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At a first viewing of Hero, it appears as thought the mis-en-scene in the film is very simple with different sections of the film being represented with certain colors. However, after a close analysis, it is clear that the costumes, settings, lighting colors and positions of characters are all well planned out with a clear intention of pleasing the viewers eye with their balance and simplicity. The actual sets and costumes themselves are not very diverse in the different number of them used throughout the film. But it is the way they are used that changes the viewers’ outlook on them. The main goal of mis-en-scene is to have the viewer be pleased with what they are seeing visually in each shot. The arrangement of “masses, space, colors and lighting" in Hero was very successful in providing the audience with a “satisfying and dramatic composition" in every scene (Konigsberg 1997: 35). Large sets, the use of colors and character movement played enormous parts in making this possible. The blending of colors and large sets were clearly the central visual themes throughout the film and the reason why it was so aesthetically pleasing.
Hero uses a lot of deep space throughout the film with many scenes having multiple planes of action. Only about five different settings are used throughout the film, but each one is shown in such detail that it allows it to be viewed again with different colors. The one consistent setting that is shown in the same context is the emperors’ castle. Unless a close-up shot is used to show a reaction, both the inside and the outside of the castle are always shown with a deep shot showing the many planes of action within. In the foreground of the outside of the castle are the thousands of Qin soldiers. Then there are the steps leading up to a fortified wall followed by the castle. The audience can even see beyond the walls of the castle and to the mountains that are in the landscape beyond. Inside the castle, the audience is immediately drawn to the hundreds of burning candles in the foreground. But beyond them is Nameless, who is kneeling on the ground and is surrounded by a long row of pillars that go all the way to the door. Outside of these doors we are able to see the thousands of Qin soldiers. These settings, while very simple in nature, give the audience a chance to take everything in and direct their eyes to the main character.
The main characters of the film are placed in very plain surroundings so as to let the audience focus on them during the scene. Having simple settings and using colors to represent certain characters accomplishes this. Take for example the fight scene between Nameless and Flying Snow in which the army of Qin has surrounded both of them. A long establishing shot is shown to place them all in the dessert. The audience is now able to scan the entire frame, but is immediately drawn to the fight scene. Qin soldiers, who always wear a grey musty black color, are surrounding Nameless, who always wears black, and Flying Snow, who in this particular scene is wearing a bright blue outfit. The audiences’ eyes immediately go to Flying Snow because her blue outfit clearly stands out above the dessert and the other fighters.
The use of is the main reason why this film was so successful visually. Three sections of the film were divided into the colors red, blue and white. The setting of the room surrounded by the walls of stacked wood was used three separate times. However, for two of the times a filter was used to make the wood appear blue or red. Colored filters were often used throughout the blue and red sections of the film. As a result, a lot of the white or neutral objects, such as the wood or the sky, appear to be the color of the filter for that section, whether it is blue or red. Then, when the characters were dressed in costumes of matching colors for that section, it all appeared to blend in very well with the scene. A reviewer said that one of the most important things Hero had was “passionate romance, cool special effects and superb fight scenes"(Rozen 2004: 31). However, I do not agree with this at all because Rozen does not include the color balance throughout the entire film. I certainly feel that this was the most important aspect of the film visually. Still, the movement and placement of the fighters was also very deliberately planned according to who they were. In the opening fight between Skyy and the Qin officials of the town, there is never a time when the Qin fighters do not surround Skyy. He may always be winning the fight, but it is not until the fight is over when Skyy has pushed them back and they no longer physically surround him. The same is true for when Nameless and flying Snow Fight. The army of Qin is always surrounding them during their battle as if to show the audience just how powerful this army is by placing them in a position around the fighters. Also, in the main room of the emperors’ castle, the emperor himself is shown with his shoulders and head taking up the entire frame, depicting him as a large and important person while Nameless is shown in the center of the frame, he is very small and surrounded by the large pillars which is depicting him as small and weak and certainly inferior to the king.
Many other things such as colors and weapons were used to identify who the fighters were in the scenes. In each of the color-coded scenes, the female character of Flying Snow always wore a lighter shade of blue or red than the male fighters. This was even true in the flashback sequence where green was the associated color. Also, the female characters of Moon and Flying Snow always wore a lot more makeup than the males to make them appear soft and innocent. While the warrior Nameless had almost no make up on which allowed him to show scars on his face indicating he was a tough, experienced fighter. The swords shown throughout the movie could also identify each of the fighters. When the camera would show a close-up shot of just the fighters’ swords, the audience would know who was doing what as a result of associating certain swords with certain characters.
Through the balance of color, character placement and simple but diverse scenes, Hero is able to provide a very visually stimulating film. Without seeing all of these aspects, one is just impressed with the use of colors. But it is after seeing the deep space, character placement and amazing settings where you can truly appreciate the attention to detail in this film. Even the colors, which you pick up on immediately, take on another meaning when you see just how they are intertwined into every aspect of the scene.
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