The Breakfast Club Mis En Scene Review

                         The scene I chose from The Breakfast Club is towards the end of the movie. In this particular scene, Claire, Bender, Allison, Andrew, and Brian are seen running down the hallway after they leave Bender’s locker where he grabs his marijuana. As Mr. Vernon is walking down the hall, they see him and start running. Soon after this, the rest of the group can be seen running back to the library as Bender covers for them and eventually gets caught by Mr. Vernon.

            In this scene are eyes are first attracted to Claire, Bender, Allison, Andrew, and Brian as they are running, but to me your eyes are really attracted to all of the blurred characters. The Breakfast Club is filmed with both high key and low key lighting, in this scene there is a scene there is a combination of high key and low key lighting. This is considered high key because it’s bright with the colors and low key with the shadows and darker colors, especially their costumes. The camera angle of this scene would be long shot because not only do we see the characters but the background as well. We see them in action as they are running, trying not to get caught by Mr. Vernon. We as the audience, also see the detail of the doors in the background. The camera seems like it’s a couple of feet away from the actors for this particular long shot angle. We the audience, as well as the camera crew are looking at the scene neutrally at eye level.

            There are a lot of neutral colors in this scene such as the red doors, white walls, and wooded doors and walls, as well as the characters basic colored clothes in their costumes. The color that stands out the most to me, and is the dominant color is red from the red lockers. The color red stands for energy, war, strength, passion, and danger. This could foreshadow two things: danger and love. One being that Bender goes and distracts Mr. Vernon so that the rest of the group doesn’t get in trouble, which signals danger. The second being love, which is showing that there is love forming between the characters. The lens filter in this film really adds to this particular scene because it gives off that “vintage” vibe. The only thing that really sort of distorts this photo is the fact that four out of the five characters are blurred because it’s an action shot.

            The main eye stop is the characters in action, then Allison since she’s the only one that isn’t blurred, then the red doors and the wooden doors and walls. To me, my eyes forst go to the characters in action, then Allison, next the red doors, the wooden doors and walls, and finally everything else in the background. There’s not too much and there’s not too little information packed into this scene. We as the audience, especially if we have seen the movie before, we know that the characters are trying to run from Mr. Vernon without getting caught, which tells a story. The texture of the scene is pretty moderate there isn’t too much going on and the set isn’t too busy. It looks like a normal high school hallway.

            The space is good, there isn’t too many pieces of furniture in the hallway, so it isn’t crowded, there’s just enough. The underlying design here is the subtle background with the characters. In this particular scene there isn’t any windows or anything of that sort. To me, the doors, walls, and the other furniture in this scene is set up in a way so that everything compliments and balances each other without it being too overpowering. The framing in this movie is very loose. The characters have plenty of room to move around freely and run without being cramped up.

            The background and foreground compliment the frame because as the characters are in action with the shot the background is neutral and still. (This is almost like a panning shot) There isn’t anything in the background or foreground that distract you from the characters or the rest of the movie. The part of the framed space that the characters occupy is the center. All five of the characters are focused completely in the center of the frame because they are running in action. The characters are seen looking away from the camera because they are focusing on running down the hallway in this particular scene. There is also a few inches of space between each of the characters so that they don’t bump into each other.