Mise-en-scene: A Clockwork Orange

 

           For the film A Clockwork Orange, the setting begins in an early 1970's looking room, filled with semi-bright lighting focused on Alex and his "Droogs," and as the camera begins to pull back to show the rest of the room, the panels of light bulbs lining the walkway that led to Alex and his Droogs exposes the group of people in the room.  From people dressed in normal clothes, to soldiers holding their heads down. It is evident that the movie was filmed at some time in the 1970's, as the people wearing civilian clothing in the opening scene are wearing garments that are recognizable to what men wore during the 1970's. However, the setting is written to take place in the year 1980. The placement of Alex and his Droogs at the head of the room sets the notion that they are going to be the more important characters throughout the duration of the movie. It is also noticeable through the characters' accents that the setting takes place in a futuristic Britain. 

        The second aspect of mise-en-scene that is very noticeable is the lighting throughout A Clockwork Orange. The film utilizes back lighting and shadows to frame the characters. For example, when Alex and his Droogs went to beat up the old man in the alleyway, the light is coming from behind the four characters to make them look sinister and up to no good. It is noticeable that the shadows of Alex and his Droogs are longer, while the shadow of the old man is short, which in some sick way asserted dominance. Right after that scene, came the scene where a rival gang is about to rape a woman in an abandoned casino, and back lighting is used to make the entrance of Alex and his Droogs much more dramatic. In another scene, Alex and a man are back lighted from their front side, essentially meaning that the light source came from in front of them while the camera was filming from behind them. The assertion of power through back lighting and the effect of shadows contributed to the story and How Alex and his Droogs were extremely dominant in that society. 

        The costumes in A Clockwork Orange are very contrasting. The Droogs wore plain, dull outfits that all matched what each other wore. Alex and his droogs wore white shirts and pants, along with black hats and black boots. Each of the four men had different twists to their outfit though that established an order in their gang. Alex had cuffed sleeves which showed he was the leader. Adults in the film wear lots of color and even have dyed hair, which makes the role-switch of the ages more interesting to the movie. 

Finally, the staging in A Clockwork orange, specifically of the props, establishes an outlook of masculinity and the mistreatment of women. For example, the recurring theme of male genitalia throughout the film directly linked to the insecurity in men about their bodies. An example of the blatant mistreatment of women in that time is also shown in the opening scene, where the naked mannequins were staged to look like females and have female body parts, and used as foot rests throughout the room. This recurring theme allowed watchers to really see the recurring theme of not just the movie, but the time period that it was filmed, which made it successful as a whole.