Mise En Scene :Metropolis

Image from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017136/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt

How does Fritz lang use the devises of mise en scene to develop the characters, themes and narrative at the beginning of metropolis?

Location 1:

- Setting

• At the beginning, there are a lot of sound, e.g. Clock and machines from factories 
• The location is built in the future society, which are setting in a urban area
• There are divided into two parts: underground and overground
• It is a specific place and take place in the future, in metropolis
• Base on some real factories and stadium, but it is a realistic

- Describe the workers:

• The workers are all survive in the same way, including their appearance, movement and career.
• The workers do not have any facial expression, they are all cool and tense, it represented that their working environment make. Them feel numb.
• Moreover, the workers' movement are like to Robert, stepping one by one like soldiers and follow each other, like zombie walking in the same pattern
• Working like a slave,  they are working in an order. Underground workers work without own senses and feeling.

Location 2

- The people

• The main character, Freder. Upper class, some people who are rich and have a high status
• Daughter of a worker, a group of children

- The location

• In the overground area, one is at the stadium, one is in the garden

-Contrast to the first one

• Movement: very free, do not need to follow one by one, have different movement

Action:

• Running competition held, some of them scream and some of them try their best to run. 
• The upper class are playing in the garden, chasing each other, full of laughter
• A pair of lover playing in front of the waterfront, very romantic scene, their face are full of joyful and cheerful

Lighting:

• The overground is brighter and have sunlight, using some natural light
• The underground is dim and don't have any brightness

Why are they so different:

• Show the contrast between the two location, one is disaster, and one is an utopia
• Show the unfairness of the city in the metropolis

The Main Protagonists

- Who

• the upper class and the working class

-Contrast by appearance
 Light :

•  using some soft light in this location, spread out in a large area,brighter and can minimize the imperfection
•  using hard light in the location 1, more focus light, close to the workers and have deep shadows

Establish the narrative

What is happening:

• In the future world, there are two kinds of people in the city: upper class and the labour class
• wealthy residents live a carefree life, do not have any worries, form a utopian country, the main character, a man is one of them
• one day, a delightful lady appear with a group of poor children and just appeared in a short period of time
• the man follow her and get into the orld of the underground
• running the machine to keep the function of the overground people
• At last the machine kills a lot of workers 

Development and Representation

• Machine become a monster face after explosion
• Workers become slaves 
• This is a metaphor, create sharp image of the working class
• The workers are hurt by the machine, in this kind of working condition, they are going to die
• Some of them even died
• Freder is like an audience watching the disaster                         

Setting 

New setting:

• There are a lot of airplanes, cars and traffic jams happened in the crowded city
• very busy city with high technology
• A lot of high - rise apartment building 

The purpose:

• In order to show the differences of the upper class and working class make a clear definition in this area
• A capitalism society appeared in the metropolis, people have divided into two state