Media Key Words

Naturalistic Mise-en-scene: Type of mise-en-scene- the cinematic world and its objects follow assumed laws of nature and society and have  consistently logical relationships to one another.

Linear Narrative: Linear narratives follow a straight line- starting at the beginning, moving to the middle and proceeding to the end. 

Narrative Disruption: When something happens within the narrative that changes the course of action.


In the video 'Unfinished Sympathy' by Massive Attack, why would you describe the miss-en-scene as naturalistic? Why would you then describe the mise-en-scene in Fatboy Slim's 'Ya Mama' as less naturalistic? 

The video for 'Unfinished Sympathy' is more naturalistic then that of Fatboy Slim's 'Ya Mama' as the urban setting is made up of normal looking people going about their everyday lives. The clothing of all performers is what is to be expected of people in that area of LA in the 1990s. However, in 'Ya Mama', the atmosphere is more theatrical as there is a sense of the narrative being staged. Even the costumes of the three men at the beginning is non-naturalistic as they wear stereotypical 'hillbilly' costumes which, along with other subtle objects throughout the video, suggest the main cast are 'backwards' people even using cassette tapes and watching Tom and Jerry, a 1940s cartoon. As the video progresses, chaos erupts at the local market, which is also shown to be a 'backwards' society due to images such as hand painted signs using simple advertising terms such as 'this could be your cake' at a cake stall. Even the police station, which is meant to be a place of authority, has a handmade sign which is spelt wrong- 'Polis Stazion'. This enhances the sense of comedy, making it non-naturalistic as it pokes fun at the 







In the video 'Ya Mama' by Fatboy Slim why would you describe the narrative as linear? Why would you not describe the narrative in 'Unfinished Sympathy' by Massive  Attacks as linear? 






At what point in 'Ya Mama' is there a narrative disruption? Explain the event and how this disrupts the initial equilibrium of the scene.






In Massive Attacks 'Unfinished Sympathy' what do you see in the video that implies a world of different stories?