Thoughts on John Ford's mise-en-scene

On the contrary, Spider -- DO go on for days and days!

Thanks for the kind words, Matt.    But I'm afraid I'm going to have to sign off for now. Maybe more tomorrow.

On the contrary, Spider -- DO go on for days and days!

Mise-en-scene: "The arrangement of everything that appears in the framing – actors, lighting, décor, props, costume – is called mise-en-scène, a French term that means 'placing on stage.' The frame and camerawork are also considered part of the mise-en-scène of a movie."

Ford was a master of static mise-en-scene. And his films were constantly filled not only with beautiful shots but with performances playing out fully without the interruption and manipulation of editing. Not to say he couldn't use a cut beautifully, but he never did it unless he knew it was necessary and meaningful.

There's a great story about the wedding scene in How Green Was My Valley: In a wide master, Maureen O'Hara comes down the steps of the church with her new husband and gets into a horse drawn carriage in the foreground. Deep, deep in the background Walter Pidgeon (her true love, so small in the frame he's barely recognizable) steps out on the horizon to watch her drive away. Ford's DP asked if he wanted to shoot a close-up of Pidgeon, and Ford said, "Hell, no. If I shoot it, they'll use it." He loved those kind of magnificent shots loaded with layers of information and always had the courage to use them when they were appropriate to his vision.

I love Ford's style - in the majority of his films - precisely because he had the courage and the vision to choreograph his scenes in the way he did. I love that he wasn't afraid to let his actors work in a beautiful frame without cutting their performances to bits. I love that he moved his actors into close-ups instead of cutting to them. I love that he used "deep focus" blocking before there was a name for it. I love that he moved the camera sparingly and to great effect, like the strong push in on John Wayne in a powerful moment in Stagecoach.

His influence on American cinema has been profound. Orson Welles, when asked to name his three favorite directors, replied, "John Ford, John Ford, and John Ford."

Welles' use of a static mise-en-scene was profoundly derivative of Ford. More "baroque," perhaps, but still one canvas after another that hearkened back to the Ford aesthetic.

I wonder how many directors have the desire - or even know how - to design their shots like that today?
_____________The art of mise-en-scene seems to be fading, as technology is replacing artfulness, attention to detail and creativity everywhere I look. On that cheery note, John Ford was a true master in this area, and thanks for bringing the subject up, Spiderwort. Also memorable: the entire Stagecoach sequence in the Lordsburg saloon, where Luke Plummer awaits the arrival of the Ringo Kid. To die for editing, The music perfectly matches the images on screen,--no, not in a "Mickey Mouse" way--emotionally, dramatically. I love the tune the pianist plays, the words spoken in Spanish to Plummer, the watchful bartender.Also great, in the next year's Grapes Of Wrath, the diner scene with the bargaining over (literally) nickels and dimes, the children wanting the striped candy, the wordless charity of the truck drivers as they drop coins, paying back what the kids (and the Joads generally) got, with interest.More mannered and yet masterful all the same: the announcement of the attack on Pearl Harbor at the bar in They Were Expendable, as the place grows silent, not immediately but in short time, as the men file out wordlessly, knowing that big trouble is ahead, especially given where they're stationed: the Philippines.