The connection between dialog, acting and shots created an overwhelming sense of confusion akin to what James must have been feeling. no doubt that was the aim of the director. I found that very clever and it worked.
This is the scene although its missing some dialog at the end.
Characters:
The main characters in this scene are James (Bruce Willis) and Jeffery ( Brad Pitt) with two secondary characters, An institute worker and an inmate named T.J Washington. There are also a lot of extras in the scene in the form of other inmates and several workers. In this scene Jeffery seems to be the dominant character as he takes over the majority of the dialog with James saying very little.
Jeffrey: A young mental patient who seems to have a mental disorder like schizophrenia. He is very random in his thinking and his actions.
James: James is an unassuming character who seems to keep to himself a lot by not saying much or interacting in this scene.
Who's in, who leaves and who arrives:
This scene starts out with James and two staff, they leave the main focus of the scene but still remain in the background. Jeffery is introduced and remains until the end of the scene when he walk away from where the camera is focused. T.J Washington comes in to the scene at the end. Extras stay in the background throughout the scene. No one leaves the room.
What do the characters want:
Jeffery wants somebody to listen to all of his ramblings whilst all it seems like James wants from his only line of dialog is to make a phone call. It also seems like James does not want to be here as his eyes are always diverted elsewhere trying to make sense of it all and look for a way out.
Are there any status changes in the characters:
In the scene it seems that the inmates are of a much lower status than the workers and have to abide by certain rules, this is shown as Jeffery is initially introduced in a much lower position than the guards. Amongst the inmates it seems like Jeffery is the most dominant inmate as his voice overwhelms the rest of the inmates. He also messes and irritates them without any response.
How casting influences how we see the characters:
Having seen Bruce Willis playing an action hero in a lot of previous films such as DIE HARD part of me expected him to do something bold like fighting or shouting at someone. However he just acts very neutral with very little dialog which is a nice surprise. With Brad Pitt he has played a character similar in ways to this in Fight Club so it is well known that his characters can be crazy and sporadic so it wasn't a huge surprise but the role suited him.
Costumes:
For the most par the inmates seem to wear their own clothing an not a uniform. But James has on a all white set of clothes similar to what the guards wear. The only person wearing something really different is T.J Washington.
Setting:
This scene is set in the common room of an old, run down mental institution. It seems like daytime as there is a lot of light coming through the windows.
Where is this in relation to the movie?:
In relation to the timeline of the movie this is towards the beginning of the film. However in relation to the world in which this film is in, it is the past somewhere around 30 years ago.
In relation to the story of the movie this scene helps to introduce Jeffery who goes on to be a pivotal character later on as well as trying put us in a mindset akin to James'.
Chose for other reasons other than story telling?:
There is a distinct visual appeal of the setting of this scene. Firstly the room lets in lots of light through the windows which is the only lighting source for the scene. Also the dilapidated interior creates more of a dark and dreary atmosphere to the scene that wouldn't be there if it was set in a clean, new facility.
Mise En Scene:
The main characters in this scene that attract our eye first due to their size although James is rarely in the centre of the frame and tends to feature towards the left or right of the camera. Jeffery appears more in the centre of the camera and we perceive him to be more dominant . In the background we can see the other patients as they come in to the centre of the frame quite often as the main characters split to either side of the frame. There is little to no depth of field to separate background and foreground so at times there is a jumble of people in the scene which creates a sense of confusion akin to what the majority of the inmate feels, particularly James.
There is very little in terms of decoration within this scene with the majority of the room just white flaking walls. White seems to be the dominant colour and there is a lot bright ambient light. This helps to keep our focus on what action is happening with the characters.
In the background a wacky animated cartoon plays which visually displays the crazy-ness minds of the inmates.
Shot list:
Every shot in this scene is a dutch tilt shot. There are 32 different shots in this short space of time so the quick succession of all of the shots at various angles creates a very uneasy feeling . It also aids in creating a sense of confusion in our minds as we do not expect to see such a large amount of shots consecutively like this and we don't get a chance to settle on just looking at one thing for a long period of time.
The close ups of James give the audience a more emotion connection with him whilst we don't get a close up of Jeffery so the audience becomes more emotionally distant from him.
1) Close up shot of television.
This shot is almost a precursor of the madness which will follow.
2)Medium shot of James and institute workers follows their walk and finishes by looking through gate.
The closing of the gate shows the fact that he is now trapped.
3)Medium Dutch Tilt shot of James and one guard.
4)Downwards facing tilt shot of Jeffery sitting in chair.
the downwards angle makes him seem small and insignificant.
5-9)Camera alternates between the last two shots.
The switch between the downwards angle and the slightly upwards shot shows the workers dominance over Jeffery.
10)Another tilt shot of Jeffery, camera follows as he gets up.
As he gets up he becomes on level importance as the guard which he previously wasn't when the camera was facing down on him.
11) Medium Dutch Tilt shot of James and Worker. Camera zooms in to close up of worker.
The lens used seems to be a wide angle lens which makes the worker look bigger than his surroundings and creates a sense of confusion.
12) Tilt shot of james and jeffery down corridoor.
This shot shows Jeffery in the centre making him the centre of attention. His has also become the dominant figure forcing a woman out of her chair.
13)Close up of puzzle, camera follows Jeffery down hall.
14) Tilt medium shot pans and follows Jeffery around, zooms in and faces upwards showing.
both James and jeffery. Camera continues to follow them as the walk around.
15)Tilt shot of more of a close up view of Jeffery. Moves back to show close up of jeffery and James talking.
The instant jump forward creates a uneasy feeling.
16)Upwards medium tilt shot follow james' walk.
17) over the shoulder tilt shot close up of Jeffery.
The close up draws attention to the crazy expression on Jeffery's face
18)Tilt close up on James.
The blank look on his face contrasts with the shot before
19) Med. upwards tilt shot of james and jeffrey.
20)Med. tilt shot of worker.
This shot is much calmer and breaks up Jeffery's ramblings
21)back to over the shoulder tilt shot close up of Jeffery.
Again, we get to see the uncertain facial expressions more detailed
22) back to tilt close up on James.
Again this emphasises the sparse look on his face in contrast to Jeffery
23) Close up of t.v.
The programme on the T.V symbolises whats happening in James' mind
24)back to over the shoulder tilt shot close up of Jeffery.
25)Med. tilt shot through bars of the pair.
The bars emphasise the fact that they're trapped with no where to go.
26)Med. tilt shot of them. Camera pulls back following them.
27) Tilt close up of L.J washington.
28) Tilt Over the shoulder shot of jeffery and james.
29) Back to tilt close up of L.J washington.
30)Back to tilt Over the shoulder shot of james.
James becomes the main figure as he is now in the centre of the frame
31) tilt close up of james.
This shot emphasises this facial expressions
32)Tilt close up of slippers.
SOUND:
In this scene the majority of sound comes from Jeffery. In this part of the film he occupies a huge percentage of the dialogue as he rambles on. The only other dialogue comes from the guards, T.J washington and one line from James. The more soothing voice of T.J slows down the pace of the scene as it comes from an end. The only other layer of sound apart from dialogue is from the show in the background. Being a comedic cartoon it has a lot of random sound effects which compliment and fit in to what Jeffery is talking about E.g when he mentions James may be mad there is a 'Boing' sound that plays. They make what he's saying seem more unrealistic and cartoonish and something that could have been in a cartoon. There is also more classical background music that plays which seems to come from the show which acts a music to the mad lyrics of Jeffery. This also contrasts in ways to the rapid pace of the dialogue and effects.
Keeping your eyes closed you have to remind yourself that James is still there as he only says one line at the beginning of the scene.
