Mise en scene notes and examples

1. Mise-en-scene
What does mise-en-scene mean?
It literally translates from French into ‘placed in the scene’ so it’s basically
everything you can see in any given shot.
What are the 6 key areas of mise-en-scene?
The 6 elements are: colour, costume, props, location/set, blocking/performance
and lighting.
Colour:
How is colour used in the 3 below pictures?
1) The black of her dress connotes to death, the red of her coat could
symbolise danger, but also the fact that it’s made of skinned puppies makes
you think it’s more likely to be showing blood. The white coat on the outside
shows her innocent exterior and how she wants people to perceive her. The
fact that her hair is both black and white shows her split personality and
mood swings.
2) The black again shows danger but it also highlights the green that can be
seen that connotes to evil and mysteriousness in her eyes and her staff.
The purple also almost juxtaposes the green but not quite so it give you a
feel of unease.
3) The bright light colours of her dress are contrasted to the darker
background to make her seem glowing almost like an angel and it presents
the idea that she is innocent and pure.
Costume:
What can we interpret from
these costumes?
the picture of the family
presents the idea that they are
lower class and kind of chavy
due to their clothing as it is
inexpensive and mix matched,
plus their hair is mess and
unkempt or they’re wearing a hat.
Benedict Cumberbatch on the other hand looks very put together and the clothes
they’re wearing look good quality and their entire outfit goes together well. The
addition if Sherlock’s neatly done up scarf shows he is posh.

2. Mise-en-scene
Props:
Props are objects and items that can be seen in the shot that the actors use and
interactive with to enhance the scene.
Location:
Can be a purpose built set or a real location
E.g. Friends is filmed in a very realistic set so it looks like a city whereas other film
and shows actually go out into the real world and shoot in specific locations (or
change a location to look a certain way).
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?
High-key lighting: when the lighting is very bright with very few shadows, usually
from an up high source. It isn’t used for dramatic effect it simply illuminates the
shot.
Low-key lighting: when the lighting is very dim and minimal so the focus of the shot
is usually shrouded in darkness and it also allows a clear contrast between the
light and shadows to be made (usually used in horror films).