A document of my notes made about Mise en Scene

1. Mise-en-scene
 Itmeans ‘placed in the scene’ – used in theatre whereby the director
would use it to organisethe stage– in media, its used to describe
everything that can be seen in a single shot
 Semiotics – the study of signs (all communication is made with a
combination of signs and codes)
 Mise-en-scenemeans ‘everything within the shot, so whatdo look for? –
Colour, Costume, Props, Set/Location, Blocking & Performance, and
Lighting
 Colour – used as a symbolic aspect in severalplaces such as set, the
lighting, the costumes/makeup etc – often used in children’s texts (e.g.
black clothing to symbolisea villainous character such as Maleficent)
 Costume – includes clothes, hair and make up – creates identity and
personality within a character – forms a ‘culturalcode’ meaning the
audience understand how the costumeaspects provide clues about the
character and the situation
 Props – objects used in the frame (to dress the set or be used by the
actor) – symbolic and significant(expressing mood and character traits
etc)
 Set/Location – set is built for filming and is mostlikely a partof a studio
complex, location involves leaving the studio and filming in an existing
location that is ‘scouted’ – remember to dress the setting purposefully
(e.g. World War Z was filmed in Glasgow which was dressed to look like
Philadelphia in war)
 Blocking & Performance – positioning and movement of actors within
the framein relation to each other and the camera (representing
audience) – covers all aspects of the acting – gesture, expression,
language
 Lighting – 2 main approaches; high key lighting and low key lighting,
high key – ensures even light across the framewith little or no shadow
or any dark places meaning there’s little dramatic effect, low key –
allows high contrastbetween light and dark in the framewith shadow
being used for a dramatic effect like in a horror movie, there is also

2. ambient lighting – a scene has been lit using available light that’s there
to make it look naturalistic in the frame
 Mise en scene creates verisimilitude which refers to the authenticity
(originality) of the environmentcreated on screen