We need to talk about Kevin

Mise-en-scene and sound play a really important part in the opening sequence of ‘we need to talk about Kevin.’ It does this by provoking audience response.

In the opening, the first scene is dark and there are screams and ticking in the background used as a parallel backtrack. The screams create an eerie sound causing the audience to think of death and torture. When this is used with a ticking noise it allows more imagery to be created as the ticking can represent a ticking time bomb meaning that the ticking it building tension in the audience and signalling that a major disaster is going to occur. A bright white light is seen as the scene ends. This is a huge contrast from the screams and dark thoughts as the bright white light is a pure and heavenly tone. This light may show that someone has died and gone to heaven, or that as the next scene is in present day it is a sign for being ‘reborn’ and starting anew.

A new scene begins and the first thing that the audience see is the colour red. The red is used to signify blood and aggression. This affects the audience as this signifies that something is wrong and anger and anguish may be following this women and she doesn’t seem to be able to get away from it. Furthermore in this scene the women is lifted up and she is positioned into a cross position. This position shows a religious aspect as Jesus was pinned up on the cross. This is used to provoke the audience as Jesus was not aggressive. He was peaceful and calm. But in this scene the women is in the position of a cross and is covered in red tomatoes. Maybe showing that Jesus is covered by blood and this may provoke some of the audience. The cross could also symbolise that the women is at peace for that split second, but is then dropped into the tomatoes and trapped again as everyone kicks tomatoes at her. In the scene everyone is close together and it is tightly packed, but yet surrounded by all of these red crushed tomatoes. This may show that even if someone is close to you, fighting/aggressive may still occur and blood may be drawn.

In the next scene it goes to present day and the women is in her home and she just wakes up. This may suggest to the audience the audience that the woman is tired and she just wants some peace and quiet. The lighting in the house is rather unpleasant/unnatural to the audience as there is still the colour red appearing. This provokes the audience response as the audience know that red seems to be following this lady around even in present day. Also there is a yellowy tinge to the colour of the inside of the house. This colour can be used to represent sickness/illness. There is a camera shot which is point of view and it is looking through the window. The blinds show a shape of prison bars which can be seen as the women is trapped in her own home or it is a form of foreshadowing as Kevin is later seen in a prison. This would alert the audience as no-one should be ‘trapped’ in their own home. When the lady gets up she knocks over some pills. This shows the audience that this women isn’t normal and that she is on some kind of medication. The woman makes her way around the house and walks outside. When she is outside the first thing that the audience hear is the sound of birds tweeting and a sense of freedom. This shows a complete contrast in comparison with her house. All of the colours seem to bright up and everything looks natural and pure. This could show to the audience that when the woman is inside her house she feels locked up and away from the outer world, dwelling on all of the bad memories. The camera then zooms out and there a red substance all over her house. Yet again this red colour doesn’t seem to want to go away and keeps reminding the audience that death/aggression seems to be following her.

This scene is a flashback. This scene is in the past and everything seems to be happy. The house that the woman is in seems to be open and light no sign of red. The woman has a family and is smiling and there is laughter as the little girl is dancing with her dad. This shows the audience that in the past the women seemed to have a good, happy life but keeps the audience wondering what happened to it all. Even though the house is open and light. The colours within the house are boring and plain. These are the kind of colours that would be associated with hospitals and psychiatric wards. This is showing the audience that even though the woman seems happy she still feels slightly trapped and that her life seems to be a chore. In addition when the audience see the woman smiling there is a slight reddy/yellow light on one side of her face. This shows that something sinister is still following her. Before Kevin enters the room the little girl is all happy and playful, but when he enters he drops his bag on the table and the audience can tell that there is a sudden increase in sound. The girl goes quiet and so does everything else. The audience can see that Kevin seems to bring misery to the room and a sense of awkwardness. Also the way Kevin is presented in this scene is as if he is unhappy as he has no happy facial expressions. Everyone seems to be happy in this scene as they are laughing and having fun, but Kevin seems to stop all of that as he enters the room.

Overall ‘we need to talk about Kevin’ continuously provokes an audience response throughout the opening scene as a sense of eeriness seems to be following this woman throughout the whole opening. All of these signs are represented by different elements as the colour red constantly occurs throughout and keeps reminding the audience of this.