Mis-en-scene

David Gropman Is the production designer for Hundred foot Journey. He was nominated for an Oscar for the movie life of Pi. He stared by studying stage and design at San Francisco State U then Yale University. From there he stared a career in designing theater in New York on and off Broadway. He did a stage play with a film director then went into film making.

David Gropman is known for being able to capture the mood, which he does in the river scene from Hundred foot Journey.

Food blends cultures and lets us have a peek into someone else s life. Gropman captures intimacy with the setting of the scene, the clothing, jewelry Margaret wears and the position they shoot from. The scene starts out with Margaret coming quickly down a straight path toward the river where Hussin lays in wait for her with a specially prepared surprise. He quickly pops up and calls her over. The camera is focused on the couple and the back ground is out of focus or darkened on all the close ups. The light is mostly defused somehow, the bright colors in the back ground add to the cheerful feelings. There is one shaft of light that shines on Margaret's head I think it acts as a vector. Gropman captures the reflection in their eyes and the tenderness exchanged on their faces with the position of the shots and the lighting on the faces. The contrast of the colors in the blanket and the white cloth along with the formal set up of the dishes add to the sweetness and the romance. They exchanged something very intimate through the sharing and exchange of food. The message is reinforced when they talk about their memories of loved ones being linked to foods. The takes are zoomed in to capture eye and facial responses then zoomed out to capture the mood of the whole scene. The light is reflected off the water, and the building and its structure give the feeling that it is a castle creating a bit of a fairy-tale ambiance. I really like that as the viewer begins to sense the couple are becoming hooked to each other Hussins' fishing pole starts to be pulled into the water. There is a big fish on the other end of the pole; he works it for a minute then he jubilantly announces I caught one. It is symbolic of what has just happened reinforcing the success of the exchange between the two cultures through sharing food.