Technical Aspects in 'Marnie' [Mis en Scène]

Today we watched the opening of Alfred Hitchcock's 1964 film, 'Marnie'. We were asked to look at the mis en scène in particular.

There weren't many things to notice about the scene, however we did manage to pick out the fact that the camera is focused on an extreme close up of the bright yellow bag the woman is holding.This instantly makes the audience feel as though it must be important in one way or another - especially when the camera backs away slightly and you can see just how much of a contrast there is between the dark clothes she is wearing and the brightness of the bag.

She is also wearing very smart clothes, which gives us the impression that she knows what she is doing, and is there for a reason. The fact that she is also in the train station when it is completely silent makes us think she is going somewhere and doesn't want to be noticed, or is running away from something - which we find out later on that this really is the case.

The woman seems very mysterious as you cannot see her face, and this makes the audience wonder just who she really is, and why she's there. The way she is walking along the red line on the train station floor before finally crossing it onto the more dangerous side when she stops walking also seems to be suggesting that she has 'crossed the line', and knows that what she is doing is risky, though she will still do it anyway.