Mise en Scene Assignment

Mise en Scene Assignment

These particular texts are from the superhero crime-drama, Daredevil.

The scene shown here is from the finale of the third season so there is a great deal of build-up and tension prior to the showdown of the antagonist and protagonist. Regarding the characters, their costumes are misleading to the first-time viewer but speak volumes of their personality to those who watch the show and understand them. Matt Murdock, Daredevil, the hero is dressed completely in black with a red shirt underneath whilst Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin and the villain is in pure white as he is violently beaten. By looking at this scene the colours connotes that Fisk should be on the side of good and Murdock evil due to the association of black with evil and white innocence, but the contrast used by these colour is significant – throughout his ordeal across the season Murdock has been seen struggling with his inner darkness and violent needs hence the use of black and red whereas Fisk always saw himself as the hero of his own story or at least he needs to appear as one for the public and it is his wedding day – a day connected to the colour white. The setting and positioning is an important aspect of the scene as well, from the background we can tell it is happening inside of a lavish penthouse, revealing the sophistication and affluence of Fisk’s character but long-term viewers will know that Fisk only got into said penthouse through manipulation and violence and he has remained untouchable in there, so this is contrasted with the vulnerability Fisk is showing here due to the fact that he is kneeling down before Daredevil whilst he is enraged towards the Kingpin, which is obvious because he is screaming in Fisk's face.

In this scene a spinal reconstruction surgery is being performed on the main character, Benjamin Poindexter. The area is very sterile and dark, the primary colours are blue and white to reflect this but it also allows the exposed and damaged spine to be more noticeable as it is the only red in the setting which classes nicely with blue. The pose is also significant, especially if you are a longtime viewer because of its semi-religious nature as Poindexter is posed in an upside down crucifix manner which represents evil and hell unleashed. Also, this is the final scene of the third season and it is intended as a contrast for the first scene of the season; Matt Murdock is doing a crucifix pose amidst burning orange colours in an explosion whilst he is wearing red and black and Poindexter is doing an upside-down pose while covered in blue and surrounded with grey. Both scenes reflect each characters symbolism of being "born again".  

In this scene, Matt Murdock speaks to a nun about the disillusionment of his faith. His facial expression and clothing present his mentality; he is  broken, spiritually and physically and therefore black is an adequate colour to reflect this depressed mentality. Also, the setting is important. Though we don't see the full scope the brick wall behind Murdock is a sign he is in somewhere old and most likely religious. He is sitting next to holy texts and holding a crucifix, but only letting it dangle at the end of his finger instead of the correct way by wrapping it around your hand, further displaying the man's crisis of faith and how he has lost grip of himself.