Textual Analysis

Analyse how mise-en-scene is used in the extract to create meaning. Refer to at least one example from the extract in your answer.

In the extract ‘Luther’, Mise-en-scene is used to create meaning.

Such as, the location of where this is happening is out on a street in London around midday as twe can see the colour outside was a tinge cold colour. However, the attack happen in an ally way which shows it was low key and unnoticeable despite it was in day time so many people would be out at this time- this challenges the normal time of attacks as they normally happen at night time where no one is around. 

You can see Luther is an African decent and they are commonly represented as being gangsters,not usually wearing smart clothes and not talking well whereas Luther is wearing a suit which shows the business of his trip and in diegetic sound we can hear through his dialogue he speaks extremely well- this challenges African decent representation.

The ‘villain’ (according to Propp’s Theory) is a white British male and they are generally represented as being power and/or a  serial killer so this reinforces this stereotype. Also, he is being presented by wearing all black. Wearing black will blend him into the crowd even though the colour black connotes death and evil.

The facial expressions of the villain were happy and causal which confuses the audience as the pan shot of him build the suspense up and shows how he is impotent in this scene so for him not to be anxious or non- relaxed plays with the audience when they see how much he is the complete oppressive.

Never the less, Luther is the one who looks serious and determined- we can see that when an over the head shot is used to empathise how fast and intense Luther is walking to this other man which once again build up the tension.

Throughout this short yet dramatic scene we can see a lot happens through Mise-en-scene to create meaning to this extract.

The connotations of black represents death and evil so this can indicate that the 'villain' wearing all black shows the importance of his role as being evil.
The blue tinge that has been applied to the footage illustrates how the audience are feeling clam which creates tension for the next scene. The colour blue can be contorted as a cool calm colour so this shows the 'calm before the storm'.