Mary Zimmerman's The Arabian Nights

Mary Zimmerman’s The Arabian Nights is a compilation of Middle-Eastern folklore and contains great cinematic potential in terms of Mise-En-Scene. Though the story primarily takes place in the Middle East, various tales from all over the Eastern hemisphere are told throughout the play. Creating a film that contains so many different cultures requires an emphasis on costume design, makeup and setting to ensure each diverse location is represented and each culture is portrayed respectively. In addition to this, lighting techniques must be manipulated to reflect the tone shift of each individual tale as it plays out. The setting in The Arabian Nights is a key element to creating an authentic film experience for the audience. Because the story …show more content…
Characters Middle Eastern wealthy classes would wear a collection of vibrant, busy patterns fringed with tinkling golden charms and precious jewels. Lower classes would be represented by more neutral, earthy colors with simplistic designs. Shrouds for female cast members would be included to represent the oppressed role of women during this time period. In the beginning of the film, the king would wear layers of dark, rich red clothing paired with ostentatious jewels and accessories to reflect his greed and anger towards the women of his country. As the film progresses and the Princess continues to share her stories, the king’s clothing should gradually become less cumbersome and slowly shift to lighter shades of red as he begins to soften and let go of his grudges. The wardrobes of the captive princesses would be consistently portrayed in soft, pastel colored garments of elegant simplicity to represent their unwavering innocence and good-will towards the …show more content…
One key lighting element in a film adaptation of The Arabian Nights would be to make a definitive contrast in the lighting used in the real-life scenes between the captive princess and the king and the lighting used in scenes involving stories being told by the captive princess. Using hard light in the real-life scenes would emphasize the element of reality while soft light could be used to create a dream-like effect in opposing scenes. In addition to this, low-key lighting should be displayed on the king throughout the beginning of the film, but as time progresses and the king’s heart begins to soften towards his captive princess, his lighting will gradually shift to high key in order to represent the development of his character. The captive princess’ lighting should begin and remain high key throughout the film to signify her role as the protagonist. Over the course of the film, the princess’ lighting highlights should increase as she grows closer to the king and develops intimate feelings towards him. Scenes involving the princess’ stories should be shot in low-key lighting with emphasized shadows to draw a line between the reality of the princess’ captivity and the fantasy of her stories. In respect to this, lighting within the scenes of each individual story should contrast to reflect the tone of the prevailing