Visual Aspects of "Of Mice and Men"

The Visual Elements of the Film Adaptation of:

Of Mice and Men

1. Camera movement/Framing: Two techniques are used in the film to immerse the viewer in story.  The first is the use of hand-held camera.  These are used sparingly as they are not to disorient the viewer (unlike in thriller or action movies), but to create the illusion of being a part of the film.  When the characters are crouching in a river to hide at the beginning of the movie, the hand-held camera used, along with its height (placement), imitate the point of view of a person; the slight shakiness of the frame mimics the shakiness a person crouching in a river would have; the height at which the camera is placed is at eye level.  The second technique is obstructing the shot.  Using elements of the environment, whether it's a tree branch or a door frame, the shots are partially blocked, as if we are an observer present at the scene and not a viewer watching the work of a professional cameraman.  

The door frame (right) obstructs the view

The plants mimic what Lenny and George are seeing.

2.  Music: The music in the film is by Mark Isham.  It's a mix of acoustic guitar (and other "southern" instruments) and a traditional orchestra.  The orchestra is played in important moments or moments that are very tense.  The guitar is played in a country style during scenes on the farm.  The music accentuates the ambiance and is noticeably absent during specific moments.  Most notably in the last scene when George shoots Lenny.  The silence in this scene is extremely powerful, it builds up the tension and makes the viewer uncomfortable.  If they had played sad music, it would have told the viewer "now you should feel sad", it would have ruined the build-up and most importantly viewers would simply feel sad.  Instead, they feel conflicted, not knowing whether they should feel relieved, angry, disappointed, devastated, disgusted, ...

The lack of music in this scene forces the viewer to think, also the shot is once again obstructed (by leaves on the left).

3. Storytelling:  The film is very effective in its storytelling, just like the book.  In the first five minutes, George is clearly established as a parental figure to the childish Lenny.  Certains scenes from the novel that had no strong importance are cut, leaving time for new scenes, added-in for clarity.


4.  Use of colour (symbolism, saturation and contrast):  In the film, most characters and man-made structures are in neutral, desaturated, drab colours. This is contrasted by the highly saturated shots of nature in the film, certains greens are unnatural, dirt often appears pink, the sky is often too blue and the fields are a bright yellow.  This represents how Lenny and George see the world, to them nature and living of the land is true freedom.  Nature is part of their dream and everything else is unappealing and mundane to them, and therefore the viewer thanks to the colours.  The entire film still has a natural colour palette with miscellaneous pastels peppered in:

The natural palette combined with pastel colours is especially visible here: a blue, green and yellow, all desaturated, contrasted with bright pinks.

The film features many high contrast shots, often used to highlight certain elements in the frame:

Curly's wife stands out from the dark background.

In this scene Curly's wife is wearing a pale dress that creates a contrats with the dark background.  This is to represent how she is not welcome, she doesn't belong.

In opposition to this, certain shots are practically monochromatic, these shots are often scenes of the men working:

This lack of diversity in value and hue represents the mundane nature of the scene.  None of these characters really want to be there doing this.

5.  Other:  The attention to detail in this film is truly amazing.  For example, in this scene, we see Candy's bed:

The photograph of dogs (right) is a reference to Candy's beloved dog and shows his love for the animals.  We can also see an assortment of pictures and knick-knacks, which shows his sentimentality (something that the others find odd, i.e. his attachment to his dog).

In general this film is beautifully made and acted and I would highly recommend it.