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1. What is Mise-en-scene?
Mise-en-scene is a French term meaning what is put into a scene or frame. When applied to the
cinema, mise-en-scene refers to everything that appears before the camera.
Mise-en-scene is made up of 5 elements – Settings, Props, Costume, Hair, Make Up, Facial
Expressions, Body Language, Lighting, Color and Positioning of characters/objects within the
frame. The frame and camerawork also constitutes the mise-en scene. Each aspect of mise-en-
scene creates meanings and communicates them to the audience, influencing how we feel at a
certain point.
Settings & Locations
They play a vital part in film-making and are not just ‘backgrounds’. Sets are either built from
scratch or a great deal of time is spent to find a setting which already exists.
I used 3 existing locations in my film; A park, House and a Roof top place. I needed a park to
shoot most of my scenes since it's a romantic comedy film that I shot, so the park basically
added a romantic vibe to those scenes being shot.
Costume, Hair & Make Up
It tell us immediately whether the film is set in the present and what society/or culture it will
centre around. It acts as an instant indicator to the audience of a character’s personality, status
& job. Certain Costumes can signify certain individuals and can also symbolize a few things at
the same time. In my movie I've shown the mise-en-scene through costumes as well with
characters wearing casual clothes through out the movie as it is depicting everyday life scenes
and not something out of the usual.
Lighting & Color
It can be used to achieve a variety of effects for instance, to highlight important characters or
objects within the frame, to make characters look mysterious by shading sections of the face &
body and to reflect a characters emotions.
I have used both high key lighting and low key lighting. For the scenes shot outdoors I've used
high key lighting; sun being the major source of light since it was daytime when I was shooting
those scenes. It was purposefully done under daytime as sunlight provides a more realistic look
to the footage and also, adds a fresh vibe to it.
For indoor scenes I have used low key lighting to show dim light scenario when Sean and Nick
are sleeping in their room bevause obviously nobody sleeps with the lights on.
Props
Props are a vital part of mise-en-scene. I didn’t use a lot of props since I had to keep things
simple and not overcomplicate them. Using too many props can also confuse the audience. The
props that I’ve used in my short film are:

2. Guitar
Chair
Bed sheets
Sunglasses
Cinematography
It includes camera angles, shots and movements. I’ve used a variety of camera shots in my short
film for example; over the shoulder shot, two shot, wide shot, mid shot, close up shot, long shot
and point of view shot. I’ve also used the technique of camera panning to show the park. Also,
I've used the out of focus technique.