Mise-en-scene refers to everything that appears within the frame of a film, including actors, lighting, décor, props, and costumes. The director arranges all of these elements to construct representations of characters. Mise-en-scene can be split into production design, which includes location, set design, costumes, props, and lighting design including color. When analyzing stills from films and television, mise-en-scene helps reveal aspects of a character's identity through elements of props, costumes, lighting, set design, and location.

1. Mise-en-scene

2. Mise-en-scene
The arrangement of everything that appears in the framing – actors,
lighting, décor, props, costume – is called mise-en-scène, a French term
that means “placing on stage.”
In cinema, ‘placing on the stage’ really means ‘placing on the screen’,
and the director is in charge of deciding what goes where, when, and
how. David A. Cook, in his book A History of Narrative Film, points out
how a mise-en-scène is formed by all the elements that appear “within
a shot itself.”
In other words, if it’s on the screen and if it’s a physical object
recorded by the camera, then it’s part of the mise-en-scène.

3. Mise-en-scene
Can be split into 2 categories:
• Production design: location, studio, set design, costume
and make-up, properties.
• Lighting: colour design.
The mise-en-scene can be used by the director to help to
construct a representation of a character.

4. Applying these ideas to stills from TV dramas.
How does the mise-en-scene in your still help to construct the
identity of the character(s)?
Consider:
• Props
• Costume
• Lighting
• Set design
• Location
REMEMBER, I am NOT asking ‘what is going on in this image?’ I am
asking how the mise-en-scene helps to construct the character.