American Beauty - Scene Analysis

Representation 

Lester is represented as a submissive and pathetic person, this is shown through his hunched over posture and the way he always obeys to whatever his wife tells him to do. This is the complete opposite to his wife who is a very loud and tumultuous person. She is seen as the master at the table whereas it would usually be the father of the family. However, she has to be quite caring as she took a lot of time preparing a big meal for her family. Then there is Jane, who seems to be the most collected out of all the family, even though she is stereotypical confused and delusional teenager.

Mise En Scene

The mise en scene in this scene from American Beauty is used to express the personalities of the family. For instance, Lester is wearing very bland clothes, much like the interior of the house, which shows that his life is boring and repetitive. It could also show that he blends in with the house as if he is not there, which would make sense as he stated at the start of the film that he is going to die soon. The same cannot be said for Carolyn who wears a vibrant blue silk material, which shows she is much more loud person. Then there is Jane, who is wearing a jumper which has roses on it which is a reference to the title of the film, as american beauty is a type of rose.

In this scene lighting is used to keep Jane well lit but both parents are in the shadows as if they non-existent. This could represent how their relationship is becoming increasingly distant.      

Sound

This scene starts with the famous Bali Ha'i from the musical South Pacific. As this song was chosen by Carolyn it could show that she is classic in her taste and perhaps misses the past. The music then changes to  non-diegetic music which has this repetitive and quite creepy atmosphere to it. This change comes when the stranger outside is first seen, and so perhaps the music correlates to the creepy actions of the person.     

Camerawork

Throughout the whole scene, there is an unnoticeable zoom, this could be used to show how we are intruding on their conversation. There is also cross-cutting between the shot-reverse shot / the two shot of Lester and Jane and the stranger in the bushes. There is also an extreme close-up on the stranger to show his murderous looks.