Mise-En-Scene

I decided to comment on the mise-en-scene of one episode of the show Grey's Anatomy. The episode I chose is episode 22 from season 14. I decided to do this mostly because I want to watch Grey's Anatomy, so I wanted to get a better understanding of the setting, lighting, costume, and staging in the show and picked a random episode.

The show is set in Seattle at a hospital called the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. While they do visit other places, this is where most of the show is at. Every episode opens with a landscape shot of Seattle and then focuses on one place. In this episode the first place that is focused on is the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, but then it cuts to a character driving through corn fields. This show is constantly cutting from one character to another. In the scene of two characters, Joe and Alex, driving through corn fields, the setting is shallow place. The scene has one character looking at the other while driving, but the corn fields behind them appear to be flat or two dimensional. There is a loss of realism, but it enhances the viewing by showing that these characters are on a different kind of path from the rest of the characters. These settings completely represent the characters and where they are in life at the current time.

As you move through the episode, you will notice that the episode mostly contains the use of high-key lighting. The scenes appear to be very bright and soft, so they have very few shadows in the frame. This lighting gives off a positive feel, but some of the characters do seem to be in a gloomy state. For instance, in one of the scenes three of the doctors are dropping off their children to day care, but one of them just had to pick up their child from school because she got suspended. In this scene the mom was sad because she felt that she was a terrible mom, but the high-key lighting stayed the same throughout the scene.

The costumes in the beginning of the episode mostly included doctor scrubs of different colors depending on the number of years the character has spent as a doctor. For examples, interns wear light blue scrubs while attendings wear dark blue scrubs. Most of the characters also wear a white lab coat over their scrubs. However, when characters go outside the hospital, they wear normal clothed for the 21st century, such as jeans, t-shirts, and blouses. 

The acting displayed in the show was very good so far. The actors really convey each emotion they are feeling in such a way to make the audience feel the same emotion. The actor that plays Alex had an amazing performance in this episode in my opinion because in this episode he went to find his mom who he assumed was dead because she had stopped cashing the checks, he had been sending her his whole life. He grew up with his mom having schizophrenia, so he was forced to take care of both his mom and his two younger siblings, which took a big tole on him and his childhood. However, when he finds his mom, her schizophrenia had decreased, so she was able to work and be normal again. When he meets her, she is originally happy about it and so is he, but as they continue talking, she begins to become mad, so she asks him to leave. He ends up going to a batting cage and bating out his anger, but then he has a little speech to his girlfriend explaining why he is so mad. That scene really helps the audience understand why Alex is the way he is, and the actor really does a great job conveying his emotions even through the screen.