The Old Guard: Mise en Scene

The Old Guard is an action movie the is set in the current day and age, about a group of immortal vigilantes that try to help the make the world a better place, however they are challenged when the become the target for greedy man named Merrick. All action seens, such as the one in the picture above, are shot with a blue-ish hue to them, having most being filmed in the dark. These aspects give the action scenes a more intense feeling them. Whenever it comes to scenes with the immortal “good guys”, everything is usually has a very dusty look to it -beginning in the dessert, to their head quarters, and the church, this makes it feel like the portagonists are just hanging on, doing what they can, and working in the shadows. When it comes to the antagonists, however, everything is shiny and clean, which makes them seem like they are powerful and can do their “dirty work” in the daylight from their tall, shiny buildings. The scenes themselves create this drama between the two sides in the movie, adding to power dynamics and to how the audience views the each side. Most scenes are shot in a handheld way, producing a shaky or unstable look to the scenes. Having shaky shots adds intensity to the what is happening in the scene, this can be especially seen when serious conversations are being had between characters and when action scenes take place. The scene in the picture above is being filmed in a handheld way to produce a more realistic and intense view. Another type of shot that is very common in The Old Guard is the medium shot –one that is shot a little bit further back than a close up shot to include the the body of the characters from the waist up. This also makes the scenes more intense, as we as the audience can see what is going on but can’t quite make out the entire picture, forcing us to see only what the producer wants to show in each shot. Adding to the dramatic effect of the movie is how the scenes are shift from peaceful to action and back again. Scenes go from being still and slow shifting in the calm parts to being very shaky and uneasy, moving from place to place fast and dramatically for the action scenes. These transitions happen quite often in this movie. The scenes are edited well for the fighting scenes, and choppy for the peacful scenes. It is clear that we are watching what is happening during the converstation scenes, but it feels like we one fluent movement in the instense scenes. On average, in one calm minute there are fourteen edits, and in one fighting scene minute there are on average thrity-eight edits. This shows just how intense these scenes can be.

The violence that happens in this move is fast paced, with the vigilantees moving from one assailent to the next in a matter of milliseconds. Although the scenes are quiet violent, including gun fire, grenades, knife throwing, axe splitting and slashing, and sword stabbing, the scenes are not overly graphic. Scenes show blood, but not in a gorey type manner without any internal organs spilling out of people and such things like that. However, the sounds that accompany these scenes are graphic, the audience can hear the breaking of bones and and the squelch of metal through tissue. There are people of almost every race and ethnicity in the movie, there are secenes shot in a few different places in the world and therefore have people from different places. The main characters themselves are of various backgrounds and races. When it comes to genders, there is a pretty good mix of people, with two of the five main protagonists being female. The antagonists are mostly male, and the background characters are mainly female. However, it does seem to be that most of the people who are victims or have little control over their situations are women. The characters the movie revolve around, Andy and Nile, are both female. Although all the main characters are supposed to be stronger and faster than the mortal people, the strengths within the their group vary. Andy is the oldest and known previously to be the strongest, however in the movie she becomes weaker as she becomes mortal, due to the amount of potentially deadly instances she has encountered. Nile is a new imortal being and therefore has lots to learn, but is also known for her strenght and fast-thinking. The other three men, Booker, Nicky, and Joe, are of around equal power, but still less than Andy’s previous amount of power, however Booker apears to be of more power than the other two men.