The Aviator- Mise-en-scene

The film ‘Aviator’ is a historical biography about the life of Howard Robard Hughes who broke the air speed record. Although it is a historical biography, from watching the clip, one can gather that there is a sense of action and adventure, which are possible sub-genres for the film. The film is set in 1963 in the daytime, so the light, acting style and props are suited to that era.

The lighting in the film is very bright. During shots f the plane being in the air, there are sections where the lights are overly bright, almost washing out the shot and giving the impression that the plane is very high and the sun is almost blinding. The scene is cheerful; it is about breaking a world record and doing something positive. The sun is bright in the sky and all of the characters are happy because of this.

The way that the characters speak and act is relevant to the set time so it appears a little dated. Leonardo Di Caprio, who portrays Hughes in the film, is convincing in his role. All of the actors seem to be excited at the prospect of breaking the record, as the people would be in real life. They are all believable. There are not a great deal of props in the scene. Most of the scene is shot in the air, watching Howard Hughes fly the plane. Because they are not that important, the props in the plane are not shown in the frames often, only when them being shown is crucial to know what is happening.

The film makers effectively used mise-en-scene to make the film look interesting. After watching this scene, I am interested in watching the rest of the film.