Kick-Ass - Mise-en-Scène

The first thing we notice it Damon, the most dominant figure on the screen and the only thing in the shot that’s in focus. After noticing Damon, the next things we see are his drawings of D’Amico and his men on the wall.

The lighting, despite being very light on the left and very dark on the right, is fairly even throughout the shot with a decent amount of contrast. There is a spotlight on the cartoon images of D’Amico and his men.

The angle of the shot is slightly low looking up at Damon. The colors in the background are split. On the right side of the screen the dominant color is a blueish green; a more feminine color that symbolizes youth, calm, and luck. On the left of the screen we see the highlighted drawings which contain yellows, reds, and blacks/browns.  Yellow signifies betrayal and deceit. Red signifies energy, passion, aggression, violence, and intensity. The darker colors, especially black, signify wealth, mystery, fear, evil, and anger.

It appears that this is a telephoto lens as it brings Damon into focus and throws the background out of focus. It clearly separates him from the wall.

This shot contains a high degree of density. One can see the texture of Damon’s shirt, the ridges on the knife, the slats in the wall, and the detail in Damon’s drawings.

The image is slightly off balance. The highlighted images on the wall make up the “heavier” side of the image. Damon’s presence slightly off center brings the image stability. The right side of the image almost completely fades to gray.

This shot is tightly framed indicating that Damon has limited options available to him. At this point of the film, he either needs to flee of fight D’Amico. The shot is arranged on two planes; Damon and the wall behind him. Damon is placed right-center of the image, ranging from the top of the frame to (and through) the bottom of the frame. In the background we see the drawings of D’Amico and his men looming over him, foreshadowing what’s to come. Damon is standing in a half-turn looking past the camera in conversation with his daughter, Mindy.