S

The Descent: Mise-en-

scene AnalysisSam Carpenter

Clip 3 - Hospital

Lighting

LIGHTING: The colour of Sarah in the

hospital suggests the cold loneliness,

fluorescent lighting, and an

abandoned, uninviting industrial feel

to the scene. This contrasts to the

(although dark) warm, orange glow of

the opening scene with the birthday

cake.

The green tint is in contrast to the end

of the scene where Sarah falls into

Beth’s arms, where reality kicks back

in and everything turns to a pure

white to suggest safety and a clean

environment. The green is washed

away and there are no more harsh

shadows like in the corridor-running

scene.

Location

LOCATION: The hospital at the

beginning of the clip presents a

surprise to the viewer. All of the

medical instruments and tools in and

around Sarah present a strange new

environment to the viewer, and create

an effect of imprisonment – or even

being pulled away from the warm

location with the birthday cake. In the

corridor, the white walls and lack of

people create an eerie, industrialised

and uninviting scene. The same

location was made to look so different

with the green colour tint, which

displays a great example of how

colour can change the atmosphere of

a scene.

Costume

COSTUME: Sarah’s costume remains

the same throughout the scene – the

hospital gown suggests that she is

helpless and is a patient in the

hospital. We now know that she has

had a bad accident and is in hospital

due to that. In contrast to the

hallucination scene, the gown in the

reality scene suggests that she is

safe in the hands of the hospital. The

costumes of the people around her

are typical of what would be found in

a hospital, with doctors and nurses

roaming around past Sarah and Beth

which further cements the idea that

she is back in reality.

Props

PROPS: There are two props in the

hospital sequence – the heart monitor

and the cake. The cake symbolises

Sarah’s daughter and the importance

of her daughter’s birthday party that

she never got. and when Sarah is

dreaming, she is with her daughter. It

symbolises that she could be with her

daughter if she stays asleep (dies).

The hear monitor as a prop the

breaks that dream, and displays that

Sarah is waking up and back in

‘reality’, and stops the dream. The

fact that the heart monitor is showing

0 bpm could be foreshadowing to the

predominant theme of death in the

movie.

Clip 4 - Cave

Lighting

LIGHTING: In the beginning of the

scene there is only the head torch

light and the darkness of the cave.

Later on, the lighting becomes more

effective from Holly’s camera – using

the Night Vision. However, the green

spooky tint returns. This was most

likely done for the purpose of making

sure that the audience can see the

creature and it is sure to scare them.

The green night-vision gives another

uninviting and spooky feel to the

scene, and along with the dialog

creates a very tense environment.

Location

LOCATION: The cave is extremely

frightening – the night vision allows

for the cave to be seen a lot more

comprehensively – whilst still

maintaining a dark feel. The large

rocks, big shadows, human bones

and the water create an epic and

intimidating environment.