MIS EN SCENE IN TELEVISION

 For my mis-en-scene analysis I chose to do an episode of The Twilight Zone, from its first season, called “The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine”. This episode was about a washed up movie star whose heyday was in the 1930s, and the episode takes place in 1959, the year it was released. At the beginning of the episode, the actress is stuck in the past, and later that sentiment becomes even more true, as she fills her life with days of being locked up alone in her projector room, watching her old films and trying to relive the good old days. 

           The element of staging, I believe, was the most important in telling the story and creating different moods in the audience. The episode begins with a shot of a couple in an embrace but the camera shortly moves to a shot of a woman sitting in a chair next to a film projector, the same woman shown on the screen that is being projected on. This is the audience’s introduction to Barbara Trenton, the nostalgic actress, as the narrator indicates. In the shot of her sitting in the chair there is the film projector on the right, projecting her own film, and a table on the left full of bottles of alcohol, she is also shown to have a drink in her grasp. Ms. Trenton may be drinking away her sorrows, a foreshadowing of her mind spiraling in the near future.

This projection room lighting was dark, and this was likely for practical reasons as they had to demonstrate that the actress was watching a film but it may also symbolize her isolation from the world and reality. As we are shown the rest of Ms. Trenton’s house it is apparent that she is well-off, most likely from her days of fame, as it appears to be large, it may be a mansion, and has fanciful interior architecture. When Barbara actually gets up and into a more brightly lit room, we see that she is wearing a glamorous dress, even though she is not going anywhere and is just alone watching her movies, this does show her wealth and level of regality but it also shows that the actress is in denial of her star status being no more.

    Soon after the audience is introduced to Ms. Trenton, her friend, Daniel drops by, with good news. He literally and figuratively brings light into her life when he comes into the projector room to get her out of her hibernation and opens the curtains wide open to let the bright sunlight in. Not long after, Daniel says that he has an opportunity for Barbara to act again, and her face instantly lights up, demonstrating the idea that he brought light to her life again. Barbara is delighted about this but as she stands next to a wall with framed pictures from her old films, reminiscing, Daniel reminds her that she was much younger back then, upsetting her again. 

The next scene takes place at a movie studio, where Ms. Trenton may seek employment acting again, and she is seen wearing another fancy outfit, including a veil over her face. This choice in costume, as well as the expression on her face as she enters the office, demonstrates that she is excited to be there and seems to have put a lot of effort into looking good for the casting agent or director. The veil may also be a sign of her still being stuck in the past, as it covers up parts of her face that may look aged. This idea of denial comes more to light as she becomes increasingly erratic after she is told she would play a mother, she thinks she is too young to do that and refuses to act in the film.

In one of the following scenes, where one of Barbara’s old costars visits her, and she realizes how much he himself has aged, she feels even older herself and refuses to believe he is the same man, pushing her further into a spiral. As she reaches the height of her denial, losing her entire grip of reality she is seen next to the same wall of old pictures from those films, the time she yearns to be back in. Since Daniel and the former co-star have now gone, Ms. Trenton is left to her own devices and the camera follows her as she walks toward her projector room and eventually into the screen that has one of her movies, which is implied by her walking up to the screen and repeatedly saying, “I wish.” , as her image becomes more and more blurry.  After a while, the actress’ helper comes in holding a tray and asks for Ms. Trenton but does not see her and as she sees Ms. Trenton in the movie on the screen, she appears shocked and shrieks as she drops the tray violently. 

Simply showing the helper’s, Sally’s, face of horror as she looks upon the movie screen and a shot of the dropped tray on the floor, creates that sense of fear and apprehensiveness in the audience as they wonder what is causing her to react that way and also helps to define the genre of the show, which is thriller/horror. I believe that the many, many examples of this kind of anticipation and disorientation created throughout the show helped bring it success, especially because of the time period that it was on TV. The Twilight Zone was truly ahead of its time. The fact that the show is all about psychological horror and has mind-bending storylines is why I love it so much, even though I haven't seen much of it. The dialogue of course helped but what is amazing is that all these visual elements that one would normally observe in a lengthy film, was implemented into this 25 minute television episode and managed to convey the story excellently.