Character Function of Mise-En-Scene in Boardwalk Empire

Throughout many films the characters can be portrayed in certain lights to the audience.  These characters can have a certain persona that the audience deems to them at the beginning of the movie.  Through mise-en-scene the characters persona can be reaffirmed or it can be changed because of the theme of the movie.  Mise-en scene is a huge aspect of any film or cinematic adventure, it is the substance that the movie is based around.  The aspects of mise-en-scene include; costume and make-up, setting, lighting, staging, and realism.  In some films it is more prevalent than others, but to better explain the character function of mise-en-scene I am going to be examining Boardwalk Empire, a show that airs on HBO every sunday and is in its second season.

The two main characters I will focus on are Nucky Thompson the crooked politician and gangster, and his old friend now foe Jimmy Darmondy.  The costumes at the beginning of the series show Nucky as a very well dressed wealthy man during the times of prohibition.  At this time Jimmy is still working with Nucky and his costume is more of a working class citizen.  Throughout the series Nucky and Jimmy split up, Jimmy starts to make a name for himself and his attire goes from working class to the same costume that Nucky wears which is generally a very nice suit with their hair well done.  Showing the rise of Jimmy's social status with his prosperity.

Throughout the series many interactions happen inside of Nucky's office or in some sort of hidden social function because of prohibition.  Nucky's office is never very well lit and the social functions that are hidden always are set up and lit with a certain eery feeling that something is going to go down.  These settings all play into Nucky's character which is a crooked scummy politician.  As Jimmy breaks off from Nucky and starts becoming more like his father the Commodore he visits his dads house which also is in a darker setting with many extravagant pieces throughout the house.  Jimmy starts becoming more like Nucky which the setting in which we see him in becomes more like that of Nucky's office or social functions.

The staging in which Boardwalk Empire is set shows you the dark side of life within the ages of prohibition.  Both Nucky and Jimmy are the examples of the gangster within society in this time.  Once the series goes on we get a look back into Jimmy's life where Nucky had taken him in and looked after him like a father more than the commodore had done for Jimmy.  In these scenes the two are usually doing something fun such as fishing.  The lighting in these flashbacks is much brighter and I believe that it is used to show the bright side of each characters care for each other.  This part of the series is shown to give the viewer a look into the fond memories that the two shared together when Jimmy was growing up.  It also shows a different side of Nucky that he is capable of being a nurturing person.

Realism for the viewers are going vary from person to person with their views of the characters within Boardwalk Empire.  While I watch it with my friends and roommates their views of Nucky and Jimmy differ.  Some would say that Jimmy turned his back on Nucky and he is the one that should pay, other people think that Nucky has been portrayed and hurt so many other people that he is to blame for the corruption of Jimmy.  Either way these two characters play a huge role in making the series what it is, their settings, costumes, and the lighting they are portrayed in different scenes molds their character to the outside audience viewing them.

References

Boardwalk Empire (TV Series 2010) - IMDb. (n.d.). The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved November 30, 2011, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0979432/

Moura, G. (n.d.). What is mise-en-scene? | Film Directing. Elements of Cinema | A Student's Guide to the Fundamentals of Filmmaking. Retrieved November 30, 2011, from http://www.elementsofcinema.com/directing/mise-en-scene.html