Mise-en-scene Seinfeld

I decided to comment on the mise-en-scene of season 8, episode 16, "The Pothole," from Seinfeld's series. I wanted to comment on this series because I'm currently binging it, and it's turning out to be pretty good to watch. It's hilarious, and unlike any series I've watched before. Additionally, I picked Seinfeld because the episodes are short, and it really bunches the information together for this assignment. 

The episode starts off with a shallow space of Jerry Seinfeld and his new girlfriend in the bathroom brushing their teeth. However, Jerry was brushing first while his girlfriend was getting something in the living room, and he accidentally knocked over her toothbrush. Then, the space turns into frontality where the perspective is directly from the toilet's bottom to look at Jerry's face as he struggles to get the toothbrush out, failing to attempt to hide his disgust at the gross toilet water. Afterward, his girlfriend comes back out of nowhere and starts brushing her teeth with the freshly pulled-out toilet dunked water toothbrush. This beginning scene sets up the mood that this episode is going to be comical and that it allows the viewers to feel intimate with the setting used at the beginning of the episode. 

After a couple of scenes, you would notice that the episode is consistently made with three-point lighting, which shows that the scenery the characters are in is ordinary amidst what could become chaos at any moment. This effect allows the views the predict what would happen and be in anticipation of what's occurring. It truly enhances the sense that the scenery is in New York City and that it's as crazy as it gets in the episode. Not only that, the characters dress what you could expect in a 2000s century Yorker and especially with some characters such as Kramer or George, who dress to showcase their personality. Kramer's dress is very wild and focal, which showcases his purpose in the episode as the wild card. While George is professionally dressed as any work is in New York, his personality contradicts that entirely due to his balding head and being awkward and weird in most scenarios. 

Furthermore, the acting from all the characters is a mix of performance style and blocking because, in some scenes, it shows the characters are standing in a sort of order that would symbolize their purpose in the conversation. While the characters themselves are very chill and sometimes contradict what an average person would react/conversate. Their roles as humans and actors seem very surreal as they constantly switch back and forth in between. However, one constant thing is that the characters invite humor for individuals to enjoy and for the viewers to stay longer, expecting more. 

In conclusion, the episode was enjoyable and full of laughter on my part. It's impressive that a series that is going for over 8 seasons can still keep its views expecting the same and familiar humor and that its characters never cease to surprise us.