The Study of Mise-En-Scene in "Split"
Setting:
The movie has several settings, but I focused on three main settings. The "Bunker" where Kevin's victims are being kept, the therapists office, and anywhere outside the bunker and office. The bunker/underground setting was beyond detailed oriented and realistic, making the movie all the more interesting and life like. It feels like you are there yourself just because of how everything is placed, and decorated to seem so real. There is a cold and suspenseful vibe anytime the action is taking place in the bunker, and I think the use of an underground maintenance area is the perfect place for this thriller to take place. The use of a bunker as the captive setting also adds suspense and thrill to the movie because you know that it is going to be a hard place for the victims to escape from. It is a secluded area where we only see Kevin and the girls in, hinting that they are far from civilization, and their chances of being found are slim. Next, the setting of Dr.Karen Fletcher's office. Her office was often filled with light and bright colors, which is the complete opposite of the setting we get in the bunker. This signifies a split in Kevin's character, seeing that he has taken on a different personality when he is with Dr.Fletcher than when he is with the girls. This change in setting helps the audience and ques them into a subtle way of showing how and when Kevin's personality splits. In conclusion, setting is a really important factor of the mise-en-scene of this film because it plays a major role in how we see the antagonist and how the setting controls what we portray him as.
Staging/Acting:
Split chose actor James McAvoy to portray the main character in their film. McAvoy perfectly portrays the character of Kevin, who suffers from dissociative identity disorder; causing him to be controlled by 23 different personalities. Throughout the film, McAvoy's ability to perform method acting so acutely makes us the viewer convinced it is real. McAvoy jumps from one personality to the next with aplomb, quickly inhabiting each different identity with a ferocious edge that feels both authentic and unsettling. McAvoy's acting brought his character to life within the framework of the story, and his emotional input portrayed just how strongly he worked to perfect this character, and really embody the story. Essentially, at the end of the movie you can safely say that McAvoy's character was played so well to the point where he was no longer distinguishable.
Lighting:
In the opening scene of the birthday party where we first encounter the girls and later victims of the story, the shots are filled with florescent high-key lighting. This signifies happiness and positivity, I mean of course it would it's a birthday party. This changes fairly quickly when the girls are taken captive in the car, and the story starts to get dark. Those florescent happy colors slowly turn in to dark greys and lingering shadows as Kevin kidnaps the girls. This sudden shift in lighting, from bright and uplifting to lowkey- lighting and darkness shifts the plot and now the setting as we are taken to our next scene which is the underground maintenance area where Kevin keeps the girls. The bunker is dark and there is no signs of any windows and or room for light to peak in. dark shadows surround all the characters in the bunker, and even the lightbulbs are dimmed to create the lighting illusion technique known as lowkey lighting.
Costume:
The use of costume in this film is quite incredibly and noticeable. Because McAvoy has to take on so many personalities and essentially 23 different characters, each one has a different costume and story to tell. For examples, his two most prominent characters are Patricia, whos costume is sophisticated and quaint. She is a strickler for the rules and from one scene we learn she has OCD, when she becomes enraged that her sandwich wasn't cut perfectly down the middle. She dresses as middle age woman, and the wardrobe and makeup for this character convey Patricia's personality. McAvoy's other personality, Hedwig a 9-year old boy, is played so well merely through his attitude and costume. He wore a windbreaker with child like colors, and other than his acting, his costume made that character.
Space:
The use of space throughout the film was really interesting and put into perspective a lot of the action that was taking place. The movie opens with a deep space setting in a restaurant where one of the character birthday is taking place. The presents and food are all in the forefront of the setting, while in the back unfocused and slightly blurry is the one of the main characters. This emphasizes the distance between the objects and the character, as well as any obstacles that exist between them. One key use of space that I found surprising was the one scene that used frontality. When Kevin takes the girls, he places them in a room together and then decides to take one for his room. As he snatches one of the girls, the other girls looks directly in the camera and says "pee on him". This use of frontality provides viewers with the feeling that they are looking right at them.
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