THE LOST BOYS – Joel SCHUMACHER

The mise en scene of the title sequence begins with a slow track across the water to the town of Santa Carla at night. The title “The Lost Boys” conjures thoughts of the children’s novel and a group of young boys as shown in, “Peter Pan”, but the more sinister setting and dark lighting render this film more disturbing for the audience. The word “lost” suggests death or excluded from society. Furthermore the non diegetic music and song accompanying this shot, “Thou shalt not Kill” emphasises the darker subject of death. The title shows smaller type face on middle letters. The ‘O’ is lost inside the words.

The camera tilts up slowly to an establishing long shot of the fairground at night and then cuts to a long shot of the merry-go-round. It then zooms in to a close up on Kiefer Sutherland, centre frame and a position of importance, prowling through the moving merry-

go-round. The mise-en-scene, reveals he is searching for something. His expression is confident and his costume is youthful, but dark.

As Sutherland moves out of frame right, his “gang” emerge centre frame behind him. Sutherland is clearly the leader of this group. Their costume and manner suggests they are rebellious: Leather coats, studs, snakeskin embellishments and their actions suggest a disregard for the behaviour expected on a fairground ride.

A fight breaks out and we see a close up shot of a leather gloved hand on a boy’s face. The girl looks frightened.

The next shot shows the binary opposition of law and disorder, possibly good and evil, as a policeman grabs Sutherland by the neck with his truncheon. At this point the policeman is in control, positioned higher up in frame left.

However audience attention is on the fight and the rebellious youths.

Order is re-established and the boys appear to be willing to depart peacefully. However the performance shows threat in their eyes.

There is an aerial shot of the theme park closing down, along with the non-diegetic music it creates a anomalous feel

As the camera shows a long shot of the sign from the front, it displays what the outside views Santa Carla as, a seaside holiday resort. Off in the distance the town itself can be seen but a majority of it is covered up by the town’s main attraction, the pier.