The document provides a mise-en-scene analysis of two clips from the film The Descent. For the hospital clip, it summarizes that Sarah is in a hospital gown in a cold, sterile environment with medical equipment, in contrast to the warm birthday scene. When she wakes up, the green tint disappears. In the cave clip, the scene is dark until Holly's night vision camera, and the green tint returns, making the cave frightening with large rocks and shadows.

1. S
The Descent: Mise-en-
scene Analysis
Sam Carpenter

2. Clip 3 - Hospital

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. Clip 4 - Cave

8. 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.

9. 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.