1. Mise-en-scene
Sophie Waters
What does mise-en-scene mean?
Mise-en-scene means ‘everything in the shot’.
What are the 6 key areas of mise-en-scene?
Colour
Costume
Props
Location/set
Blocking and performance
Lighting
Colour:
The symbolic use of colour can appear in several places – the set, lighting, the costumes/make
up etc.
Connotations of the colour are generally well understood so that they are even used in children’s
texts.
In 101 Dalmatians, the red signifies the blood of the dead puppies. Her hair is contradictory of
black and white to show she is a messed up individual and is mad. Black and white are
completely different colours which is why they are used to show the odd contrast. The blackness
of her outfit also indicates darkness and hatred of her character.
Maleficent has green skin to show her envy of Sleeping Beauty. The purple in her outfit shows
her royalty and that perhaps she is the queen.
Cinderella has a pure white dress with a touch of blue to represent the coldness and sadness,
which shows how she won’t have the dress after midnight. But also, the colour scheme of the
dress shows her purity.
Costume:
Costumes 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 understands how the
costume provides clues and people and situations.
What can we interpret from these costumes?
2. Mise-en-scene
Sophie Waters
The EastEnders costumes present a poorer and lower class environment. E.g. how they wear
certain clothing such as hats, hooped earrings and jogging bottoms.
The Sherlock costumes show upper class. The long coat shows it is expensive and that they
have more money.
Props:
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.
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. “Recce” also means finding a suitable place to film.
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, both in relation to
each other and in relation to the camera (which represents us, the audience).
3. Mise-en-scene
Sophie Waters
Performance covers all aspects of the actual acting – gesture, expression, accent etc. (Johnny
Depp putting on a Scottish accent even though he is American.)
Lighting:
High-key lighting is even light across the frame with little or no shadow or dark area – 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).
Ambient lighting means that a scene has been lit using available light (or perhaps to look like a
natural light).
How is lighting being used to create mood in the following example?
The light is shining on the policemen so they look like the good people in the dark
neighbourhood.
The next photo is very bright on the character’s faces except for the man, who has a shadow so
maybe he is the bad character/done something wrong.
Verisimilitude:
Mise-en-scene created verisimilitude. This is a useful term which refers to the authenticity of the
environment created on the screen.
