Mise En Scene

Mise en Scene is the stage design and arrangement of actors in scenes for a theatre or film production.

This scene from the infamous “I’ll Make You a Man”, souly embodies the theme of the movie, and encaptures the ideological vision, discussed later.For the time of 1975, Frank’n Futer was a provocative, frowned upon character, so to have him stand out in this song, especially this image, showed the message the film wanted to hold. From what we can see of Columbia and Magenta, their provocative outfits help us as well, understand the type of movie. The positions of the of the characters and the hand placement give it that jazz/musical feel. When understanding the context of the movie, this image becomes the first scene where we also understand the plot of this film. The plot of expressing sexual freedom. Having Frank’n Futer in the center and the front of the image helps show not only how important he is but how important the idea of LGBTQ+ and transgender rights are. Not only do we see the rule of thirds but we see contrast in lighting and color that help highlight the characters, regarding the song “I’ll Make You a Man”. 

Rule Of Thirds: the process of dividing an image into thirds, using two horizontal and two vertical lines. When you position the most important elements of your image at these intersection points, you produce a much more natural image.

Taking a further look in the character placement, it can symbolize the religious roles they play in this cult-classic. Columbia, and Magenta represent these priestess’s looking up at the higher power Frank’n Futer. Considering he is the center of the image, with the two girls looking up at him, while Frank’n Futer looks directly into the camera, helps capture the nonconformitive religious aspect of the film.

We also see Frank’n Futers, dark makeup/clothing and overall aesthetic set on the light pink backdrop. This helps display the satanic nature of this film, and Frank’n Futer himself. For the time his transvestite character was frowned upon and against the social norms. His dark appearance portrays this message. The lighting of this scene and especially this image is bright, helping accentuate the dark features of Frank’n Futer, letting him be the center and the main subject of the image. 

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