Hospital

1. The Descent – Mise-en-scene 2
Hospital Scene

2. Props
• The cake may not seem
important at this point, but it’s a
very key feature at the end of the
movie. At this point it is
symbolizing Sarah's realization
that her daughter is now dead,
the blowing out of the candles is
to show that her dream/illusion
is broken
• The props in her hospital room
are just there to add detail to the
scene, all apart from the heart
rate monitor, this hints at the fact
that she /might/ have been dead
the whole time after the accident

3. Setting/lighting
• The cake scene is set in the
mind of Sarah,, the darkness
is used to show that her
daughter is the only thing
that’s important, the candles
are the only apparent source
of light, which is why it goes
completely dark when the are
extinguished, the light from
them is a warm and inviting
colour which would make
Sarah feel safe and secure
• The hospital at this point is
inside of her subconscious,
this is the reason for the
grungy green/blue lighting, to
separate illusion from reality,
in her mind she’s running
from the darkness
• The scene ends with her
crashing into reality, at which
point the light changes to a
bright, safe colour because
she is in the arms of her
friend

4. Location
• The location for the cake scene is
inside of Sarah’s head, it is like
this to show her internal turmoil
as she is trying to grasp at the
memory or her daughter, Jess.
• The hospital room is clearly there
to clarify that she has been in an
accident and possibly even a
coma. It is hinted at that she is
dead and this is the start of her
hell/purgatory.
• The corridor is cleverly used to
represent Sarah’s attempt at
running from her darkness, it is
the ideal location to show the
fear and panic as it seems to
never end no matter how fast
she runs.
• The final corridor is there to
show her crashing back into
reality, even though it is nearly
identical to the previous, it
somehow feels safer and less
intimidating.

5. Costume/Make-up
• We see Jessica wearing
normal children's clothes at
the start of the scene, this
shows how Sarah’s mind is
trying to create a feeling of
normality.
• The hospital gown at first is
masked in the green light,
however when the light
returns to normal you could
say that its an pure white
colour, almost angelic, which
adds to the whole idea that
she is in fact dead
• Her friend is dressed in
black, possibly displaying
her mourning for the death
of Paul and Jessica

6. Movement/Acting
• There is the initial shock of
her waking up after the
accident where she quickly
removes her life support
equipment
• During the trombone shot
you can see the realization
on her face as everything
starts to sink in (about the
accidient)
• Then there is her frantic
running as she tries to
escape the oncoming
darkness
• Finally, the relief when she
ends up in her friends arms
and the lighting brightens to
signify her feeling safer