Luther - Mise En Scene

One of the points that I made from this video clips is the interior and exterior environment. The exterior environment at the start of the clip takes place in a City area, with busy roads and big buildings. The area is also very dull and bland, for example the grey skies, which is used to highlight the stereotypical British weather. The use of big coats on the characters further emphasises this. The placement of the characters in the frame of this scene makes them seem insignificant and small against the tall buildings that fill the frame behind them.

Moving onto when they enter the woman (Alice's) flat and we are introduced to yet another bland colour scheme. Her flat consists of very little objects and goes against the stereotypical woman's household as it gives off a very masculine feel. In the flat we also get a better view of the characters' clothing. Luther is wearing a coat, shirt, tie and jeans. He also has a very neat and functional hairstyle. All of these features allow him to appear smart yet still be comfortable in his work attire, meaning he still looks suitable for his job description and therefore keeping the respect of the public. Alice has a similar style, but her high heels and smart trousers suggest a more business type of occupation. Her hair is very neat and she is wearing makeup, showing that she likes to make an effort. However, her dark pink/red lipstick leans towards the idea of a lustrous and seductive appearance and therefore suggests she has done her makeup like this to attempt to seduce Luther. 

In the apartment scene we also get an impression of the power of the two characters. Although Luther is the broader person and Alice is a slim petite woman, the position of power and 'who's in charge' is actually placed on Alice. This is because of her actions and tones. Her voice is even, cold and almost robotic as she is not giving off any emotions as she speaks. She manages to get in the last word most of the time and also threatens him before he leaves, showing that she is not scared of him in contrast to when she moves in to touch him on the cheek and he flinches and moves away suggesting that he may be scared of her. This role reversal allows Alice to appear overpowering to him as he almost cowards away from her.