1. Like many drama films, my opening title begins in a slow-paced manner, which enables the
audience to wholly observe the mise-en-scene, which due to being of an excessively vibrant
nature having a huge variety of bright stand-out colors, not only serving as an attraction-the
broad distribution of colors coming into clear focus thanks to the effective and controlled
panning of the camera, but also to signify that the surroundings, due to their artistic nature may
belong to a female character, and this is exactly with whom the audience is supposed to
establish a proper contact with, since being the leading protagonist of the story, it is by
understanding her particular framework that the audience will manage to gain some insight into
her character as to how she perceives the world as, and also how her representation of it effects
the other actors, and more importantly the audience. The piano in the background, with it s
slow rhythmic progression does well to hint that something stressful or troublesome is going to
happen, and keeps building the suspence accordingly. The editing of these first establishing
shots, being slow-paced facilitates this 'dramatic' representation of the theme itself, which is to
end eventually as a clash between male, and female dominance over some specified matters.
And, as the panning finally halts, and the camera focuses on Arika's exhausted form, the
audience is able to gather from the way she is tucked soundlessly in her bed that she is sleeping
deeply, a result of being deprived of sleep earlier, and hence relishing the chance to make up for
the lost time. The audience may also, thanks to the camera effectively focusing on the clock, as
well as a significant and deliberately less-focused shot of Arika sleeping with her eyes
understand after looking at the time set that it is quite late into the night, and therefore Arika
sleeping doesn't look unnatural since she is sleeping at the most appropriate time. The clock
also acts as a symbol of time spent in some sort of work( in Arika's case manual labor since she is
the steoreotyped daughter of the East), and signifies to the audience that Arika deserves this
sleep, and has earned it justly having perhaps utilized her time in a productive manner.
Also when Saad her brother comes in, the camera placement for the door banging shot is quite
useful since it takes the audience away from the girly surroundings for a moment, and brings
forth an interesting climax, which is followed by a near-distant shot of Saad, whose costume
speaks even louder than his commanding voice. The black costume signifies his power, his
freedom from authority, and being the only bright dark color- an interesting paradox in moment
makes the audience concentrate more on him rather than the less-stand-out costume of Arika's,
and the reason for this is to insert the growing feeling of superiority in the male character by
placing less emphasis on the female during the conversation so as to further indicate that the
pilot of this conversation is Saad. Also, being taller, as well as having a cool hair-do, this creates
an 'overshadowing' effect, which is to further signify that Arika feeling either under obligation to
serve him or simply because of being scared of him as completely genuine.
Also, the pink pillow Saad throws at her in order to wake her up further acts as an indication of
his demanding presence, which would not be tamed unless met with the required response. The
2. pink pillow, because of its bright color, and of a noticeable mass makes it attractive enough for
the audience to take notice of it as he throws it at Arika. This attraction of the audience to
Saad's action also results in addressing the issue present with his rather primitive behavior since
he throws it at Arika without any consideration of the point that she may not wish to be
disturbed from her beauty sleep, which he then robs away by executing such an action. Also this
shows that Saad would become physical, should he feel that his demands aren't being met by
mere auditory communication.
After that brief encounter with her brother, the camera brings into focus a larger section of the
house, and instead of being heavily decorated as one would expect to be in an upper class
house, this one is devoid of any significant decoration, and even Arika upon approaching a
nearby couch picks up a white jacket, and covers herself well into it, as if signifying her
limitations since her tolerably bright costume gets hidden to a great extent, and the emptiness
and suffocation already being symbolized by the surroundings also takes effect on Arika, thanks
to the white jacket she wears without any hint of joy. The white jacket again serves as an
attraction since it stands out in the mise-en-scene being extremely white, and at first looking a
bit welcoming, but when Arika wears it, the camera does well to focus on her heavy-
heartedness at the prospect of being held against her will, and sort of forced to do labor when
she didn't want to, and both the surroundings as well as the white jacket managed to effectively
capture and address the situation.
Now, she enters the kitchen which upon her predicted entrance gives the impression that she
has been here often, and therefore doesn't need to familiarize herself with it. And thanks to the
editing, the audience jumps to the scene in which she is frying a kabab. The dull nature of the
utensils, as well as Arika's sullen mood are brought into a causal relationship thanks to the
camera, which doesn't move much, and focuses on the necessary mise-en-scene, which is a
frying pan, a crispy kabab being gloomily tossed in the pan, and the weak orange bread packet,
which all keeps the audience occupied since the ladies watching the movie can relate with their
similar experiences in the kitchen, and observing her limited movements understand as to why
working in the kitchen for Arika proves to be quite a bother for her.
The final scene, however, is of a completely off-the-hook nature as it brings into focus the living
room in which Saad is sprawled on a couch, relaxing as if he couldn't even comprehend the
trouble he had put his sister through, when all this time there was cooked food available for him
to eat. However, Saad this time, as the camera captures it looks too tired to try dominating, and
more focus during this conversation is on Arika, who undergoes a series of contorted
expressions before punching Saad suddenly, and managing to catch the audience unawares.
3. Therefore, I can claim that my actor choice as well as costume and props choice along with the
arrangement of my mise-en-scene serve as both identifiable attractions, as well as manage to
address the themes in an efficient manner. Also, the camera movement, and angles as stated
above also facilitate the dramatic representation of these themes by focusing very properly and
in a detailed manner of both the surroundings, as well as the characters, who are being
influenced by it to a great extent.