1. Anna Bean
February 26th
, 2015
Media 1060
Mise en Scène #1: M (1931) by Fritz Lang
The scene I chose for my Mise en Scène is a shot from early in the 1931 film M by Fritz
Lang, where we see Peter Lorre’s character Hans Beckert the child murderer antagonist for the
first time when he is approaching Elsie. Numerous aspects of what is within the frame add up to
its overall effect, especially in the context of this story as a film noir. This shot also establishes
several important aspects of the story.
The dominant object of the frame is arguably Hans Beckert’s large grey shadow splayed
over the white poster and its black text warning of the presence and crimes of the child murderer
terrorizing the area. The dominant form of the shadow is the only on-screen indication of the
presence of a person. There is an uncanny quality to how the only human-shaped object in the
frame is vaguer than a direct shot of an actor, but the audience can tell what it is looking at. The
shadow has identifiers like a hat, a big coat, and its profile to indicate is a grown man looking
down. The dominance of this shadow says that this is it, that this is the person they are looking
for and is the ultimate goal of the film.
The composition, in terms of what shapes it is composed of, is also notable. Because of
the lack of on-screen actors, the importance of the composition is greater. The poster is a
rectangle shape laid over the larger rectangle shape of the surface. These are rational, artificial,
utilitarian shapes which have a straightforward purpose. This fits what the poster itself is for,

2. which is to dispense information to the public about the current threat of the serial killer of
children. The graphic design on the letters is also ornate, yet neat and composed. Because many
viewers tend to ‘read’ images from left to right, there is an impression that the shapes themselves
are being encroached on by Hans’ shadow, which is markedly different from them. The shadow
of Hans Beckert is a grey blob of organic mass laying itself across the orderly man-made objects.
It is a kind of sign that Hans is like a force of nature disrupting the poster and surface it is laid on
like he is the community within the city as a whole. The role of Hans becomes apparent from
this composition, and hints at the possible true nature of what motivates him as an antagonist.
This is a somewhat, but not very, dense image as well in terms of what information is
presents. It has the bricks on the wall nearby, the poster and its text, the surface it is laid on, and
Han’s shadow. Only two aspects of the image are detailed, which are the bricks and the amount
of text. The relatively low density of the image lends itself to the ambivalent yet simple effect
what is happening in the frame is supposed to create. The low density image almost makes it
read like a cave painting on a wall, evoking primal fear of the unknown. But the bricks
themselves are not heavily defined as much as the density of the amount of text. The graphic
design in the image may be the most in terms of sheer details compared to the wall behind them
and Hans.
The angle the shot is taken is also particular. It is taken at a neutral, eye-level shot of
the dominant forms in the frame, especially of Hans Beckert. In the movie, it suggests the eye-
level and point of view of a grownup that could be looking at part of the situation unfolding. It is
an interesting angle to place the shot in because it creates a sense that the viewer knows
something that the characters do not or cannot see. The neutrality of the angle perhaps also
suggests the ‘hidden in plain sight’ quality Hans has as an antagonist, where it is not obvious just

3. by looking who the killer might be or where the threat is. Because the audience cannot directly
see the form of the person being looked at directly, it ends up implying the sense of helpless the
grownups in the movie feel in the face of the threat they can look in the face at some point every
day and not realize it.
The form of the image is suggestive as well. The shape of the poster and the surface it is
laid on are invaded by the presence of Hans’ shadow, but at the same time they also somewhat
tightly enclose him. The poster talking about Beckert and his crimes represent the material
realities that his mental illness and how he acts on it creates. In a sense, the form of the scene
suggests the situation Hans Beckert is in as an antagonist, where he is a threat to others yet in
many ways is trapped by his identity as a killer himself. This form that the poster creates is a
sense that even the ominous shadow that his presence creates has its own pathetic qualities,
where even it will be trapped by the consequences of his crimes.
Much of the qualities of this frame revolve around the nature of Hans Beckert’s identity,
implying so much with a relatively simple, low-density shot.

4. Works Cited
M.Dir. Fritz Lang. Perf Peter Lorre. Perf. Otto Wernicke. Perf. Gustaf Gründgens. Vereinigte
Star-Film GmbH,1931. Youtube. Web. 25 February 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ihDwCKWdt0c>