Easy Rider 1969



The film Easy Rider has been made to show the story of two 'hippies' as they travel across America in order to find a spiritual truth along with two others who want to live a more alternative lifestyle. At the very beginning of the scene a mid to long shot is used where the audience can clearly see in the mise-en-scene that the characters are taking some form of pill which induces the acid trip that they experience. This shot clearly helps the audience gain a preferred reading of living an alternative lifestyle as in the 60s drugs were not as well heard of as the decades that came after, this also helps gain the preferred reading of finding a spiritual truth as while being on these drugs they may feel an out of body spiritual experience that two characters are searching to find and allows the audience to feel like the are accompanying the journey that the characters are going on within the narrative.

Very soon after the first shot the editing of the scene uses very fast jump cuts that turns the narrative into non-linear, the fast editing and jump cuts have been used to represent the intensity of an acid trip which the characters are having which allows the audience to gain the preferred reading in relating to what's happening as it tried to make the audience experience what the characters are so they can gain the gratification of person identity. The fast editing of the jump cuts along with the non linear narrative combines in order to represent the acid trip in a more realistic way and convey a sense of verisimilitude. The sudden change in a non-linear narrative allows the audience to understand and gain the preferred reading of the text as they understand how time may move differently while having an acid trip, the fact that non-linear narrative was fairly new in the time it allows to portray the time in an acid trip in a new way to audiences. The jump cuts and non linear narrative are also a big part of the french new wave by reminding the audience that they are still just watching a movie so it helps to create meaning within the scene and remind the audience that whats happening on screen is only on screen not in real life.

As well as this many close ups are used in the quickly edited jump cuts of religious statues, the most important being Jesus on the cross as well as a mid shot of a man where in the mise-en-scene a graveyard is shown in the background, these two particular shots are used to help the audience gain a preferred reading of going through a spiritual experience. These shots showing particular things in the mies-en-scene relating to religion and spirits allows the audience to gain the gratification of personal identity as they feel that they are finding the spiritual truth or experience along side with the characters. Spirituality is also extremely emphasised when the close up of Jesus on the cross pans out into a long shot so that the audiences attention is anchored into what is happening in the narrative and emphasises the spirituality.

The clip also uses a combination of ambient lighting as well as only digits sound to make it seem more natural and again allow the audience to gain the preferred reading as they gain a sense of verisimilitude. Ambient lighting was preferred in the french new wave as it gave the film a more natural and casual look which can be seen in the slip from easy rider.  In the very first shot the only sound that can be heard is diegetic dialogue which is used for an active audience to understand greater what is about to happen in the narrative. The ambient lighting is also used along side the digits sound to make the clips more realistic, the ambient lighting is also portrayed by pointing the camera directly into the sun so the audience can see the light source and feel that the acid trip can occur in everyday lift and gain the gratification of personal identity as the audience can feel like they have experienced this scenes in everyday life and can combine to relate to the acid trip happening in the narrative.

At the very start of the acid trip a panning shot is used to portray a run down building with branches coming out of the window, this shot along with the ambient lighting allows the audiences to see a gritty real life setting that those with a more alternative lifestyle may choose visit. This may have been done as a part of the french new wave was to look more natural therefore a natural setting will allow the audience to gain this feel and get the preferred reading.