Mise en scène of The Wizard of Oz

Movie: The Wizard of Oz
Year: 1939
Director: Victor Fleming & George Cukor (and some uncredited)
Screenplay: Noel Langley & Florence Ryerson (and some uncredited)
Writer: L. Frank Baum
Actors: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr. Jack Haley & Margaret Hamilton

The use of lighting in this film made the 1st major impression on movies. The beginning of the movie starts in Black and White and also uses Sepia for some early scenes. This gives the movie low-key lighting and you can clearly identify with Dorothy's unhappiness through the tones of lighting or lack there of.

This film also uses high-key lighting as well. "It is an interesting contrast. Her fantasy life, which she experiences while unconscious, is 

represented by vibrant color, which is still striking and might have seemed an almost 

miraculous effect to the 1939 audience. Yet Dorothy spends her time in Oz working out 

how she will get home. In Kansas, where she is surrounded by her family and friends, 

Dorothy’s life is shown in black and white, considerably more drab than the segment 

in Oz. Yet while in Oz—where her life is shown in rich, vivid 

color—she longs only to return home" (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011. Ch.4 Pg.5). 

The moment that Dorothy first arrives in Oz, the film turns from Black & White and Brown Sepia to intense vibrant colors!

The benefits of using lighting in this style is that is shows the transformation that Dorothy makes physically and mentally. Switching to color when she arrives in Oz was a tremendous and beautiful change in the film. This technique contributed to the theme because it visually shows the changes Dorothy makes throughout the movie. The use of color and shadows are useful when she is scared, happy and when she becomes stronger willed near the end. The lighting technique is well suited for the genre of this film, which is a Fantasy/Musical. 

The scenes in The Wizard of Oz where the colors are different are very important. If the film didn't turn into color when Dorothy opened the door, it would not have had the same impact that it did. The shadows used in the above picture of the Wicked Witch of the West threatening Dorothy while she's locked away gives the audience a feeling of capture and worry. The shadows on the wall look like a jail cell. If the slippers were not ruby red, it also would not have made the impact that it did. 

If the entire movie was kept in Black and White, it would have played very differently. When Glinda made it snow to break the sleeping spell that the Wicked Witch put on Dorothy and her friends, the vibrant colors of the snow on the poppy's made the scene stand out. It was a re-birth and when they awoke, they skipped down the yellow brick road towards Oz. If different choices were made, the movie would not have been the same at all. What if Glinda's snow didn't wake them up? What if the slippers that Dorothy received weren't bright red? In the book, the slippers are silver.

All of these photographs above from scenes of the movie would have been much different if they did not use the colors that they did. The vibrant colors made such an emotional impact on the viewer and the use of shadows and darker hues gave the audience a sense of fear. The lighting changes throughout the entire movie and makes a beautiful impact.

Reference:

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From watching to seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Google.com. (2014). Google Images. Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/search?q=wizard%20of%20oz&espv=&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=OgnsU97iOsOhyASC5YDYBw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg&sourceid=chrome-psyapi2&biw=1366&bih=624&dpr=1&cad=cbv&sei=3QzsU8OOKI21yASWz4CwBA#imgdii=_