Mise-en-scene refers to everything within the frame of a shot that can be used to tell the story, including the five main elements: settings and props, costumes/makeup, facial expressions/body language, lighting/color, and character/object positioning. These elements help establish expectations, provide context about time period and culture, convey characters' feelings and relationships, and highlight important aspects through techniques like lighting, camera angles, and character placement within the frame. Mise-en-scene is a key filmmaking tool used to manipulate audiences and advance the narrative.
2. Mise-en-scene
Mise-en-scene is a French term meaning what is put into a scene or frame.
The 5 elements of mise-en-scene are:
Settings & Props
Costume, hair & make-up
Facial expressions & body language
Lighting & Colour
Positioning of characters/objects within the frame
3. Settings
A setting is a place or type of surrounding where something is positioned or where an event takes
place.
Settings play an important part in film-making as they can manipulate an audience by building
certain expectations and then take a different turn.
4. props
The term movie prop is short for movie property and refers to any object used by actors or set
decorators in a movie, it generally refers to items used to define characters or to advance the
story line.
5. Costume, hair & make-up
Costume, hair & make-up helps the audience to figure out the character’s personality, status &
job, certain costumes can signify certain individuals (i.e. black cloak of a vampire, Spiderman's
suit).
It shows us when the film was set or what society/culture it will centre around.
6. Facial expressions & body language
Facial expressions provide a clear indicator of how someone is feeling, i.e. if someone is smiling
broadly, we assume they are happy but we may get a different feeling if this is accompanied by
scary music.
Body language may also indicate how a character feels towards another character or may reflect
the state of their relationship.
7. Lighting & colour
Lighting & colour are used to highlight important characters or objects within the frame, it can
also make characters look mysterious by shading sections of the face & body.
Types of lighting:
Low key lighting - This is created by using only key & back lights, and produces sharp contrasts
of light & dark areas causing shadows and silhouettes.
High key lighting - Has more filler lights and makes it look natural, this produces brightly lit sets.
8. Positioning of characters/objects within
the frame
◦ Different camera positions can help tell a story, you can shoot from above or below, as well as
from eye level.
◦ Low angle shots, where the camera points upwards from below, make people (and things) look
bigger, more courageous and more important.
◦ High angle shots from above usually make people or things look weaker and less powerful.
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