Harris, Mise-En-Scene Analysis of Super 8 (2011)

"The Train Wreck"
(Ally played by Elle Fanning-front, Charles played by Riley Griffiths-far right) 

During the summer, theaters are filled with parents bringing their children to watch the newest action packed blockbuster hit. This past summer, movies like Rob Marshall's  Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Justin Lin's Fast Five, Matthew Vaughn's X-Men First Class, Michael Bay's Transformers 3, and David Yate's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II are just a few of the movies parents took their children to watch. However, a film that had few publicity this past summer was JJ Abrams' Super 8.

In America, Super 8 (2011) opened across theaters on June 8, 2011 and received $35.5 million on approximately 3.3 thousand screens. The story revolved around a young boy, Joseph "Joey" Lamb (played by Joel Courtney), who lost his mother by an accident at the local steel mill and copes by making zombie movies with his friends. However, his father, Jackson Lamb (played by Kyle Chandler), does not approve of his son's behavior and urges Joey to "grow up." Despite his father's obligations, Joey continues to meet up with his friends to finish the film, so it can be a contender in an upcoming local film festival. In the picture above, the audience is witnessing the plot beginning to unravel. In this scene,  the kids, which includes: Jackson Lamb and his friends Charles (played by Riley Griffiths), Cary (played by Ryan Lee), Martin (played by Gabriel Busso), Preston (played by Zach Mills), and Ally (played by Elle Fanning), are filming a scene at an old train station. While filming at the old train station, the kids witness a United States Air Force train being derailed. When the train derails, it causes major damages to the old train station and explosives are going off around them. To accomplish the train wreck scene, JJ Abrams collaborated with his cinematographer, Larry Fong, to film this shot with a wide angle lens.

By filming with wide angle lens, Abrams and Fong were able to cover the old train station, the actors, and the explosives in the background. In addition, the audience can tell that this scene was in a wide angle because the audience can view the ceiling and the floor of the train station, plus the props that were used for the zombie film are now scattered (the suitcase and camera). Strikingly, Abrams filmed this shot to make the scene appear it is on a tilt, rather than a level shot. Perhaps, Abrams filmed this scene on a tilt because he wanted the audience to experience the same disorientation the characters are going through. Therefore, Abrams demonstrated a closed form of filming for this scene because the frame does give a sufficient visual environment for the audience to understand the damage the train derailment made. Besides the shot of the scene, the character proxemics are another component in this photograph.

The character proxemics in the photograph above displays are the intimate and personal. There are two character proxemics instead of one because of the distance from the friends (Charles, Joey, and Cary) from Ally. The boys, which includes Charles, Joey, and Cary, display a more intimate proxemic because they are afraid about what is currently going on. Therefore, they are going to stay close together and try to save each other in the process (they would not mind invading each other's body space). In contrast, Ally is the only person who stands away from the boys. Therefore, Ally appears to be the dominant in this frame because of her character proxemic from the boys and how she covers the frame. Ally's proxemic is personal because she is not gathered around the other boys for protection, despite the fact that there are explosives in the background. Due to the framing of the picture, the audience notices that Ally is not afraid and is willing to see the destruction. It almost appears like she is protecting them from the destruction. In conjunction to the angle of the camera and the character proxemics, the portrayal of emotions of this scene is essential as well.

To capture all the emotions on screen, Abrams used a long shot technique ("loosely framed shot") for the audience to understand that the characters feel alienated from their familiar surrounds and are afraid to move because of the explosives. Hence, the characters are confined to that particular part of the train station, but they are still able to relocate if necessary. In contrast, if Abrams wanted to shoot this scene in a tighter frame, he would loose the characters paranoia on their surroundings and it would appear that they have no where to go.