Mise en-scene

1. Mise-en-scene
What does mise-en-scene mean?
Everything in the scene.
What are the 6 key areas of mise-en-scene?
Colour, costume, props, location, blocking and lighting.
Colour:
How is colour used in the 3 below pictures?
In the first image, the character is wearing a white coat; this would suggest that she is a
nice or ‘pure’ character as those are the stereotypical connotations of the colour white.
However, underneath the coat, she is wearing a black dress which suggests she could be
evil or a rather dark character, which contradicts the fact that her coat connotes her as the
opposite.
In the second image, the character is presented as negative character due to the fact that
she too, is wearing black however, she has a green complexion which can be likened to a
witch. Which therefore, signifies her as a character who is not very pleasant within the
story.
In the third image, the character is wearing an all-white dress which suggests she is
completely pure. Furthermore, in the background, there is lots of colour being used which
would denote that she is a positive character within the story. Whereas, in the previous
two pictures, the backgrounds are very dull and colourless which follows the themes of
how they are both presented to the audience.

2. Mise-en-scene
Costume:
What can we interpret from these costumes?
Props:
Option 1 - You have to provide props for a tense police interview between two officers
and one suspected murderer. Decide what props you would incorporate and how the
actors should be directed to use them.
Option 2 – You have to provide props for a romantic meal between two characters on
their first date. Decide what props you would incorporate and how the actors should be
directed to use them.
Props needed:
Candle, flowers, wine, food, knife and fork, chairs, jackets
How would actors be directed to use them:
The male character should pull the chair out for the women to show that he is a respectful
gentleman, there should be a candle in the middle of the table although the actors don’t
interact with the prop it gives the scene more of a romantic feel, wine is the drink of choice
at a posh romantic meal so the man should poor his woman a glass of wine, the jackets
shouldn’t come of straight away to show they are not yet comfortable however when they
start talking they can take them off
Location:
Can be a purpose built set or a real location. This means you can use a location, but set it
up as another. For example, much of the film ‘World War Z’ is set in New York however, it
was filmed in Edinburgh.
This image would suggest that the two men in the picture rather
mysterious due to their choice of clothing. For example, the
character on the left is wearing a long black trench coat and scarf
which would raise a certain level of intrigue for the audience.
Perhaps they are police officers or investigators etc. Furthermore,
the fact that the characters are both in black adds to the mystery.
The costumes that these characters are
wearing, would suggest that the family is
most likely of the lower of middle class. This
is because they do not appear to be
wearing very expensive clothing. This
suggests the family may have less
disposable income.

3. Mise-en-scene
Blocking/Performance:
Blocking refers to the positioning and movement of actors within the frame, both in relation
to each other and in relation to the camera (which represents us, the audience).
Performance covers all aspects of the actual acting – gesture, expression, accent etc.
Lighting:
How is lighting being used to create mood in the following examples?
Dr House is presented as a rather eccentric character with no regard to other people. For
example, he meant to be a professional yet he carries a gun at work and makes rude
comments to patients. This is demonstrated when a female patient asks “How often do
you shave” and he replies with “Once a week, how about you?” which portrays his as a
rude and insensitive character. Therefore, this character would be amused to watch in a
television show however, in the show, other characters may find him very dislikeable.
The butler is less important in this shot, as he is
the furthest character away from the camera and
he is out of focus. This can be linked to the fact
that he is of a lower class than the two men in the
front. This is because although the woman on the
left is facing away from the camera, she is still in
focus and much closer to the camera than the
butler, as she has a higher status.

4. Mise-en-scene

5. Mise-en-scene