What part does the mise en scene play in the introduction of the character of Indiana Jones in the opening of Raiders Of The Lost Ark(Steven Spielberg, USA 1981)?

Firstly the visual affects the film uses; we know that the setting showed is the jungle as there is a dense jungle floor covered in mud, leaves, plants and animals. There are many trees and a thick canopy which allows only shafts of light through; otherwise it is in darkness until they meet a clearing and water. There are also signs that they are on a cliff top as the paramount symbol turns into the setting and the opening scene. The affect of this is that the mise en scene puts us straight into the film.

        The audio effects that are used to put us in the jungle are the diagetic noises. These are notoriously from the jungle so we know when they are played the setting is one of a jungle. These noises used included, bird noises, snakes, rustling of leaves and the occasional squawk or monkey noises.

The other setting we see in the opening pictures is the university. We know that the scene is a university from those stereotypical signs of a university that we see. The scene opens with a long shot of the university, then what follows is a shot of classroom, the classroom contains a blackboard, young adult students and a globe along side some artefacts on the front desk. These are all clues to the viewer to identify that the room is a classroom.

        Indiana Jones is at the front of the classroom directing some kind of lecture of lesson so therefore it then naturally occurs to us that he is the lecturer, rather than a teacher as the students are young adults and we have already established that the building is a university. This then further indicates to us that Indiana Jones is clever and not just an action adventure hero, he also appears to be an intellectual and quite civilised this is confirmed by the fact that Indiana Jones is wearing a three piece suit, glasses and has a nervous posture although he wears the suit comfortable and not as though he is a stranger to it which also confirms our beliefs that Indiana is an intellectual and is quite civilised. So these new opinions of Indiana’s characteristics are confirmed we further realise that Indiana isn’t the stereotypical action hero like perhaps Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger.

        In these introductionary scenes Indiana Jones has two costumes; the first that we see is when we discover Indiana Jones’ courageous and fearless nature in the jungle. He is wearing a leather jacket, loose trousers, a hat and he carries a whip. He has an unshaven face and he clearly isn’t worried about a presentable hair cut. This has the affect of making him look rugged and tough. The two porters are to quite the contrary to the hero Harrison Ford. They are shy, nervous local people who wear dirty scruffy clothes and carried large amounts of luggage. They trundled along slightly depleted and uninterested and give the impression they didn’t want to but had to be there.

        These costumes and their appearances both expose certain differences in the character Indiana Jones and the porters. It shows how much they are to the opposite of each other. Indiana Jones looks to be the superior as he is much better dressed, the porters look to be rather insignificant as they are scruffy, following Indiana Jones about and trailing the luggage with them. Indiana Jones looks to be the leader or the most experienced or the one looking for something as he is leading the three of them. This is also shown through the fact that Indiana Jones isn’t carrying anything either except his whip and a map.

        The second costume is a big change in appearance for Indiana Jones and it throws our original thoughts about Indiana Jones’ character slightly at first glance. However our original thoughts are fully retained when properly introduced to the scene, as we find out that Indiana Jones is a lecturer as well as an explorer. The scene shows Indiana Jones to be knowledgeable and civilised. This is show especially through his costume.

        These two costumes make us to believe that our hero is an experienced, clever, courageous fearless and ruthless character. Though as we find out from this scene he is also a civilised character. The conflict of dresses with the first uniform that Indiana Jones wears helps us in gathering our opinions of Indiana Jones’ character and the abrupt change in clothes shows effectively the different side of Indiana Jones showing his intelligence.

        The lighting is very influential to making the introduction clear about characters and setting. For example the shafts of light creeping through the thick canopy being the only source of light gives us the feeling of tension and the low key lighting helps us to identify the surrounds and the fact it’s a jungle.

Also the fact we can’t see Indiana Jones’ face adds tension and excitement. The low key lighting helps camouflage Indiana Jones’ body though it also helps with the camera angle to create that feeling of unease.

The lighting is used and used most effectively in the jungle scene, this part of the mise en scene adds tension and excitement in the introduction period as it helps the tension grow in the delay of showing Indiana Jones’ face and character. It adds tension to the surroundings by adding low key lighting and directing the shafts of light by creeping lighting through the canopy to give the effect of the jungle. Indiana leads the group and the rest follow him this shows us that as with the costume effect, Indiana Jones is a superior and is a leader where as those following are less significant and are merely following. The positioning of the actor Indiana Jones to the camera means that we can’t see his face and this has the effect of intriguing the audience as we want to know who he is. It also makes the whole scene rather mysterious.

        The first time where we see Indiana Jones’ is also the first time we see any real action and energy. One of the porters that was with Indiana Jones was greedy for the map that Indiana Jones had to find the ancient and priceless artefact. He consequently pulled a gun on Indiana Jones, though when the gun was cocked by the porter Indiana heard it with his back to the gun. The camera angles show this by giving the audience a close up of the back of Indiana’s head and his ear jerking to the sound of the gun being cocked. This gives the effect of the audience believe Indiana Jones has some sort of supersonic hearing, which improves his hero status with us, the audience. Indiana Jones then spins and throws his whip and retrieves the gun from the porter all in split seconds.

        The fact that we see his competitor being lead and he is out of breath and is dressed far less casually than out star Indiana Jones, tells us he won’t be a hero in this film, and he isn’t as experienced, energetic or as courageous as Indiana Jones. The camera angles also helped us in discovering our heroes face though it also helped in expressing Indiana’s superiority as after Indiana uses his whip we see a close up of his face as though to make sure we knew that this person had performed the trick with the whip and also to make him physically big on the screen and consequently making Indiana look dominant.

The music is used in the film to create atmosphere and to introduce the star of the film. It is mainly used when an actor/hero does something heroic. Orchestral music is also used and is used for sound effects, like a crescendo was used when Indiana used his whip; the effect of this was the affect of atmosphere and tension.

        In conclusion I believe my account above justifies the mise en scene evidently played a major role in introducing Indiana Jones in Raiders Of The Lost Ark. The mise en scene plays the major role of introducing Indiana Jones as a character. All the different parts of the mise en scene help to make the introduction of Indiana Jones an effective one. However there are other factors, that we must consider that help to introduce the character Indian Jones played by Harrison Ford, firstly the character’s actor Harrison Ford’s reputation as good actor helps introduce the character Indiana Jones as people watching know who will be acting the hero. Also the other three films sequels help to introduce the character of Indiana Jones as the film is known more and Indiana Jones is more notorious now. The mise en scene played a huge role in introducing Indiana Jones to the audience in the opening sequence and thus helping to create a very successful film.