My mise-en-scene notes.

1. Mise-en-scene
What does mise-en-scene mean?
Mise-en-scene is a French word and when translated, means
‘placed in the scene’. The term was first used in theatre and
referred to the way in which a director organised the stage.
In media or film studies, it is used to describe everything
that can be seen in a single shot. Analysing Mise-en-scene
relies on some understanding of semiotics.
What are the 6 key areas of mise-en-scene?
The six key areas of mise-en-scene are colour, costume,
props, set/location, blocking and performance, and lighting.
Colour:
How is colour used in the 3 below pictures?
Colour is very symbolic, it can appear in several places –
the set, the lighting, the costumes, the make-up, etc.
Connotations of colour are generally so well understood that
they are even used in children’s texts.
In the first picture, Cruela D’evil is wearing a white long
coat with red on the inside. This is to emphasise the death
of the puppies with their white coat and their blood on the
inside. The difference in colour on her hair also conveys
that she has a split personality because of the use of two
completely contrasting colours.
In the third picture of Cinderella, it uses very
stereotypical colours. The darkness in the background,
conveys an idea that she may be surrounded by darkness and
because of the bright colours of her dress, it gives the
impression of her being the light in the middle of the
darkness. The blue at the bottom of the image portrays
sadness, because she lives a hard life.
In ‘The Village’, director M. Night Shyamalan used red and
yellow as colour signifiers – red attracted the monsters and
yellow kept them away. He says “the colours come straight
from the psychology of it…Red creates aggressive and yellow
calms us and placates us and makes us feel safe and more open
to things. Those are straight psychological reactions to
colours.” MNS

2. Mise-en-scene
Costume:
What can we interpret from these costumes?
Costume can be considered to include clothes, hair and make-
up. It creates an identity and personality for the
characters. It forms a cultural code – the audience
understand how costume etc provides clues/codes about people
and situations. The selection of costumes will deliberate, in
keeping with their character on the one hand and the design
concept for the text as a whole.
The use of costume in image one, very stereotypically shows
poverty and that they are extremely chavvy. The use of puffer
jackets and bomber jackets shows that they are lower class
because this type of clothing is cheaper than in the clothing
in picture two for example. In image two, compared to image
one, their hair is perfectly brushed and they are stood up
more straight than the family in image one. In addition, the
man on the lefts scalf is perfectly placed around his neck.
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:
Props are any objects used within the frame. They may be used
to dress the set or be used by the actors. They can have
symbolic significance – expressing mood, character traits,
etc. An example of this could be doctor who with his sonic
screwdriver, or starwars with their light savers.

3. Mise-en-scene
How would actors be directed to use them:
Location:
Can be a purpose built set or a real location
A set will have been built for filming and is most likely
part of a studio complex. Location shooting involves leaving
the studio environment and filming in existing locations that
have been “scouted” as suitable. Whatever setting has been
used, it is important to remember that it has been dressed
purposefully. In June 2011, Brad Pitt spent two weeks filming
for World War Z in Glasgow…which was dressed to look like war
torn Philadelphia!
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?
There are two main approaches to lighting a scene: high-key
lighting and low-key lighting. High-key lighting ensures even
light across the frame with little or no shadow or dark areas
– it has little dramatic effect. Low-key lighting allows for
high contrast between light and dark within the frame, with
shadow often being used for dramatic effect (e.g. horror
films) another useful term us ambient lighting – this means
that a scene has been lit using available light (or perhaps
to look like natural light)

4. Mise-en-scene