Mise - En - Scene 11/19/2022

            Bullet Train is a film over two hours which was released in 2022. The director of this project is David Leitch who is known for his other works such as the Deadpool movies, atomic blonde, and more. The entirety of this movie takes place in one setting which constantly and rapidly moves through different locations in a train, obviously giving its title name “Bullet Train”. The lighting, set design and cinematography is truly what makes this movie a comedic thriller along with the contribution of the characters.

            Within the train there are a variety of different carriages, for example, in a scene where we see the characters “Ladybug” (Brad Pitt) and Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry) having a conversation with each other, the setting around them is simple and minimal. With only seats and exits in this carriage, it emits a feeling of peace and isolation from the public. The color of the lights in this carriage also contributes to this feeling as they are white with a blue tone, representing calmness. A clear contrast to the other carriages in which you can hear loud music and mascots enlightening the mood of joy by dancing around and greeting the passengers. Although we are set in a quite room, a high-key lighting is used during this part of the film in order to add do the comedic role in the scene.

            Just like lighting is used to create an even greater sense of drama, comedy, horror, or any type of emotion for that matter, the camera work in Bullet Train provides a variety of different techniques so that we, the audience, can fully capture the message, feeling and the drastic importance of the scene. A couple of times within the film we are exposed to heavy material or dramatic scene. In these moments, the director purposely chose camera techniques such as close-up shots to get the viewers to clearly see and focus on the face of a character. Low angle shots are seen a couple of times when a character has gained power over another character, hence, signaling to us who is most likely to win the battle. In which it leaves room for an unexpected plot twist. Key lighting was set up directing at a subject’s face creating a big shadow with no other source of light to emit a feeling of despair.

            Costumes in film is one of the most significant factors when it comes to mise-en-scene. This is because the outfit of a character helps distinguish the setting of a film including the time period and even the attitude/seriousness which should be brought to the scenery. In this case, Bullet Train being a comedic action thriller, there is an assortment of outfits. Ranging from a roleplay costume to train attendant and a Russian mafia, the wardrobe in the movie makes it undoubtably easy to distinguish the role that each character plays. As I said previously about costumes setting a tone in an environment, a perfect example of this which was displayed in the movie would be when the “White Death” (Michael Shannon) arrives at Kyoto station along with his crew members wearing masks and dressed up in nice fine suits. Giving the impression of being professional with their job.

            In brief, the majority of this role takes place inside of a bullet train traveling through all of stations across Japan. And though our scenery is what is inside of the bullet train, the set design greatly varies throughout the entire train with different lighting, furniture, and props. The cinematography and lighting greatly add on to comedic and dramatic moments of the movie with low-key lighting to the camera being angled down to further express the feeling of authority. To add to this cheesy thriller, the set costumes from characters differ greatly to determine the role of one with ease. Therefore, factors within the mise-en-scene are what made the film Bullet Train as a whole.