Overview
The essay ought to include around 800 words.
Please write in full, grammatically correct sentences.
This question focuses on mise-en-scène and cinematography in the film Babel (Alejandro Iñárritu, 2006), which is mentioned in the cinematography chapter in The Film Experience: “Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto used different stocks, cameras, and lenses to achieve the looks of three interconnected stories that span the globe in Babel (2006).” Pick one scene--or fragment of a scene--from each of the Babel’s Moroccan, Mexican, and Japanese storylines, and explain how its mise-en-scene and cinematography are distinctive. How did the production team make choices in cinematography (camera angle, lens choice, film stock) and mise-en-scène (acting, setting, props, lighting, costumes) that help distinguish that story’s setting from the settings for the other two stories. Compare and contrast how choices in mise-en-scène and cinematography define the settings for each of your scenes. (You don’t have to comment on every facet of the scenes’ mise-en-scène and cinematography; instead focus on the aspects that seem important to you.)