Mise-En-Scene

A memorable scene for me, in terms of mise-en-scene, is when Renton enters the ‘Worst toilet in Scotland’, as it is called in film. The disgustingness of the set design in this scene is most likely over-exaggerated by Todd Phillips, to not only make the audience feel disgusted by what they’re viewing, but to also portray to the viewers how damaging drug addiction is, as this character of Mark Renton is willing to use this extremely disgusting toilet, and later on in the sequence dives into the toilet to retrieve some drugs he’d dropped in toilet. The grimy toilet also adds to the verisimilitude of the film as, even though the filth is somewhat over exaggerated, the toilet does appear to be somewhat realistic. The sound within this scene also adds to the horrid scene we are seeing unfold before us, as there is no music, only the sounds of Renton’s relief as he finally goes to the toilet. This obviously adds to the disgusting tone of the scene as the audience has nothing else to listen too, so they are forced to hear this disgusting, yet simplistic, soundscape. The spacing at the beginning of the sequence is really effective. Boyle places Renton in the background, so that the audience can take in all the elements of the disgusting toilet, such as the broken urinals and the just the overall state of the toilet. The low key lighting within the scene only adds to the dinginess and horridness of the toilet scene and the setting of it. Ewan Mcgregor, the actor who plays Renton, ‘s make up in this scene and really the whole film, makes him appear more pale and worn out, due to his heroin addiction. This adds to the versimilitude of the film, as it makes it Mcgregor look like a drug addict.

Sound

The soundscape throughout the film is intentionally grotesque, to not only match the disgusting and borderline disturbing imagery shown in the film, but to also follow up on the film’s key message of showing the damage that drugs can have on people within society. The two key examples of sound that I find the most iconic and memorable is the scene in which Renton overdoses and the scene in which Renton goes to the worst toilet in Scotland. The first example is iconic due to the non-diagetic sound within the scene, that being the song ‘Perfect Day’ by Lou Reed. This choice of song is amazing for a few reasons, the first being that taking heroin is Renton’s perfect day at this point in his life, as that is all he cares about. Another reason why it’s so amazing is that its ironic because Renton isn’t having a perfect day, as he could die from an overdose from heroin. This is an example of the film’s dark humour, another being Bigbe’s maniacal bar fight, where he lobs a pint glass over his head.

Cinematography

The cinematographer in Trainspotting is Brian Tufano and he uses wide angles and colour manipulation to convey to the audience the trippy psychedelic experience that the characters are under going due to heroin. He also uses wide and low angles, as well as worm’s eye low level movement and framing, to show the audience the lack of ambition and limited perspective that these characters have in their lives. Throughout the film, the way that Renton is framed portrays him as being alone and isolated. A good example of this the bar scene, in which Renton goes to the bar with his family and his mum wins the bingo. The sequence that ensues pictures Renton alone and unmoving, whereas his family, in fast motion, spend the night partying and spending their winnings. This shot/sequence, with Renton centered in the frame, solitary, really portrays how Renton currently feels without heroin in his life. He doesn’t currently care about anything, as he is without the one thing that made him have a ‘Perfect Day’. Heroin.

Editing

Throughout the film, the use of editing creates a particularly stylistic humour, which mainly involves irony and social realism. It also uses montage, such as the montage of London, to show a stylistically excessive representation of London. This may be used to portray to the viewer the feelings that the Scottish characters have towards London and England as a whole, which is that they view London as this place that’s culturally exciting, compared to the lacklustre environment of Scotland and how their culture is described as being old and behind by Diana. It also interestingly uses freeze-frames in the opening to introduce each of the characters in the film.