Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas
What connotations does the mise-en-scene suggest about the film?
We know that mise-en-scene is made up of, setting, position of characters, Costume and Make-Up, Lighting and the facial expressions of the characters and props.
The image of his body has been morphed in the poster to represent the theme of drugs within the film. This in itself is also very eye-catching, characters face in the middle of a poster is simplistic and dull, but by showing something different, in citing, something you’ve never seen before, it catches people's attention and makes them stop and look for a second while they work out what they are looking at. Due to the uniqueness of this poster and the drug nature of the film, this has an effect on the audience as the vast majority would have no prior knowledge of what we can assume are psychedelics due to the hallucinogenic nature of the image. Thus, interesting the audience more as humans have a natural need to learn about what they don’t know, and this is a great example of this Moreover, the use of a bug-eye effect furthermore suggests the use of drugs as drug users have reported feelings of calm and openness, these feelings are symbolically linked to big eyes representing warmth and compassion.
In addition, the reflection in his glasses is not the same as what we see in the background, this once again adds to the surrealism of the poster, grabbing our attention and highlighting the assumed themes of the film, drugs, Las Vegas and unpredictability. The reflection in his glasses is of a blurred Las Vegas strip. This connotes the fast-paced nature of the film and the characters lifestyle, the bright colours help draw attention to the poster, and contrast from the simple background. The main character is also smoking his cigarette with an iconic cigarette holder suggesting he is an experienced smoker, seen as cool and trendy in the time of realise portraying the main character as a respected individual, although it would not be uncommon in those days especially for drug users/abusers to smoke it still connotes the stereotype we have of smoking in films.
The background of the image is a black and white depiction of the desert with blue smoke coming out of the cigarette and swirls and turns into the blue sky. This once again adds a surreal element, that adds to the inciting nature and use of colour within the poster. The use of the reflection of the las Vegas strip as well as the desert like background that we assume is the Nevada desert that surrounds Las Vegas, adds to the idea that there is a lot of action and adventure in the film, immediately suggesting the consumer that there will be some sort if travel within the film due to the different locations portrayed in the poster, further more suggesting the plotline. This also creates a very visually pleasing effect which makes the poster look more interesting.
The title is placed over a white dream-like desert background in large handprinted red font. This white background allows the red font to stand out bringing maximum attention to the title. Red is a commonly used colour on the poster, sticking with the colour scheme, red being shown in other titles, his sunglasses, his shirt. The handwritten font also brings attention to the title as this is the only piece of writing, done in that way. The black splatters of paint could connote a deeper suggestion of darkness, possibly the same darkness that comes with drug use and addiction. This adds a different side to the image, that creates a sinister tone further connoting the ongoing sense of fear furthermore suggested in the title.
In conclusion, this poster has many connotations behind the denotations of the
fast paced tone of the image, therefore I feel that this poster played a substantial role in the popularity of the film due to the creative and unusual nature of the poster.
