The document discusses the technical aspects of form in film, including mise-en-scène which encompasses elements like setting, costuming, color, performance and composition; it also covers cinematography, editing, and sound. Mise-en-scène specifically involves production design, setting, use of color, and performance, and examines how directors use these elements to guide audience attention and communicate themes.

1. FORM IN FILM
TECHNICAL ASPECTS

2. TECHNICAL ASPECTS OVERVIEW
 A. Mise-en-scène: what is filmed; everything in front
of the cameras. (French theatre term, literally meaning “put into
the scene” referencing staging. Also spelled “mise en scène” without
hyphens; it can be italicized or not)
 B. Cinematography: how something is filmed
(photographic techniques)
 C. Editing: how what is filmed is put together
 D. Sound: voice, music, & sound effects; can be diegetic
(part of the story) or non-diegetic (e.g., a film score)

3. MISE EN SCENE
 Setting
 Costuming & Makeup
 Color
 Performance
 Composition
 Some disagreement as to what exactly constitutes mise en
scène vs. other techniques.
 Some include lighting & camera angles (composition)
(Both of which most filmmakers and all cinematographers would attribute to
cinematography, but for scholarly analysis, it’s usually lumped into mise
en scène)

4. MISE EN scène: Production Design
 Production Designers are usually in
charge of the look of a film (in collaboration with
the DP).
 They oversee the Art Director who oversees set
design and construction . . .
• Set Designer and construction
• Set Decorator
• Graphic artists and illustrators
 Prop Master
 Costume Designer, and
 Hair and Makeup Design
 Special Effects

5. SETTING
 Setting is where the action occurs
 Three basic shooting options:
 1. Soundstage – interiors & process
shots (e.g., rear-screen projection during driving
scene)
 2. Studio backlot – full size replicas
(towns, streets, houses, shops, etc.)
 3. On location . . .

6. Setting, con’t.
 3. On Location:
 a. May be one place, but pretend to be
another ("creative geography” in editing)
 b. May shoot only establishing & outside
shots “on location”
 c. May take whole cast & crew "on
location" to shoot exteriors & interiors

7. Setting, con’t.
 Function of sets:
 1. Provide information (e.g. time, place,
character’s status, etc.).
 2. Create mood & guide our attention.
 3. May play a significant part in the action.
 4. Communicate themes & comment on
action.
 5. Can create "special effects" (e.g. low tech
solutions to avoid process shots).

8. 8

9. 9

10. Psycho (1960, Alfred Hitchcock)
10

11. 11

12. Looking at Movies DVD Clip
 Here’s our friend Dave Monahan in a DVD
tutorial with a look at how setting can be an
essential part of the storytelling in films . . .
(5:00)

13. Costuming & Makeup
 A. Can enhance setting; must be
appropriate for the time, place, etc.
 B. Can be realistic vs. stylized (more in
fantasy)
 C. Can serve iconographic or symbolic
functions (i.e. white hat/dark hat dichotomy
for hero/villain)

14. 14

15. 15

16. 16

17. Clip from “Anatomy of a Scene” segment
 from Sundance Channel’s series “Anatomy
of a Scene” 11:00
 Acting 2:00

18. Use of color in mise en scene
 A. Color can refer to many things:
 1. Color film stock [see chapter 2]
 2. Use of color filters for light [see chapter 2]
 3. Use of color in sets, costumes, etc.
 B. Color shows different types of characters,
places, moods, etc.

19. Use of color, con’t.
 C. Types of color (in both mise en scene &
cinematography; see pp.66-70):
 1. Saturated—intense & vivid
 2. Desaturated—muted, dull, & pale
 3. Warm colors
 4. Cool colors

20. American Beauty
(1999, Sam Mendes)
20

21. American Beauty (1999, Sam Mendes)
21

22. Use of color, con’t.
 D. Expressive uses of color (varies from
culture to culture & context):
 1. Color motifs or patterns (a motif is a recurring
element in a film)
 2. Specific symbolic meanings of color—e.g.
Black, White, Red, Yellow, etc.
 (these vary dramatically in different cultures. For example, black is generally
associated with death and dying here in the US, other countries associate
white with death)
 3. Alternating or contrasting use of colors
 See color plates 1-32 [Chapter 2]

23. PERFORMANCE (acting)
 A. Usually human actors
 Required to make an effective drama
 Create identification with audience,
enhancing our suspension of disbelief
 Bad acting (or outdated acting) prevents
this identification.

24. PERFORMANCE, CON’T.
B. Various acting styles:
 1. Natural vs. Stylized (realistic vs. "playing a role")
 2 Method acting (immersing oneself in the role)
 3. Technical acting (using body movements & technique to
evoke a role)
 4. Type casting vs. casting against type [see p. 33,
Fig. 1.26]
 5. Styles change over time; earlier films may
seem overacted to modern audiences

25. PERFORMANCE, CON’T.
 C. Performance categories:
1.Leading actors/actresses
A.Often played by stars
2.Supporting actors
A.Character actors
3.Extras
4.Cameos (rarely credited, often famous people)

26. PERFORMANCE, CON’T.
 D. Performance challenges:
 Importance of casting & problem of miscasting
 Challenge of shooting out of sequence (movies
usually shot out of narrative order, for convenience or
cost)
 E. Film techniques can alter or "create" a
performance – skillful photography & editing can
mask a poor performance.

27. Film Clip
 Edward Scissorhands (1990, directed by Tim
Burton), starring Johnny Depp and Diane Wiest (and
Winona Ryder, not seen in clip).
 Cinematography by Stefan Czapsky
 Production Design by Bo Welch
 Clip is 5 minutes in when we first meet
Edward (trt=8:00)

28. Composition & Use of Space
A. Spatial aspects of setting:
1. Depth cues: illusion of 3-D space in 2-D
medium:
 a. Overlapping objects
 b. Obstruction shots
 c. Deep focus (see cinematography)
 d. Forced perspective (illusion of depth & distance with
smaller rear sets, etc.)
2. Use of foreground, middle ground and
background planes
3. Rack focus: between these planes
see pp. 46-48 [also see cinematography]

29. Space & Composition
 B. Composition: arrangement of subjects in
frame.
 1. Balance – taking sides; symmetrical to
asymmetrical (see pp. 43-52)
 2. Rule of thirds (horizontal & vertical)
 3. Diagonals, triangles, or other groupings
 4. Contrasts
 a. Can be of tone & color, light & dark, etc.
 b. Also of shape & size

32. Space & Composition
 5. Proxemics: close or far distances
between characters & objects –
 a. Tight – people & objects close
together
 b. Loose – people & objects far apart
 c. Objects used as barriers (e.g. screen
doors, bead curtains, etc.)

33. Space & Composition
 C. Other uses of space:
 Looking into windows, mirrors, etc.
 Use of empty space
 Use of offscreen space
 Discussions of composition leading directly into . . .
Cinematography and Lighting for next class!