Setting

Sam Mendes has used very simplistic, realistic and interesting settings in all three films I have studied, Revolutionary Road (2008), Jarhead (2005) and American Beauty (1999).

‘Suburbia' is the main setting for both American Beauty and Revolutionary Road. A wooden, white, lavish, two storied house in a well maintained, upper class neighbourhood is where the majority of both of these films take place. These American neighbourhoods in American Beauty and Revolutionary Road are full of big green leaved trees, long sidewalks and houses that are equally separated with perfectly mown, green lawns. As soon as you see shots of these neighbourhoods and houses at the start of the films you get the general idea of what sort of characters would live here and how they live. It also represents how the families are choosing to live out there day to day lives, For example, when Frank and April Wheeler move to their new home in the suburbs to start a family. After shots of these settings we immediately find out that both families are quite wealthy and are very domesticated. These suburban settings give us the idea that these families want to live ‘The American Dream’. These well maintained houses and neighbourhoods don’t distract you when it comes to the plot of the film’s, they give you an extended idea of the characters living in these houses.

In this trailer for Revolutionary Road we get the general idea of what 'Suburbia' looks like how Frank and April live out their lives.

Trailer for Revolutionary Road:

From this shot taken from American Beauty we can see that the Burnaham family home is very similar to the Wheeler's family home.

A desert is the setting for the majority of the film Jarhead. This desert is very big and seems to go on for miles. We see in the setting throughout the film a range of ‘sandy’, bright colours and the blazing sun powering down. The desert setting isn’t at all intricate and doesn’t distract you from the actors or high paced scenes throughout the film. The desert acts as a ‘canvas’ to all the other film elements.

The one similarity in all three films was that the setting doesn’t distract you from the films dialogue or story line. Mendes has made the settings subtle, and interesting enough at the same time. No setting is over powering to film; we (the viewer) can focus on the actors and dialogue throughout the films. The dialogue is a major element in all these films. Therefore, the settings were major assets to each film as they helped convey each story more clearly.