Taxi Driver by Julia Phillips and Michael Phillips Essay

Taxi Driver by Julia Phillips and Michael Phillips - Essay ExampleHowever, mise-en-scene techniques and slow travel photographic photographic camera shots soon reveal Traviss point of view, positioning a subjective view of Traviss ground. The film uses camera movement and cinematography together with mise-en-scene at the outset to establish the tensions that build up to the violence. The film opens with the credit in the foreground of a political hack coming out of the steam of a street at night. A montage reveals rain beating against the taxis windshield. In the meantime, the yellow taxi is distressed by rain and neon lights that bring it into sharp focus. Traviss eyes can be seen moving from one image impertinent of the taxi to another as he travels Times Squ are and forty-second Street. The viewer sees what Travis sees prostitutes, couples, and pornographic theatres visited by men. The camera alternates from the inside of the Taxi where Traviss watchful eyes are moving and observing, to outside of the taxi to show the audience what Travis sees. These scenes are juxtaposed against a more tranquil, frequent and inescapably artificial world. The camera takes the viewers to a campaign headquarters with red and white colors and signs and slogans that appear to be inconsistent with the world that Travis observes from his taxi. Travis sees the world as inherently diseased and is on a mission to root out violence, disease and decadence. He becomes infatuated with Betsy, a campaign worker compete by Cybill Shepherd. Point of view via mise-en-scene is displayed through scenes in which Traviss point of view and his disconnect and kind isolation comes across. For example, in an attempt to connect with Betsy, Travis gets it right the first time when he has coffee with her. On his next date with Betsy, he takes her to a seedy, sexual film. Betsy is no doubt offended by this labour at connection. By taking this approach, the viewer is drawn into and observes th e distorted mind of Travis at work. Camera movements and mise-en-scene decease to highlight Traviss distorted mind and subjective point of view. For example, the camera picks up views of New York metropolis that examine just how Travis sees the world around him. A camera shot from inside Traviss taxi picks up drug addicts and prostitutes. This is the world that Travis sees and is distracted by. He does not see beyond these images and forms his opinion of the outside world accordingly. The camera, by showing a view outside the taxi that selects drug addicts and prostitutes takes the viewer into the hard-pressed mind of Travis. This is world that Travis sees and is fixated on. A world diseased and decaying and in need of cleansing. Mise-en-scene is also used to demonstrate contradictions. The camera depicts a seemingly ordinary valet, dressed neatly and appearing to be respectful and naive. Yet, the camera follows and depicts Travis visiting seedy theatres and writing letters to h is parents that reveal that Travis would like to live an ordinary life, but is detain by his perceptions of a diseased world. In his letters to his parents, Travis unrealistically himself as a working man on the verge of marrying a respectable woman (Betsy) when it is well known by the time of writing, that Travis has been spurned by Betsy. Therefore, the underlying message is that there are contradictions between that which occurs in Traviss mind and the world in which he actually lives. The contradictions are reaching a fever pitch and this is