This was my third time viewing Dr. Strangelove and like many others, I was constantly picking up on film techniques and important aspects of the mise-en-scene that I missed out on the first time around. One of the devices I noticed this third time around was the use of a non-diegetic score every time the film cut to the scenes in the bomber plane. Whenever the stakes were heightened a fast-paced military type score was heard that served to heighten the tension and create an atmosphere in which danger was immenient . Using this device allowed Kubrick to easily show the audience the severity of their Cold War situation without any of the characters having to outwardly say that the decisions they were about to make were important. Another device that Kubrick used to highlight important moments in the plot was quick zooms. Kubrick employed this technique when the message for the bombing first comes in on the plane and then features this again when the pilot of the plane is double checking the bombing request with his code manual. Using the camera in this way allowed Kubrick to create a sequence that was both visually interesting and informative.
Another cinematic element I focused on while watching the film was the coloring of the mise-en-scene. As many people pointed out in class, Kubrick shot the entire film in black and white, an artistic choice that I believe fit the subject of the film nicely. The grey landscape featured in the film is representative of the bleak outlook many had on life duing the Cold War because it was a time in which the main subjects on people’s mindset were nuclear war and death. Had this film been shot in color it wouldn’t have conveyed the seriousness of this moment in history in the way that a saturated black and white mise-en-scene does.