Notes on mise-en-scene.

1. MEDIA STUDIES
MISE-EN-SCENE
WHAT DOES MISE-EN-SCÈNE MEAN?
Mise-en-scène, translated literally from French, 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 filmstudies, it is used to describe everything in a single shot.
What are the 6 key areas of mise-en-scène?
- Colour
- Costume
- Props
- Set/location
- Blocking and performance
- Lighting
COLOUR:
Symbolic use of colour can appear in several places – the set, the lighting, the costumes,
makeup etc.
Connotations of colour are generally so well understood they are even used in children’s
texts
How is colour used in the 3 below pictures?
1. The colour red signifies danger, or love. In this instance the red is showing danger – it
is signifying the blood of the puppies that she wants to make into her coat. White
often has connotations of innocence and purity. She is trying to portray that she is a
nice person but the red shows that her character is evil. It is very contradictory. Her
hair is split black and white – black connoting death and danger contrasting with the
white showing that she is a crazy character.

2. MEDIA STUDIES
2. The black is representing death, evilness, and darkness. Whereas the green is
presenting envy (as she is envious of sleeping beauty). Purple is a royal colour, telling
us that she is of a royal background.
3. White is pure. With elements of blues within the gown, which connotes coldness.
The dark black background is connoting the potential danger (hinting at the fact that
at 12 all of the ‘niceness’ will disappear.
COSTUME:
Costume can include clothes, hair and makeup. It creates an identity and personality for the
characters which gives an insight for the audience. It forms as a cultural code – the audience
understand how costume provides clues/codes about people and situations.
What can we interpret from these costumes?
1. EastEnders – we immediately assume they are of a lower class because of their
clothes and the way in which they are wearing them. Tracksuit bottoms, hoop
earrings etc.
2. Comparatively, in Sherlock we assume they are higher or upper class. Long coats are
traditionally more expensive.
PROPS:
Props are any object used in 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.
SETS/ LOCATION:
Essentially this is just where you film, and it 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, whereas
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.
BLOCKING/PERFORMANCE:
 Blocking refers to the positioning and movement of actors within the frame, (where
you choose to place your actors) 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.

3. MEDIA STUDIES
LIGHTING:
There are two main approaches to lighting a scene; high-key lighting and low-key lighting.
High-key lighting ensures even little light across the frame with little or no shadows or dark
areas – it has little dramatic effect. Whereas low-key lighting allows for high contrast
between light and dark lighting within the frame, with shadow often being used for
dramatic effect (e.g. in horror films).
Another useful term is ambient lighting – this means that a scene has been lit using available
light (or perhaps to look like natural light).
How is lighting being used to create mood in the following examples?
1. The light is shining on both of them showing that they are important. It could also
suggest that they are the good people.
2. High-key lighting and low-key lighting has been used in this shot. The woman’s face
is all light potentially suggesting innocence. The man’s face is half-light and half-dark
suggesting that maybe he has done something wrong.
VERISMILITUDE
Mise-en-scène creates verisimilitude. This is a useful term which refers to the authenticity
of the environment created on screen.