ill manors

How does mise-en-scene, performance, cinematography, sound and/or editing construct meaning and provoke response in ill manors?

The film I am analysing is Ill manors which was released in 2012, written and directed by ben drew. Ill manors is a film based on the  lives of four drug dealers Kirby, Chris, Ed and Arron; a gang Marcel and Jake; and two prostitutes, Katya and Michelle all living around an estate in London. The lives of these people all interlink through the course of drugs, gang troubles and pimps. The genre of ill manors is crime/drama. The extract I have chosen is 8:06 minutes in and is 4 minutes long, in my extract it goes back in time and shows Kirby’s life as a drug dealer and the childhood of Chris and how he grows up to become a man. The extract have chosen barely has barely any dialogue and is narrated by the directors (plan B) song. I am using Mise-en-scene, sound and editing to analyse my extract. My main themes for this extract are how the switch of power from Kirby to Chris is shown and how Chris’s harsh upbringing is shown throughout the film.

Mise en scene constructs meaning and provokes response in ill manors in many ways. One of these ways being the costume and hair used, especially for Trevor, he is dressed in a shirt with braces and rolled up jeans and a shaved head giving us the understanding that he is a skin head, provoking a response as we worry about Chris when he is left alone with him. Mise-en-scene is also useful as when Kirby is coming out of prison the prop used, which was the mini disc player Is a very old belonging to have, showing he has been in prison for a long amount of time, constructing meaning because we start to think that Chris has had a long time to gain power over the drug game.  Mise-en-scene is also used to provoke a response through the harsh upbringing of Chris, through the setting of the basement. The link between the basement and the props used in it for example all the drugs and the razor blade, provokes a strong response that Chris has had a harsh upbringing. Also the use of drugs give us a clear understanding of the switch in power from Kirby to Chris because at the start the drug props are twigs and seeds that are given top Chris showing Kirby’s in power but then at the end of the extract he then gives him real drugs because Chris stands up to him showing Chris becomes more powerful. Also the make-up used on Chris to show his scar constructs meaning that Chris was mistreated and constantly reminds the audience of jakes harsh upbringing. The use of body language in mise-en-scene shows the switch in power and makes us think that Chris has taken over control when  he stands up right and holds his head up high looking over Kirby making him seem more important and over powering Kirby.

Sound is also used throughout the extract to construct meaning and provoke response. One of the ways in which this is done is through the use of non-diegetic sound, as there is music playing throughout the whole of the extract. The music in the extract acts as a narrative because there is no dialogue, the narrative explains what is going on throughout the piece and guides us along what is and has happened. This gives us a strong understanding of Chris’s harsh upbringing because we get a detailed and in depth narrative of what is happening to him.  Another important aspect that sound brings to the extract is when the music changes from a non-diegestic sound to a diegestic sound. This happens when it starts to play through the stereo making the part of the extract stand out and draws are attention, the stereo then starts to cut out building up tension and then we get our first bit of dialogue which constructs meaning in the switch of power between Kirby and Chris. The sound helps us understand this because through the change of non-diegestic sound to diegesstic it makes it stand out, making the change of power more noticeable.

Editing is used in my extract to construct meaning and provoke response I many ways. Editing is used we to show the child hood and bringing up of Chris, the editing is good at this because it manages to show a wide spread amount of years on Chris’s changes in a very short amount of time. Slow motion is used in the extract when Kirby leaves prison this is good use of editing as it makes us see Kirby serious, and latter makes us worry for Chris because we feel sorry that he had to grow up around a man like Kirby. The fade out used from the black space Trevor was in back to the basement brings us back to the harsh reality and makes us realize that Trevor is in the basement while Chris is there making us worry for him. Editing is also done well in the extract because it shows a change in time clearly making it easier to understand the growing up of Chris. This is done by having the image of the wall in between the two shoot too make it look like its going to a separate room even though the room stays the same.  Slow motion is used again in the editing of the extract when Chris finds his mother dead of an overdose, this makes us pay attention and makes the moment more sad and deep, provoking a response from the audience making them feel sorry for Chris and worry about what is going to happen to him next. The fade out from the clip of Chris’s scar to another clip of his scar but of when he’s older is a good way to show the audience that Chris is growing up and gives them a clear understanding of what is happening. The shot that the editor chooses to keep mainly throughout the extract, always shows the hole of the basement which gives us a proper view of the location and analyse what is in the shot, this gives the audience an understanding of what kind of environment that Chris grow up in. the cut to the stereo before and after the dialogue also helps improve the effect of sound making the switch in the power stand out even more. There’s mainly one line of action used in this extract so that we are constantly concentrated and understand the harsh bringing up of Chris and the switch of power between Kirby and Chris.

The use of Mise-en-scene, sound and editing are used in many ways to construct meaning and provoke response. Sound is mainly used as a narrative to give the audience a strong understanding of what is happening in Chris’s life. Mise-en-scene is mainly used through costumer and props to give us an idea of the switch of power and too make us worry for Chris.  Editing is used through the cuts to just give an overall understanding.