An analysis of Cinematography and Mise en Sence, in the train scene from Quadrophenia ( Franc Roddam 1979 )

An analysis of Cinematography and Mise en Sence, in the train scene from
Quadrophenia ( Franc Roddam 1979 )

For this essay I have chosen to analyses Quadrophenia ( Franc Roddam 1979 ). Jimmy is a young mod living in the 60s in London. Along with his friends he enjoys driving his scooter, pill popping and drinking alcohol. Jimmy lives with his parents and doesn't get along with his drunken father. This movie is a drama mod movie. I chose to study the cinematography and the mise en sence, because I feel like they are very significant to the movie. The way the mods dressed made them stand out. Also the camera work is very unique.

The cinematographer has used the framing for the camera to create meaning for the viewers. At the beginning of the scene, Jimmy ( Phil Daniels ) is riding his scooter down the road. He is doing this because he has lost the girl of his dreams and he has been kicked out of his house for doing drugs. Th way the cinematographer has framed this, is Jimmy is in the center of the shot. The cinematographer has done this because it makes Jimmy the focus point of the shot. This makes the audience feel different emotions for Jimmy. The mise en sence in this film part of the sequence Jimmy is wearing grungy clothes, he is in a dark low cut V top and his green parker coat. The parker coat is very significant for the mods. This could make the audience feel that he hasn't washed for a few days and that he is living on the street/shed. His scooter in the shot is the most expensive thing and it is his pride and joy. The next shot is of when Jimmy has fallen of his scooter. The cinematography in these frames never shows the post officers face there is never a close up of them. This again puts Jimmy in the focus. There is a close up of Jimmy's face this give the impression to the audience that we are a post officer. There is also a number of shots where we are looking from over the post officers shoulder ( an over shoulder shot ) this put the viewers in the place of the post officer as well. The mise en sence in the shots of when the post officers are there, are that Jimmy looks really dirty and that he looks very low class and the post officers are in there uniform. Which makes the viewers feel like the post offices have a higher status, but this is challenged by the camera angles, because they are never focused on the post officers. So the camera angles make the audience feel Jimmy has high status but the mise en sence make them feel the post officers have the higher status.

One of the next significant shots is the establishing shot of the railway station. This lets the audience know where the next few shot are going to be and where Jimmy now is. The framing for the next shot of Jimmy works really well. It shows the viewers that he is trying to be extremely sly about what he is doing. The clothes he is wearing is still his parker coat he also has a bottle of vodka in his hand and he is taking "blues" ( the drugs which are mentioned though out the film ). This shows the viewers that he is addicted to them and he also doesn't care where he does them. His status in this shot seems very low because he is standing almost behind then weighing machine and he is not with any of his mates. After this there is a tracking shot of Jimmy walking towards the train this lets the viewers know he is getting on the train.

The next shot is a middle age women walking down the train hall. The camera shot is though a carriage door. This works well because you can see her from her waist up. The mise en sence work here because she is dressed in the fashion that the 60s women would were. Also her hair is a 60s hairdo. The pan shot when the camera follows the women in to the toilet. This is a very good example of when the audience feels like they are there in the action of the sence. When the women pushes the door open Jimmy just stands there looking at her. At this point he has changed his clothes. He is now in his suit. Along with his parker coat the mods also wore suits. This is another stereotype for a mod. Before this sequence in the film Jimmy travels up to Brighton with all his mates "mods" and they all wore there parker coats and suit. This gives the audience a hint that he is on his way back up to Brighton. The way the camera follows Jimmy out of the toilet make the audience feel that they are with him. Then we watch him walk up the carriage though the door again. This makes the audience feel like they are watching him on the train. Jimmy's suit is maroon this makes it stand out on the train because not a lot of other people are wearing bright colours. This make the audience know who he is and that they don't lose him in the crowd.

Jimmy is still walking down the train. We now get a match on action shot of Jimmy walking down the carriages. He is also holding his bag in the same hand. Now we have a tracking shot of Jimmy walking towards the camera. This makes us fee like he is the focus. Though out the film this is where he is positioned in the frame most of the time. His face feels very paranoid this could be cause of the drugs he is taking. We now have a shot of jimmy throwing this bag out of the train window and two girls appear behind him. They are dressed in school uniform this lets the viewer know that they are young. Jimmy is also in front of them there for they have a lower status.


Jimmy now finds a seat and there is a shot of him walking in to the room where he has found a seat. This is a match on action shot. The director Franc Roddam has chosen to have two older men sitting either side of Jimmy this makes him seem and look really young. Like a child. The clothes that then men are wearing are black suits with bowler hats on. They look a lot more high class then Jimmy. They are both reading news paper and Jimmy seems to be hugging his parker coat, this makes him seem more childish. The framing of this shot is a medium shot of the two men and Jimmy sitting down with Jimmy in the middle. Again he is the focus of the shot. He also stands out because of the maroon suit. It then cut into a close up on Jimmy's face. This framing lets the audience concentrate on Jimmy,and not on anything else around him. Jimmy's eyes are going franticly from side to side this reminds the audience that he has taken drugs and that he is 'tripping out'. They remind the audience though out the film because it is a big part of his life.

The next two shots. Round the sence up really well. There is a shot though the train window looking on the train tracks. This goes on for 3 seconds then it suddenly cuts to an image of the waves crashing against the shore. This lets the audience know that he is now off the train and arrived in Brighton. The sound suddenly cut to non-diegetic music to the strong sound of the waves crashing. The last shot of this sequence is Jimmy sitting in a cafe. There is the reflection in the window of the pier. This reminds the audience where he has gone to. They would of seen the pier earlier in the film.

I think that my chosen micro elements have played a very important part for creating meaning for the audience. The cinematography is very important for the emotions of Jimmy and his status. The mise en sence also worked really well because the way they dress was about who they were. I chose this sequence because I think it is very significant to the film as it's when the mod era is ending but Jimmy still wants it to carry on. And everyone has let him down.