Mise en scene, lighting, props, costumes, and prosthetics are important technical elements in filmmaking that help set the scene and mood. Mise en scene involves the visual elements that represent where the story takes place, including settings, props, costumes, and characters. Lighting can create different atmospheres like candlelit rooms or sterile environments lit with neon. Props include movable items visible on screen like furniture, weapons, or plants. Costumes indicate time period, social class, and other details. Prosthetics can make characters look different for genres like horror, action, or war films. Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols, which can be applied to analyze the meanings conveyed by elements of mise

1. AS Media
Technical Codes of film-making
By Madeleine Stidder

2. Mise en Scene
Mise en scene definition- an arrangement of scenery and properties
to represent the place where a play or movie is enacted. Mise en
scene includes; Stage setting, setting, props, property, stage, stage
set.
Mise en scene basically means “putting in the scene”. Directors
make clear, incisive decisions about lighting, costume, appearance,
props, background, character, colour and these all relate to the story.
These become visual signifier.
Mise en scene creates atmosphere and continuity, and expresses the
mood of the scene, and how it is meant to make us feel. Mise en
scene takes into account ‘versimilitude’ (very-similar-to). This
means that the director makes the shots as true to life as possible.

3. Lighting
Lighting plays a very important part for shaping mean-
ings in films. Lighting can also create atmosphere for
example a room lit by candles. Lighting can also cre-
ate sterile environment by brightly lighting by neon
lights. lighting can also make a scene have a scary
atmosphere through shadows.

4. Props
The term 'props' refers to any moveable item, which is
meant to be visible on film. There are many different
types of props in films, which includes;
"Dressing Props" - This type of prop is used to dress
sets. For example the furniture, drapes, flooring.
"Hand Props" - This type of prop are used or held by
Actors.
"Hero Props" - This type of prop is central to the action
in a scene. For example a sword.
"Stunt Props" - This type of prop is replica of props
made of soft materials.
"Mechanical Props" - This type of prop may move or il-
luminate.
Props also include weapons, such as guns and knives,
and greenery and foliage including trees and plants.

5. Costume
Costumes are important as in every character will
have one in every movie. Costumes also tells the
audience
Time era
Social Class
Age

6. Prosthetics
Prosthetics are useful for films as the character can
look differently in different genres.
Horror - zombie, werewolf or vampires
Action - gun shot wounds, dead bodies
War - gun shot wounds, dead bodies, explosion
wounds
Sc-fi - alien faces

7. What is Semiotics?
Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and there meaning
and this can be applied to the mise en scene of films and T.V.
dramas. This can help you to analyse obvious meanings and in-
terpret everything in the visual world.
It may be the case that the sign can mean lots of different
things in different cultures around the world and so imply a
different meaning to different audiences.
Semeiotics theory was formed from structuralist theory and
key players in this theory are Saussure (1954) and Barthes
(1972).

8. Semiotic Theory
There are three kinds of signs in semiotic theory:
Iconic Signs which actually look like what they
represent. eg. Statue of Liberty
Symbolic / arbitrary signs that have a meaning that
must be culturally learnt. eg. Cross = Christianity
Indexical signs which have a connection to what they
represent and are suggestive.
eg. Dove = peace

9. Importance of Semiotics
Everything in a visual context will be there for a
reason to a sign or symbol to show a meaning to the
audience.
For example in Film Noir the femme fatal will often
wear a red dress a symbol of lust or in a horror
movie the murderer will often be disfigured a
symbol of their evilness.