GCSE English Coursework
Reality Bites an The English Patient
In this Coursework I will be comparing and contrasting the ways in which narrative is developed, I will refer to how specific media devices are used to help build narrative in Reality Bites and The English Patient. The two films are constructed very differently from each other. In reality Bites, the main narrative is based on the cinematography which evolves around the home video camera and the cinematic camera. The effects of these cameras is that the home video camera helps us to see what the characters intimate feelings are, this helps us to get a better understanding of the characters. While the cinematic camera helps to show the split of the two worlds, reality and superficiality, through this camera we start to see two different types of world developing in the narrative.
Unlike Reality Bites, The English Patient is filmed using the flashback, flashforward technique. This technique can be confusing at times, but when the narrative is about to change to a flashback or flashforward, it is helped using dissolve mix shots and digetic music. From Mise en scene where we learn if the colour and music combined together is dark, then most likely the next scene will be a bad.
Although Reality Bites and The English Patient takes place in different times in history and geographically, the way narrative is developed and constructed we see that these two films have similar themes and similar media devices are used. An example of the themes being similar in The English Patient and Reality Bites is the love triangle. In The English Patient the Count likes Katherine she likes him, Katherine is married and has a loving husband. In Reality Bites Troy likes Lelaina she likes him, Lelaina has a boyfriend Michael.
Once the two films are played from the beginning we get a quick indication as to where the plot of the two films are set in History and geographically. When ‘Reality Bites’ plays we quickly understand what the plot is. Which is, American graduates entering the real world. Whereas The English Patient is set in wartime, in the Arabian Desert.
Mise en scene in Reality Bites shows us that the characters live in America. The colours used trough out the film are grey and dull again adding to the realism of the film. The contrast used at the beginning, and the omniscient narrator in the restaurant scene (Vicky,Lelaina) allows us to see the characters from different perspective and gives us, the audience background information to their lives hence developing narrative. Mise en scene in Reality Bites is used greatly in showing the contrast between the characters, we see this when Michael comes into the narrative. The scene where Lelaina and Vicky are in one car and Michael is in the other. While digetic music is coming from both cars, Lelaina’s car has music which comes from within the story, while Michael’s cars music is over the top for the film. So this makes us aware that two types of different character are in the story. Lelaina and Michael meet when Lelaina throws a cigarette into the back of Michael’s car making him crash into Lelaina’s car. Mise en scene plays a role in this scene because music is combining with the dark, dull colour of Lelaina’s car and clothes and Vicky’s clothes, with Michael’s bright fancy clothes and car makes Michael stand out from the other characters of the story. A perfect example of showing this, is the scene where Lelaina dresses in white to go out with Michael and Troy says, “What’s happened to your usual dress“ this quote is simply trying to state that Lelaina was not in the ‘real world’ but in the ‘superficial’ one. Where Michael and the presenter of ‘Good morning Grant’ were in. Lelaina was not wearing her normal clothes but wearing all white, making her stand out. When Lelaina goes out, dressed in white with Michael to see how the home video documentaries have been made. Lelaina seems to stand out, this because she is in the dream world and not in reality. A scene where you can see over the top acting is the show Lelaina worked for ‘Good morning Grant’ where you can easily see where the cinematic and real world is developing in the narrative. Mise en scene arrives within The English Patient through flashback and flashforward to change narrative. This is done using a combination of digetic and non digetic sounds, and particular camera shots to show what might happen when the narrative changes to a flashback, flashforward. For example if the non digetic Hungarian music came on and the scene was set in a bright light then the next scene would be something happy, exciting, or it could even mean the start of a flashback or even a flashforward. If the scene was dull and dark then the next scene was most likely to be dramatic in some sort of way. All through out The English Patient you see this technique of different lighting, giving us the audience some sort of indication as to what will happen in the next scene. Even though it is not very noticeable to us, lighting in this film is very important in helping to develop narrative. Mise en scene in The English Patient, an example of this is when the shot is in the present. This shot is when Kip’s friend has died and Kip is sitting down in some sort of building, sitting still in the dark alone, while Hana is on the outside shouting for Kip. The Mise en scene in this shot is that Kip is inside in the dark room showing a sense of shadows he is sitting silently, and revealing nothing. Whereas Hana is on the outside in the bright light revealing her feelings, questioning Kip asking what is wrong and hasn’t any idea as to why Kip is acting this way. The dark and bright colours help to show Kip’s hidden feelings the through darkness and brightness in light helps to show Hanas openes. This drama builds the genre while making the audience feel for Kip, and makes the audience think as to what we would do if a close friend of ours died. It makes us think of how we might have dealt with that kind of situation. For this scene you could say some dramatic irony was used, since we knew why Kip was sad and quiet and Hana did not.
