This is the ongoing style of the film which is shown in many different ways.
Moving onto costumes I feel like they are used very subtly to tell you about the characters. Looking at Scots costume he is wearing a yellow t-shirt which is a very happy colour opposed to the red and black t-shirt which is worn by the villain.
Evil Ex (villain) costume and make up
I think his red and black shows us he is the evil character and none of the other main character throughout this scene are seen to be wearing anything dark or red like this. Red typically symbolizes anger which he has a lot of and black symbolizes darkness and death which also relates to him as he is an evil character. I think apart from this everyone else is wearing typically teenage genre clothing which again suits the location and the intended age of the characters. The only make up which stands out to me in this scene is the dark eye makeup worn by the villain. This makes him look like what some people may describe as a grunge or an Emo. This is a stereotype relating to teenage culture therefore it fits the intended age of the characters and the audience. Also Grunges and Emos can be stereotyped as being particularly moody and even satanic which again fits this character as he is the evil ex.
Looking at the lighting it fits the setting really well. The scene is very dark as expected in a music club however the bright stage lighting is what has been used to light up the action so that we can still see what’s happening.
Stage lighting coming from behind
I think this is a great way to keep the setting authentic but allow it to still seem bright and dramatic. The other lighting that is used is done through special effects when the villain gets knocked out and Scott wins the fight the screen lights up and flashes with lots of other special effects to make it again seems like a video game that he’s just won. Also the colour in general seems to become more enhanced in this special effect sequence when he wins which again is done to make it seems bright and fun like a video game. I also think it is because he is just about to won so it’s almost showing you that things have automatically got brighter because he’s defeating one of the evil ex’s (villains).
Moving on to look at the characters and the way they are made to act the main thing I notice about the villain is how he has big over exaggerated moments and actions in the way he points and throws his arms around. I think this is to almost make him seem very animated like a video game character would be. It is also done to make him seem very unrealistic which is probably intended because they don’t want us to like the evil villains. This evil ex also does a dance number in a Bollywood style which reflects his obvious Indian ethnicity which is why the choice of actor for this role was important.
Evil Ex performing Bollywood styled music number
This dance number also again makes the scene suddenly very real which relates back to it being more of a video game. If we then look at Scott’s actions in this scene he spends most his time looking up in awe but also in confusion as the evil ex sings. I think this reflects the way the audience is also feeling because while the evil ex is performing Scott has taken on the role of being an audience member too. You then see the aggression build on his expression as he begins to get attacked. This builds up to the monumental moment when he fights back and jumps up in slow motion to punch the evil ex.
Scott’s angry expression as he punches the evil ex
This is done in a typical abstract video game style by being I slow motion but I think this wouldn’t have worked without this angry expression on Scott’s face which is totally unknown before this for his character which is what makes you realize how angry he is but also how serious his is about Ramona (the girl there fighting over).
I think the mise-en-scene is put together really well in this scene and this continues throughout the film. The most important features are those which add the video game element to the film because without these elements it would be a very different style and the form of the narrative wouldn’t have worked as well.
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