transforming life

Life is an adventure that has to be found. If not fought for and looked for, life can slip away leaving one lost and trapped in a monotones life. Mise en scene teaches to look for life through film. The film Secret Life of Walter Mitty teaches how to look at life closer. “To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life.” The film uses frames and colors to show Walter Mitty's transformation into life.

The Secret life of Walter Mitty, lives most of his life in wishes and dreams. He wishes for life throughout daily living, and it takes a huge worldly adventure to give him a sense of being alive. Mise en Scene captures the life of Walter Mitty, or the lack of it, and the comparison of the two. At the beginning of the film Walter Mitty has an absent life full of monotony working for life magazine. In the very first scene he is trapped. The different bars and symbols of prison are trapping him in his life. The grey colors above show just how boring his life is. He is trapped behind a computer screen, showing how caged he is and fundamentally lonely.

When he looks really closely at photos for the cover, even though he's looking closely at life and beauty, he misses it all. Walter Mitty doesn't actually have the ability to see life and draw closer because he's too close and missing the most important aspects of it. Mise en Scene portrays this through different shots of the film. In the picture to the left the frame has a very high density of texture. The high density of texture and depth of the frame is a representation of the high density of stuff life has to offer. The fact that Walter is looking so closely at the missing photo is a parallel to how he sees life. Walter is so intent on looking in a small space that he misses the things all around him. The high density of texture parallels how Mitty is trapped in his job. The defined, vertical lines are like jail bars, trapping him in a dark cave, the darker side of life. The darkness of the room represents a darkness in his life, an absence of light and joy that he so wishes for. There isn't enough light to shine on what's really important. When he's in Ireland, He learns to see things he wasn't able to at home and work. The scene of him skateboarding down a hill is a scene filled with Mise en Scene showing how he breaks free and sees life from a new perspective. In the picture to the above right he is shown in a variety of of wide, loosely framed shots. This is a huge comparison of the two ways of how to live life. The open form is a symbol for how wide his eyes are opening. Mise en scene gives an idea of Walters life transformation, from none to all.

Throughout the film, Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Mitty get lost in daydreams. The daydreams are callings from his inner soul of who he's supposed to be. He dreams of wild adventures and gets lost in real life because of that. The shot to the left shows Mitty in a position of excitement and adventure. However, it is just a daydream. The scene this shot protrays is not real, it is simply what he wants to be real. The aspect ratio is one of a close up making him seem present and exciting. It fantasizes who he wants to be. He is a large figure in the shot. This gives him a sense of power and presence, even though in the real world he’s the opposit. In reality he is distant from the world. The shot to the right is a shot of the true state of his being. The highly symmetric shot represents the simplicity of his life. He is zoned out and disconnected from the world completely. The background, moving in a blur while he's still, shows just how disconnected from the world, and his inability to move in it. His life requires action and adventure and the lack of it stagnates him. When he does find adventure, he finds life, as represented in the picture below, Walter needs life. The picture of him jumping out of a helicopter introduces the transformation he goes through in his adventure. The zoomed out picture shows just how much excitement there is around him. It is an epic shot of a hero or an adventurer. The light in the sky to the lower right shows the light beginning to break out into his life. It is the dominant contrast between his past life and his new life. His old life, dull, boring, dark and grey, the new life full of life and adventure. The picture itself is a dramatic context. he is dramatized, literally jumping out of a helicopter into a boat. In this picture he is gaining life. Something he never had before.

Mise en Sene tells the adventure of Walter Mitty finding life. Life is full of adventure and people, love and light. But it requires danger and adventure to live a fulfilling life. The Movie Secret Life of Walter Mitty gives a great story of finding life. Life that has to be fought for. Life that is just waiting to be discovered. Love, loss, pain and adventure are all needed to make life life. All needed to keep people alive.