Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

It is a story of a seven year old, Olive, who wanted to take home the popular Little Miss Sunshine crown at an upcoming beauty pageant event. Then the journey begins when Olive and with her dysfunctional, yet somehow supportive family, as they traveled the road going to California to reach the girl’s dream. Along the road, they have come across many challenges and trials that their family was experiencing. It’s a kind of a road trip about hope and despair on life that you’ll surely enjoy in some different ways.

Mise-en-scene

“Mise-en-scene”, literally means “put in scene”.  In films, it refers to almost everything that goes into the composition of the shot, includes actors, lighting, décor, props, costume. In other words, mise-en-scène describes the stuff in the frame and the way it is shown and arranged.  I’ll be describing the film through the four general areas: location, lighting, costume, staging and acting. 

Location

Location is an essential element of the film. It creates both a sense of place and a mood and it may also reflect a character’s emotional state of mind. In the following image, from Little Miss Sunshine, it’s somewhat like a silent field along the road where Dwayne run into and breakdown. It’s because he discovered that all this time he is color blind and realizes that this wrecks his dream of becoming a test pilot. Here you can see, her sister Olive comforts him with a hug as the character conveys despair about he learned.   

The next shot, it’s a scene where they were sent at the Hotel’s security office, where a police officer tells them they are free to leave as long as Olive never enters a beauty pageant in the state of California again. In the image, the family’s expression is some kind of dismayed, upset and traumatized about what just happened in their entire trip.

Lighting

Lighting is one of the film elements that have the greatest power to evoke emotions. In this picture, it’s the scene wherein Olive was already on the stage together with other candidates for the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. High key lighting was present in this scene which is often seen in comedies and musicals. Here you can see bright lights that were used for the stage design with different kinds of dazzling colors.

Costume

The most easily noticeable aspect of mise-en-scene is costume. The obvious purpose of costuming is to dress an actor according to his character. The main characters wear at least two costumes in this film. In the image, the youngest who is Olive, wears red t-shirt with a pink dinosaur print, pink printed shorts, red boots, with a ponytailed hair and matching accessories like wrist bands and huge eyeglasses. It’s just an ordinary look for a nerdy, yet bubbly and cheerful kid.

Besides that, the following characters such like Olive’s father, Richard, wearing polo shirt, belted pair of jeans, and with a rubber shoes. Then Olive’s mother, Sheryl, wears a blue-green sleeveless top, midi floral skirt, and closed shoes. Next, Sheryl’s brother, Frank, wearing long-sleeve polo, white jeans, brown shoes, with beard on his face and bandage on his wrists. Then Olive’s brother, Dwayne, just a white shirt, pair of black jeans and vans shoes. Lastly, the grandpa, Edwin, wears a white plain shirt with leather vest, denim jeans, gladiator sandals, with a bag in his waist. This created the sense of character that a typical kind of family will look like.

Staging and Acting

It is the actor’s duty to bring his or her character to life within the framework of the story. Their emotional effort dictates how strongly the audience feels about the film. In this scene where grandpa, Edwin, tells Olive that she is the most beautiful girl in the whole word was the most touching scene for me. The lines that have been used in this scene were brilliant, like when grandpa told Olive that, “A real Loser is somebody that’s so afraid of winning. They don’t even try”. He delivered each line with conviction that was enough for the audience to feel the emotions.

The meaningful arrangement of the actors on the set is called blocking. As shown in the image, the father, Richard, and grandpa, Edwin was in the both side of the table as they are the heads of the family and of course next to Richard is his wife, Cheryl, and follows their children, Olive and Dwayne and then Frank sits besides grandpa. 

  

Pride and Prejudice (2005)

“Pride and Prejudice” from the title itself, you can tell what does the story entails. This film was an adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel of the same name. It highlight on marriage, family, and romanticism. The story is about Mrs. Bennet, wherein the business of her life was to get her daughters married to a wealthy man. Besides, the story also revolves on the strangely love story of one of the Bennet sisters, Elizabeth, and the wealthy man, Mr. Darcy.

Components of a Character

The characters of the film portray their roles convincingly and each of them creates an impact to the viewers. So here’s a breakdown of the following major characters of the film.

Elizabeth “Lizzy” Bennet is twenty years old, a witty, sensible yet stubborn, young lady. She is the second daughter of the Bennet family. She is lovely, clever and converses as brilliantly as anyone. Their family belongs to the middle class, yet spiteful society. She knows the impropriety of her father and also perceives the fickleness of her mother’s temper and her insensitive behavior. She believes that marriage requires love and she will not marry someone if he doesn’t feel the affection. However, it was proved when Mr. Darcy, a wealthy gentleman and to whom at first she objects because she believes him guilty of several charges. But after hearing the true story, she realizes the error of her initial prejudice against him and suddenly falls in love with him.

Fitzwilliam Darcy is a twenty-eight year old man, wealthy, handsome and intelligent. He is sometimes misunderstood because of his arrogant ways and condescending manner. Yet, he is a kind and generous master, and loving to his sister. He is the only son of very noble parents and at the young age he had to take up family responsibilities which made him independent and conceited. Darcy is strangely attracted to Elizabeth “Lizzy” Bennet. But then he got a rejection from Lizzy when he first proposed to her. Never losing hope, Darcy continued to show his devotion to Lizzy and proves himself worthy to her. Later, he then becomes the husband of Elizabeth. 

Mr. Bennet is an English gentleman with an estate in Hertfordshire and he is the head of the Bennet family. He is married to Mrs. Bennet and has five daughters. Basically, he is a sensible man and an insensitive father. He appears unhappy of his marital state. Living with Mrs. Bennet has made him somewhat bitter and sarcastic. Mr. Bennett falls short in securing a financial future for his wife and daughters. Nevertheless, he is fond of his daughters, especially to Elizabeth, who he finds intelligent and witty.   

Mrs. Bennet is of course Mr. Bennet’s wife, loud, foolish and crude kind of mother. Her purpose in life is to look for a wealthy and acceptable husband for her five daughters. She cares nothing else in the world, but to see her daughters get married. Like her husband, she fails miserably in her role as a parent. For instance, when she wants Elizabeth to marry Mr. Collins who will inherit their property, however, she never considered the feeling of Elizabeth. She is incapable of holding the family together in a moment of crisis. In fact, she just makes matters worse.

Jane Bennet is twenty-two years old, eldest and the most beautiful Bennet sister. She is charming, gentle and kind. She has reserved personality and tends to hide her feelings.  She is incapable of suspecting the worst of people, preferring to see only the good. Then, her attraction for Mr. Bingley is instant, for she sees him as an unassuming man and a perfect mate.

Charles Bingley is twenty-three years old and the closest friend of Mr. Darcy. He is an outgoing, good-natured, wealthy, young man. Bingley is the owner of the Netherfield. He is a total opposite to Darcy, he is gentle, amiable and her manners are socially pleasing. However, at times he feels weak and lacks self confidence. He let others dictate his decisions whether it is the right thing to do or not. Similar to Jane, they have the instant love for each other and purity of heart. At the end, he proposed to Jane and by this time it’s his own will and decision. 

Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros (2005)

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros (Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros) has been notable over the past years, because of his bizarre story that seems not to have faded since it captures the heart of the viewers and won prominent awards as well. The story and plotline seems so simple, but the screenplay tells us so much about life. Its issues are presented in simple shots and are presented in a very realistic way. However, it’s not the typical film you get to watch, wherein it happens to be predictable and mainstream. It offers distinctive feels and vibes to the viewers.

Representation of the World in Films

In a world where different forms of crimes, corruption and discrimination are prevalent, it’s no wonder that conflicts are an inevitable part of our society. In this film “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros”, is the story of an outright gay teen named Maxi, who is torn between his infatuation for a good-looking young cop and his loyalty to his family. The theme of this film involves crime, corruption and poverty in the slums of Manila. Maxi's family is engaged in a life of petty crime, ranging from the peddling illegal drugs to snatching cellular phones. Even though his father is involved in such shady activities, he still earned the respect of the local police chief who give him some sort of extent to conduct such actions. Thus, he has maintained a reputation within the community. In relation to the reality, corruption is the number one dilemma of a society, because this issue is so rampant among government officials, leaders and officers.        

On the other hand, if gays in films usually are stereotyped as unworthy, disgrace to the family, annoying and pathetic, Maxi is a total opposite. He actually becomes the mother figure of the home following the death of his mother. He cooks food, washes dishes and, and cleans the house. Maxi is also very much loved and endeared by his war freak father and two brothers. His world revolves around them and his simple joy of wearing make-up, girl’s clothes and playing around some beauty contest with other gays of his age. But when he meets Victor, a good-looking and kind-hearted young cop, there comes the conflict.

However, Maxi’s dilemma seems easy as most gays in intolerant societies would imagine the slums area in the film. The representation of gay in the film is somehow not so similar to reality, but one thing comparable is that falling in love to a guy is quite impossible, because usually they end up either broken hearted or rather choose not to let it happen. Yet, the thing about gays like Maxi for sure is that they have more strength than the real boys’ combined. 

Minsan Lang Sila Bata (1996 Documentary Film)

Child labor is one of the many concerns in the Philippines and, most disturbingly, one of the most rampant problems we face. It is indeed a social problem in our society. In the documentary, these children were forced to take such tough job because of the harsh realities of poverty and they feel like it’s their responsibility to help their parents to provide the needs of their family. However, because of their innocence they don’t even realize that they are being exploited.  

    

In the documentary, the first group of child laborers is working at the slaughter house. They were tasked to take out the remaining pig fur and clean the cow skin, in return for flesh and fat for free and sometimes a small amount of money. Next, the children are exposed in a scorching heat of the sun where they cut out the unnecessary grass and weeds found in the rice fields. Lastly, the kid’s job at the port is to unload thousands of cement and carry each of them by the used of their heads. Like a normal kid, they also wanted to go to school, but eventually since they were exposed of working at the very young age, their simple desire to have a job like to deliver sugar at other places have become somewhat like their goal.     

These children are deprived of their freedom to enjoy being kids, to go to school and to express their childhood wants and needs. However, poverty hinders the child to any of these things and it seems that their parents don’t have better options left but to resort to child labor. Basically, this documentary film is clearly representing the Philippines current situation on the issue that remains widespread and leaves the viewers uncertain if there is an utmost action in this matter to help eradicate the problem. 

Babel (2006)

“Babel”, a word derived from the bible which means the terrible consequences of unchecked ambition. Thus, it illustrates a confusion of noises, voices and miscommunication. It tells four distinct stories about four families taking place in Morocco, Japan, and United States/Mexico. It is about an American tourist couple's frantic struggle to survive, two Moroccan boys involved in an accidental crime, a nanny illegally crossing into Mexico with two American children and a Japanese teen rebel whose father is sought by the police in Tokyo. However, in the later part of the story you will discover that each of the characters and incident are connected to the other.

In our world, usually we expect about how each culture wreaks hatred and violence on another, but actually we never thought of about how each culture tries to behave well, and is handicapped by misperceptions. In “Babel”, it shows when there are strangers in a strange land, surely they can bring trouble upon their selves and their hosts. People today are cut off from each other by race, language, culture, and tradition.

According to the Director of the film, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Babel is mainly a story about human beings and not about Moroccans, Mexicans, or Americans.  He thinks as human beings, what makes us happy is very different; it depends on cultures or races. What makes us sad and miserable is exactly what we share, and that thing is basically the impossibility of love.