Mise-en-scene of Super 8

The movie begins with the scene of Joe Lamb’s mother’s funeral. Joe’s father, Jackson was also seen arresting Louis Dainard at the beginning of the movie which then develops the storyline between both families later in the movie. Despite the death of Joe’s mother, he was still determined to help his friend, Charles , finish his film titled “The Case” to be entered into a film festival competition. In order to create more a more appealing content, Charles asked Alice Dainard to be the wife of the lead character in his film. Apparently, Joe has a crush on Alice; however, the conflict between both parents has created hostility between them initially. When they were filming at the train station, Joe noticed a truck purposefully driving onto the tracks which caused a massive impact that caused a series of explosions. They approached the car only to find out that it was their school teacher, Dr. Woodward, in the car, warning them to never speak a word of the incident as it puts their lives at risk. Joe took a metal cube from the scene. Although everyone was experiencing aftershock from the incident, they were still determined to complete the movie except Alice. With the Joe’s persuasions, she decided to continue to play the role of the detective’s wife. While filming the movie, Joe’s and Alice’s relationship began to blossom. Meanwhile, the town of Lilian, was bombarded with the Air Forces’ suspicious procedures due to not only the explosion but of the strange happenings such as the disappearance of dogs which frustrates Deputy Jackson. He is determined to be aware of the Air Force’s plans. The people of Lilian began to demand for answers which puts Deputy Jackson at stress. In the middle of the chaos, the friendship between Charles and Joe were at risk when Charles revealed that he actually had a crush on Alice too. In addition, Deputy Jackson was frustrated at Joe because he was hanging out with Alice. One night, Alice snuck into Joe’s house and the scene revealed the truth behind the hostility between both parents which was Joe’s mother took over for Louis at work because he was drunk which caused her to be in the wrong place at the wrong time that resulted to her death. When Alice returned home, she got into a fight with Louis and upon running away she was taken by the Alien. With the Alien on the loose, the Air Force started a fire to clear out the county. When at the evacuation centre, Louis told Joe that Alice was captured by the Alien which caused the boys to set out to rescue her. First, they cracked open Dr Woodward’s dungeon for information about the Alien. It turns out that the Alien was terrified and hungry and just wants to build its ship to go back to where it came from. At that moment, the Air Force barges in to catch the boys which resulted in them being on a bus. The story climaxed when the Air Force crew was killed by the Alien on their journey but the boys managed to escape. While rescuing Alice, the Alien picked up Joe but he managed to convince the Alien that not all humans are bad. With that in mind, they left the scene safely. The story ended with the Alien building its ship out of scrap metals of the county.

One of the scenes that was the most visually captivating was the scene after the train had crashed and caused a series of explosions. The boys and Alice gathered together after splitting up into different directions, running away from the explosions.

Mise-en-scene contains many components including Settings and Props, Costumes and Make Up, Lighting and Actors Movement. Settings defines as the on-screen environment of which the production team manipulates to create a certain atmosphere for the story to take place. Props are the physical objects that complete the scene by making the environment more realistic. Costumes are the clothing of the actors which explains the character’s background and the situation he or she is in. Make up can be regular make up to beautify the actors; special effects make up to create a realistic visual of the actor’s condition; a combination of both.  Lighting can be a filming technique or the actual lighting of the scene which can be the light’s intensity, focus points and visual effect. Lastly, Actor’s Movement defines as the actors’ actions such as his or her body language and gestures.

After the explosion, there were many after effects of the impact such as train parts propelling everywhere, additional explosions, fire breakouts and building collapsing.  The scene was set to be very hot as well as disastrous. The atmosphere was chaotic. After all the chaos, the scene transcended to become a calm environment. Although the boys and Alice were suffering distress as an effect of the explosion, they were still relieved that everyone was fine. The props included the large chunks of train mechanisms and the cubes of radioactive metal. Scraps of wood were scattered everywhere as a result of the impact between the train and the old wooden train stop. Whereas the actors’ costumes were worn and torn to show and reflect the severity of the explosion. Their costumes were covered in dirt and sweat to showcase the actors being hit with dirt while sprinting away from the impact.  The make-up component consists of the actors being covered in scratches and blood as a medium to show injuries. As well as being covered in dirt and water as sweat. Patches of dark spots were also seen on the actors’ faces as ashes patching up. Furthermore, light was focused on certain area; however, the overall lighting was dim. The focused areas came from the few patches of fire. Lastly, the scenario was well executed with the actors’ movements such as panting to show that they have been running. 

In short, the mise-en-scene of Super 8 captivated its audience.