The Anniversary Party (2001)

In Alan Cumming’s and Jennifer Jason Leigh’s The Anniversary Party (2001), the opening sequence titled, “Starting the Day”, there are many compositional elements that impact the viewer through out the first scene. Mise-en-scène and Cinematography can be used to subtly change the mood from being very peaceful to something more serious. I will first explain how mise-en-scène is used to express the mood in the first sequence. Next I will show how the directors used cinematography as a tool to articulate mood.
First, the literal definition of mise-en-scène is ‘staging a scene’ this includes things such as lighting, costumes, and movement on screen. In the first shots of the film all the viewer sees is skin, just legs and arms moving over top of each other. Next lips and kissing is seen. All of this initially sets the mood to being very intimate. The female character is later find out to be named Sally is seen first kissing her husband then kissing her dog Otis. This sets the audience into thinking of a very happy couple from their interactions and body movement. After this series of shots a blind quickly rolls open and puts an end to the previous intimate mood. The next thing that is seen is the couple enjoying yoga lessons from an instructor. The couple is outside of a modern designed house with a lot of big glass windows. They are on yoga mats in front of a very tranquil atmosphere, which features a pool and tropical plants. When watching this portion without any sound the setting and the slight smooth motions of the characters relax the viewer. When the diegetic sound is added, the mood changes from tranquil to very stressful. In the background we can hear airplane traffic, loud outdoor sounds and a continuous house phone ring. At one point a message being left on the answering machine is heard, all of which is very loud, and covers up the yoga instructor’s soft voice. Two maids barge through and once again break the silence. This diegetic sounds plays a major part in shaping the actual mood from what is perceived and what is sensed. Next the scene is moved from outside into the bedroom. In the bedroom there is soft natural lighting that gives the place a comfortable feeling. The characters are on the bed and all that can be heard are the maids talking in the background from the other room. The couple starts to get intimate and all the background sound is gone. This gives the scene a very sensual mood. This is quickly disrupted by another phone call. Sally is agitated when she finds out who is on the phone. The scene becomes tense as she leaves the room, going into the bathroom. The viewer sees Sally in the bathroom while they hear her husband Joe in the other room on the phone talking. Through Sally’s facial expression the viewer can tell she is less than excited. She also secludes herself in the bathroom, which adds to the tension because it is a tight enclosed space. It is less welcoming than the large bedroom. This sequence ends with a slight smirk from Sally that gives the audience a feeling of more trouble to come.
Cinematography is another component that adds to the director’s idea of mood.
The directors of The Anniversary Party use cinematography elements to intensify the moods. In the opening shots mentioned before have a very intimate mood; the camera distance increases upon this. In this series of shots we see extreme close-ups of legs and arms. These extreme close-ups give the viewer the visuals of only the couple’s bare skin running over top of each other. Another scene where cinematography plays a part in expressing mood is in the yoga scene. The viewers originally see the couple in frontal view and camera angle. When the maids come in and disrupt the camera angle switches to a rear view of the couple and a frontal view of the maids who walk towards the screen. The maids walking towards the camera increase the feeling of bombardment. Also during the yoga scene, Sally runs to answers the phone. In this shot, while she is on the phone the camera pans to the left to show black and white family photos on the wall. The viewers find out the doctor is on the phone and is talking to Sally about her potentially being pregnant. The pan to the black and white photos gives the comfortable feeling of family. The camera then quickly goes to a close-up shot of Sally’s face and zooms in to see the sad expression on her face as the viewer finds out that she is not pregnant. This is another sudden change in mood from one that was a little more peaceful to a serious and sad mood.
The directors of The Anniversary Party, Cumming and Leigh, did an excellent job when expressing mood change throughout the first sequence. They used many aspects of each mise-en-scène and cinematography to convey the mood they were looking to express. The whole sequence was very smooth and visually pleasing. This made it easy to see changes in mood.