Exam Question

What is the importance of mise-en-scene and/or sound in creating meaning and generating response in the films you have studied? (La Haine)

In the scene with youths that wanted to kill police officer because they injured his friend during the riots so they got a shotgun to try and attack him with it, I have used this scene because this uses diegetic sound to show the police cars/sirens to show this is a crime that the law had to get involved. The sound of sirens is used through out the whole film as a recurring theme and it shows a meaning towards the film. The three boys Said, Vinz and Hubert live in the Projects which is a rough area of Paris and because you can always here sirens through out the film it shows that the area will have a lot of crime within the area and they won't safe or brought up right. This is an important meaning because we, as the audience, we now know that they won't be in a safe environment and this could give us a different thought for the future of the film and what will happen to the three characters Vinz, Hubert and Said. The three characters see this crime and don't react as much as a normal person would and are desensitised to it, The sounds of the sirens doesn't make them curious but are more interested in the crime itself instead of the police, this shows that they have seen them a lot more and are more interested in the criminals instead of the police. The recurring sound of the siren, or the police in general, show what the real side of Paris looks like and shows the audience that, even though its a film itself, that Paris in all films are normally fake and it isn't that good all the time. The centre of Paris might look good in films but this film shows the Projects where the sound of sirens can be heard all the time and the youths aren't even fazed by the crime that happens there.

In the scene when one of the youths plays his mix through the window very loud so everyone in that area can here. The sound in this scene is one of the biggest meanings through out the film, it is a mix of NWA 'Fuck Tha Police' and Edith Paif 'Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien', this mix is a good meaning for the film because both songs a good representations of different cultures. Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien is a very traditional French song, the film is set in Paris so you expect to hear French songs throughout the film but this is the first time you hear it. Its also mixed with the American song Fuck Tha Police from NWA, because its also a mix it shows that the American culture is mixed in with the French culture. This scene also shows that the American culture is dominating their area because they use that song more than Non, Je Regrette Rien so the song dominates that as well. Also mise-en-scene in this scene shows that the youth who is mixing the song has a Cypress Hill on the back of his t-shirt, Cypress Hill is another American hip-hop band, this shows that the French culture is once again dominated by the American culture, instead of the boy wearing what the audience think should wear something that represents France, wears something that represents America. This shows that this film that is set in Paris but has very little representation of France and has more representation of America, which shows that Paris is changing the youth to the American culture and they are ruled by media where they find out the American culture, for example, the TV always on in the background or the songs playing. The TV is always playing in the background of the two main character's houses, Hubert and Vinz, this shows us that they watch a lot of TV and a lot of shows, films and media come from America which tells us that they are influenced by America and probably copy this in their normal life, showing the audience that America is dominating their normal life.