Life in a Fishbowl Mike Nichols' film, The Graduate, is a coming-of-age story that has won the hearts of young college graduates across the world. 'America. Despite being made in the 1960s, this soon-to-be popular film did not focus on the typical ideas depicted in this decade, such as hippies, drugs, and rock and roll music. It focused instead on the stark and realistic confusion that young adults feel, even today, when they are expected to suddenly enter the impending world of adulthood. Becoming an adult proves difficult for some, particularly The Graduate's protagonist, Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate, played by Dustin Hoffman. Benjamin does not appear to be part of the generation gap, but rather, completely excluded from all parts of society, unable to find a niche in his life where he truly belongs, even with his peers. The gritty realism depicted in this film helped young people of this era relate to Benjamin in a way they hadn't been able to before. He is a symbolic figure for teenagers of this time and beyond, who did not and do not know what they will do with their lives and who also do not feel like they belong. Nichols illuminates the idea that Benjamin is trapped in a metaphorical fishbowl constructed by unmet expectations and life's unexpected turns, through his carefully chosen and thoughtful uses of form, as well as his visual style, which includes mise-en-scène and the sound inside Il Laureato. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Brian Ott, author of Introducing Critical Media Studies, describes form as such: “…form describes the cognitive component of a message. Form can be thought of as the way a message is packaged and delivered. The packaging of a message is a consequence, firstly, of the medium and, secondly, of the genre or class. Each communication medium or technology packages messages differently" (Ott, 13). In the case of The Graduate, Mike Nichols created a narrative film, told from the point of view of young Benjamin Braddock. His film has a linear structure, but is still able to make the audience uncomfortable through the use of themes and genres and how they interact with each other. One of the most important themes of Nichols' film is this reference to the “aquarium,” which emerges early in the film, while in Benjamin's bedroom. He has a tank with his pet fish in it, with a plastic diver planted in the bottom of the tank. An echo of this is created repeatedly throughout the film, such as when Benjamin himself dons a diving suit, or the recurring bodies of water and rain that he keeps encountering. Ben feels trapped in his life and feels that others are peering at him through the glass between him and adulthood. Even so, he seems to find comfort in wishing he could live alone in the water, rather than join adult life elsewhere. Gender also plays a role in Benjamin's inner turmoil, as although The Graduate is meant to be a comedy, it is quite dark. Classifying this film as a comedy is almost an insult to Benjamin's life, as he struggles to find a place in the world. The viewers feel like they're watching something they shouldn't see, and maybe they're part of the problem, and they're part of those who make Benjamin feel like he doesn't belong. it is typically described as parts within a frame, carefully chosen by a director, to help create an atmosphere and portray a particular feeling for the audience. Mike Nichols was especiallyadamant about the use of mise-en-scène during the filming of The Graduate. Color and costume, both components of mise-en-scène, play an important role in every scene of this film. Nichols' use of color guides the audience to feel certain emotions, quite deliberately. A good example of this is the scene where Benjamin's parents give him a diving suit as a birthday present. His relentless father repeatedly asks him to try it in the 6-foot-deep in-ground pool in the backyard, until he agrees. This reminds the audience of an earlier scene, in which Ben is told that his future is in “plastic.” Benjamin never seems to have a choice in what he's doing, and this pool scene is no exception. Not wanting to disappoint his parents and their enthusiastic group of friends, Benjamin steps outside and the camera cuts to a famous point of view shot from inside his scuba mask. Even though the colors of the courtyard are warm and her parents' friends are dressed in white, making them seem completely innocent, the mask she wears creates a black border around them. This allows for the interpretation that Benjamin, in fact, separates himself from these older, more established counterparts, and also implies that he feels like an animal being watched from behind “glass” – or, rather, his plastic mask. The black border created around his parents and their friends is meant to symbolize that although they are well-intentioned people, the repercussions of their actions are not so good. When Benjamin arrives at the pool, he is forced to dive. As he does so, his world, and that of the screen, becomes blue and beautiful. He almost seems sad, if it weren't for the refreshing realization that there are no longer faces pressing on him and that the scene no longer feels frenetic and overwhelming. He is alone at the bottom of the pool and, at first, resists, trying to get out of the water. As he approaches the surface, his parents' figures are black, gray and blurry, and as he attempts to escape, his father's hand reaches out and pushes Benjamin back into the pool using his mask, covering Benjamin's face. visualization. At this point, in the cool blue bottom of the pool, he is alone, but he seems to accept it. As Benjamin floats there, in the murky water, clutching his harpoon, he almost resembles Neil Armstrong, reclaiming his rightful place on this lonely, isolated plane, which is the only place he feels he truly belongs. Benjamin is stuck in this metaphorical fishbowl that is his life, with faces peering in, but no one can hear him as he figuratively cries out for help. The cold colors of this scene, as well as the direct act of immersing Benjamin in the water, amplify the underlying metaphor that Nichols wants to show the audience. These color patterns continue to occur throughout the film, helping the viewer distinguish what they should feel about this dark comedy. “The arts offer us intensely immersive experiences,” say Bordwell and Thompson in Film Art: An Introduction. “We say that movies draw us in or immerse us…works of art engage us by engaging our senses, feelings, and mind in a process…the artist has created a pattern” (Bordwell & Thompson, 51). Nichols embodies this idea throughout The Graduate, modeling his visual and stylistic choices, finding himself able to comfortably fit a specific form for this film. The costume design in The Graduate is also prevalent. In the opening scene, Benjamin is shown wearing a suit, which gives him a professional, businesslike appearance. This leads the viewer to believe that he has got his life together, as most businessmen do, although this is certainly not the case with Ben. Continue with this style throughoutfirst half of the film. He initially appears to inherit this style from his father, who is initially introduced as lecturing Ben about his life choices. This observation will later be contradicted by the almost tourist-like clothes his father continues to wear for the rest of the film. This juxtaposition would indicate that he and his father come to understand each other less, as his father becomes more of a spectator in his life and less of an authority figure. Ms. Robinson's costume design is also noteworthy. Played by Anne Bancroft, Mrs. Robinson is the older woman with whom Ben has an affair and who, coincidentally, is one of his parents' oldest friends. She is first seen in a dark, partially see-through dress and heels, making her look sexy and intimidating. When Benjamin calls her from a pay phone a few scenes later and asks her to meet him at a hotel, she is wearing an animal-print fur coat. Following this costume decision, the viewer may associate her with a tiger or, more appropriately, a puma. “Cougar” is a term to describe an older woman who beds or preys on younger men. Incidentally, Mrs. Robinson's daughter, with whom Benjamin eventually falls in love, is exactly the opposite. On their first date he wears a white jacket with a light pink t-shirt. Although Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson have become close, her daughter Elaine represents a refreshing contrast to Benjamin. She dresses more casually and makes him feel even more comfortable than his mother ever could. The more comfortable he becomes with himself, the more casually Benjamin begins to dress. While this doesn't necessarily make him part of society, he seems to feel a little less isolated and less like a fish stuck in a bowl. She begins to break out of the glass and challenge her parents' ideals, expressing herself through her ever-changing clothing choices in the second half of the film. Jan Roberts-Breslin, author of Making Media: Foundations of Sound and Image Production, believes that, “…we should realize that artistic sound design is as important as visual composition in creating effective audiovisual media. Sound design is the combination of sound elements, how they work together as part of a soundtrack, and how they work with images to tell the story” (Roberts-Breslin, 162). Sound is an extremely important aspect of The Graduate, as it helped Nichols create a realistic portrait of 1960s society, rather than the idea of ​​“flower power” which only applied to a certain portion of the American population. The score for The Graduate was performed by Simon and Garfunkel, who weave in and out of the film, setting the pace and echoing the dark tones of the film itself. While the songs aren't necessarily slow, the lyrics take a big step forward in some scenes, such as the lyric, "the sound of silence," which leads to a scene where there is no music. This helps the audience relate to his situation more easily, because obviously something is wrong. The soundtrack for this film is repetitive, using the same band's music throughout the film and repeating some songs when necessary. This, once again, can lead the viewer to the metaphor of this aquarium in which Benjamin lives. It seems that life continues in a repetitive manner, with no sign of escape, and is shown by Nichols through the use of non-diegetic, repetitive sounds. The very ending of the film leaves the viewer bewildered. Although Benjamin and Elaine decide to run away together from Elaine's marriage to another man, they seem as confused and naive as at first. The elderly people on the bus turn to look at them in silence as if they were.