1. Rebecca Andrews
I will be focusing on Mise-En-Scene within the penultimate scene of Déjà vu. This scene has large
element of action, and is one of the most dramatic in the film.
The scene begins with a long shot of a truck speeding over a hill. The shot presents a speeding truck,
displaying characters (the ones in the truck) in a hurry, creating urgency for the audience. It can be
argued this is an establishing shot giving a large amount of setting in shot, suggesting it is a middle
class area, connoting how strange it is to have a speeding car in the area. There are no people in
shot, connoting how empty neighbourhood the audience will question where the people are as well
as drawing attention at something so odd.
Behind the truck is an insight to the neighbourhood it displays a row of middle class houses, and a
restaurant. The restaurant has paint peeling at the side of the building, signifying it is not looked
after. The restaurant is closed, possibly shut down, which makes the audience wonder why it had to
shut. This connotes the people who live there don’t have pride, due to not making an effort to keep
it nice. The vehicle is a black truck, covered in dirt. The truck fits with the background in terms of
wealth it looks like someone of a middle class status owns it. However as it is dirty, it is out of place.
This suggests the owner of the truck (Claire) has little need for a truck that is aesthetically pleasing,
supporting the point of her not having need for material objects. The truck is covered in dirt,
allowing an insight to what the car has been involved in previously. The director has done this so
that the audience can make a quick assumption about the character of Claire. This means that they
can then carry on watching the film knowing what sort of personality she has, making the audience
understand the film more.

2. A medium shot of Doug displays him wearing unofficial clothing for his occupation, making him look
relaxed. This signifies he is not fazed by rules or regulations, making the audience view him as
unconventional. His clothing is old fashioned and unfashionable connoting he cares about more
things than material possessions such as the latest clothes. There is a long take observing Doug with
dirt on his clothes, the camera lingers on him for several seconds. The audience feels uncomfortable
that they are looking at Doug for so long they are unsure as to what may happen, re-enforcing to the
audience the unpredictability of the narrative as a man who usually takes pride in his appearance
has ended up in a situation where his clothes are stained and dirty. On the other side of the car,
Claire is wearing a stereotypically girly dress, a feminine peach colour. Claire is a girly character who
enjoys wearing dresses, so wears them throughout the film, signifying that she wears them regularly
in real life. This colour brings out the femininity and innocence of her personality, as her dress sense
reflects her personality as a whole so that the audience feels like they know about Claire’s character.
The medium shot demonstrates an element of action, showing the setting and how they are still in
the car as well as the clothing that they are wearing.

3. The next shot is an establishing shot providing a large amount of the set for the audience, giving an
insight to what may happen in the scene overall. Setting the scene you can tell it is an interesting
scene because it leaves a lot to be answered, such as why there are navy personnel. The navy
personel are there to go on the Annapolis with their family, and enjoy the celebration. Another part
it shows is where the bikes, and this is because . It can be also argued that it is an extreme long shot,
which gives a large amount of the setting in the shot, which contrasts with the colour of the new
characters clothes. This would make the audience feel like they are there and involved with what is
happening, which would make their attention more drawn to what is about to happen. This is
displayed by the grey buildings in the background making the overall shot seem more dismal.
The establishing shot displays Carroll Oerstadt, who wears clothes full of dirt and stains. This signifies
he has no pride, and gives insight to the social class; the audience have more information on him
and making his character seem more reinforced. This is because the audience would be able to
quickly stereotype Carroll to what his personality would be like and so on, which would make it
easier to understand the film. There is an element of order within the clothes he wears he wears
military style clothes, supporting the military style theme, as well as raising questions about the
irony of a person wearing military style clothes is attempting to bomb a ferry full of military officers.
His clothes are all dark, making him stand out from the natural light of the background the audience
seem suspicious of him. Carroll is stood next to his motorbike, a clean Harley Davidson, which does
not fit the profile of his personality of not caring for any material possessions, making his character
all the more unpredictable. His facial expressions are straight faced and sinister. His movements
match this, he only walks in swift movements, he mostly stands still and calm. This makes the
audience gain more knowledge on the man in front of them, reinforcing his character of a sinister
person and making him have more of a background. As the out of focus buses are moving in the
background of him standing still, it makes him stand out even more, which makes it catch the
audience’s attention.
There are a group of people walking together in two’s or three’s across the screen as opposed to just
being on the left. There are hundreds of naval officers walking from the blue busses to the docks as
they are getting ready to board the Annapolis. Their uniforms are smart, creating a feeling of purity
and warmth, due to the connotations of white being brilliance and purity. The naval officers’ facial

4. expressions are happy and joyful, combined with there being so many naval officers wearing white
this connotation surrounds it, it seem positively overwhelming the audience feel attached to the
characters as we know that the officers are only there to celebrate after doing their job well, yet
they will have a terrible fate. This shows that the director is suggesting that the naval officers are the
people who the audience should shine to, as they look innocent, as if nothing bad would happen
with them there. We feel sympathetic towards such innocent naval officers that are due to have a
terrible fate, they have just recently become attached to them as we know they are good characters.
The movement of the naval officers is large due to them running to the boat, aswelll as swiftly
walking and jumping for joy, as well as the use of a still background emphasises how much they are
moving, and the extent of how happy they are, due to them being the entirely across the screen. The
lighting is important as it is so bright, it adds to the feeling of purity, as bright light eliminates any
shadows which potentially could make the scene more sinister looking. So as it is so bright, the shot
look innocent and pure and the audience feel like they have a sense of love for the scene that is
before them.