Mise-en-scene is French term for what’s in the scene. In other words how the characters are represented within that particular scene and how the setting and lighting etc are used.
The film begins in dark stormy night with lighting and thunder as the view of the outside house is shown above the hill which to us as an audience seems gothic and haunted. The first characters in the beginning of the film are Mary Shelley, Lord Byron and Percy Shelley who are having a conversation. As they discuss the story of Frankenstein's Monster, Mary reveals that this was not the end of the creature.
The narrative then moves to the burning mill from the first film. After the burgomaster has sent the entire people home only an old couple, the parents of the murdered girl Maria (in the first film) are left. The husband falls down into the ruins of the mill where he discovers that the Monster is still alive. Driven by revenge, the Monster kills him and his wife violently without meaning to. Meanwhile Frankenstein is brought home to recover, and as he moves from his bed, his wife finds out that he is still alive. There he is visited by his old teacher Dr. Pretorius, who urges and persuades him to continue his experiments. Pretorius brings Frankenstein to his own lab, where he shows him his own creations: five miniature men whom he keeps in glass jars. Now Pretorius' aim is to build a bride for the monster in order to "create a man-made race". Meanwhile the Monster is loose in the woods. There he spots a beautiful shepherdess and approaches her. The frightened girl cries out and falls into a lake, but is saved from drowning by the Monster. Summoned by the girl's cries, two hunters arrive and shoot at the Monster. Soon a new lynch mob is organised and captures the Monster. Killing several people, the Monster manages to escape again to the woods where he is lonely and free. In a hunt in the woods he comes across a blind hermit, who is not afraid of the horrible creature. He feeds the Monster, tends to his wounds and even teaches him a few words. But this peaceful atmosphere does not last very long. Once again two hunters discover the strange couple and chase the Monster away. He then hides in a graveyard where he meets Pretorius, who is just about to steal some bodies near the grave yard. Together they drink wine and the Monster, pointing at a skull, asks him, "You make man like me?" But Pretorius has something better to offer, "No, woman, friend for you." The doctor then uses the Monster to kidnap Frankenstein's bride Elizabeth in order to make sure Frankenstein will co-operate with Dr Pretorius’s idea. In Frankenstein's old laboratory they finally give life to their new creation, a woman made from dead body parts. The bride is so shocked by the Monster's horrible appearance that she rejects him. This final disappointment is too much for the Monster to take and he destroys Pretorius, the Bride and himself. Before the building collapses he proclaims, "You live! We belong dead!" and sets Frankenstein free to rejoin his wife Elizabeth.
The film its self contains sets of horror conventions but also other genre elements which are added to the film to make it even more realistic and more entertaining for the audiences to watch. As an audience we can easily and straightway become aware of that type of genre the film belongs to. The dark settings and the unusual shadows and the oblique camera angles all suggest that this is a horror film. The beginning of the film is very interesting and very powerful as we enter the house we are shown a shot from the outside view were the rain and the lightening make the house/ castle almost like ‘Haunted House on the Hills’ that stand out from its surroundings. The use of the dark stormy night clearly shows that this movie contains horrifying scenes that may disturb us due to the frightening gothic music which is played in the background. The composer of this movie Franz Waxman cleverly used the music at each scene effectively with the right mood and sound in order to give the audience intimation on what is going to happen next.
The lightning is also used very effectively and is highly stylized in its use of heavy contrast between light and dark creating a dramatic shadow which makes the film even more exciting and entertaining as it feels to us that we are seeing the shadow of the monster but the characters in the film can not. In other sense we are the shadow of the monster as we follow the film and his journey to find his bride and his freedom, but the shadows are destroyed during the day as the monster is seen by the village people who are terrified and act violent towards him. when the monster first makes its appearance, he appears in the ruins of the mill, expressionist lightening is used as the monsters hands come out after his shadow (suggesting that he is going to kill the man) as he does, the music gets louder and louder following the death of the mans wife. The lightning and the setting of this scene is very skilfully produced as the sky is very grey, cloudy and misty indicating and reminding the audience that this is a classic horror film, as the monster begins his journey to find his ‘friend’.
Another piece of mise-en scene within the film which relates to the type of genre (horror) the film is is the laboratory area where most of Frankenstein’s work and experiment is carried out. The lightning and the rain outside the castle is very strong which again suggesting the power Frankenstein has as he brings the deadly women back to life. The use of the light and the dark shadows in the castle demonstrates to the audience clearly that this is a horror film as there are large generators, tester coils and machine which help Frankenstein creates his creatures. The whole room is filled with various crackling and humming devices, among which Frankenstein and Pretorius restlessly run around flicking switches, adjusting machines and giving orders to their assistants. This fast pace is underlined by similarly fast editing: the sequence contains countless cuts with some shots shorter than one second. Additionally, Frankenstein and Pretorius are filmed from weird tilted angles, often in mixture with wide-angle close-ups of their faces, which gives the whole scene a restless, almost outlandish tone.
Moreover the scene is very striking and very powerful as the thunder lighting is used to bring the dead body back to life, the lightning and the equipments are used cleverly with the background music showing the audience that this is ‘Mad science’, this which threatens the audience once again shows that this film has elements of other types of genres such as scientific fiction.
Moving onto the characters in the film, which are represented in different ways and have different roles within the horror film. Firstly Henry Frankenstein played by (Colin Clive) the man who plays ‘God’ is represented as a smart intelligent man who has a lot of interest in science, he sees his research and experiments as vital key towards the powers he wants. He who is engaged to Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson) is not very caring as he is absent most of the times due to his lab work. Elizabeth on the other hand is represented as a stereotypical woman, as she can not stop Henry from what he is doing (showing that she has less authority and power within their relationship). She is in some sense very vulnerable and depressed as she has no one to turn to when lonely but she is the voice of all reasons. Dr Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger) who was Henry’s old teacher appears quite classic and dressed in black ‘devil in black’; the whole frame is focused on his face with dark shadows around him as he appears in the film, this therefore illustrates the evilness he has within his thoughts and eyes as we get close-up shots to his face. He has authority and great power over Henry as he persuades him to carry on with his great experiments as partners. On the other hand
The monster or creature (Boris Karloff) is represented as a stupid innocent, wild and very childish man who does not know anything that is going on in his surroundings, he in a way has an animal figure as he jumps and runs about the woods without knowing where to go and what to do. Very often all Monsters are clearly shown as a victim, which is a further step in order to humanise the Monster. The first such episode is the rescue of the frightened shepherdess. In this scene we see the Monster in an idealised idyllic setting with pine trees, mountains, sheep and a painted sky. However he is only aware at the end that he is not loved or wanted by anyone as he kills himself and the bride with Dr Pretorius as he says "She hates me, like others”! The Monster knows that he will never have a chance in this world and that he will never be accepted by anyone, not even those who are like him. There is only one solution: suicide and the destruction of those who gave him life.
Moreover there is more to the characters as there is the comic highlights which are Pretorius' miniature people in glass jars (a king madly in love with the queen trying to get out of his jar, an archbishop wildly whistling at the king to stop, a devil, a mermaid and a ballerina), the Monster drinking wine and smoking cigars, and a couple of scenes involving the burgomaster. Another such comic character is Una O'Connor's Minnie, a kind of Cassandra, whom nobody believes when she warns of the Monster. Even Pretorius can sometimes be funny, when he utters his running gag line, "It is my only weakness.”.
In conclusion the film itself can easily be identified as a classic horror film. This is because of the use of oblique camera angels and the use of dark lightening and shadows within the film. The film also contains violence and science fiction which most horror movies relate to as the monster or creature is the cause this force or experiment. The ending of the film is very interesting it is not a typical Hollywood ending as the bride refuses to get with the monster. This leads him to commit suicide and kills himself and the bride with his and her creator. However there are other elements of other genres as Henry and Elizabeth finally are reunited together; this showed the other side of the film as it contained romance.
By Daroon Hamdi
