What is” Mise-en-scène ” ?

1.Elements of Mise-en-scène

• Setting & Props:One method of setting control lies in selection of natural or artificial locale. The set, in other words, might represent exactly a particular place, or it might be deliberately constructed to include the possible, improbable, or even impossible locale. Setting’s ability to add meaning to narrative implies that props—part of the setting given specific significance in the total action—are also part of the control directors dictate in film art.
• Costume, Hair & Make Up: Costume can serve to enhance the narrative, or story, for instance, by suggesting social position of characters. Costume can imply, too, psychological disposition of characters. Costume also can hint at character development in the film.
• Figure Behaviour(Facial Expressions & Body Language):Figure expression refers to the facial expressions and the posture of an actor, whereas figure movement refers to all other actions of the actor, including gestures.

• Lighting and Colour:

Lighting & Colour can be used to achieve a variety of effects:

-To highlight important characters or objects within the frame.

-To make characters look mysterious by shading section of the face & body

-To reflect a character’s material state/hidden emotions.

Three-Point Lighting, the most common and standard lighting setup, is perfect for close-ups.

High Key Lighting, bright lights, bright colors, strong key, stronger fill.

Low Key Lighting, In contrast to high key lighting, low key lighting adds more contrast and heavier blacks to a scene. Low-key lighting can make shots look dark and shadowy.

How Low key Lighting works.

Hard Lighting, means harsh key lights that create hard shadows, making the scene tough, angular, and unflattering.

Soft Lighting, where the lights diffuse through a filter, is a romantic kind of lighting.

Ambient Lighting/Practical Lighting, which uses the light that is there in the scene.

Tips for using Ambient Lighting/Practical Lighting.

Unmotivated Lighting shapes the scene without being an element of it.

Motivated Lighting, Motivated lighting emulates natural light sources and can represent the sun, moonlight, and streetlights.

Lanterns offer motivated lighting in this scene from “The Assassination of Jesse James.”

• Framing—Angle: Relationship of the camera to the subject

High=weak, subordinated, controlled (when not used for maximum wideness—to show mass or crowd size instead of weakness)

Low=strong, subordinating, controlling

Flat=value neutral; neither controlling nor controlled; factual, etc relative value when juxtaposed to other angles: stronger than high angle and weaker than low angle

Tilt angle=when the camera angle is other than 90 degrees may suggest character, action, conclusions, suspicions are not “right” (as in right angled); perhaps not being presented accurately, or intended as stated within the context of the action, etc

Framing—Shot Distances :[the closer the subject, the more potent, powerful, able to create change; the farther away, the less potent, the weaker, less able to create change]

1. Extreme long shot: A panoramic view of an exterior location, photographed from a great distance, often as far as a quarter mile away (Giannetti 509)–sometimes an establishing shot that sets context for later closer shots.

2. Long shot: A broad view of objects or action of principle interest. This shot allows general recognition of the subject at the expense of detail. Also used as an establishing shot. Reveals the human full human figure, though more in the middle- than fore- or background. (View from audience to proscenium arch)

3. Medium shot: A relatively close shot, usually revealing the human figure from head to knees, feet to navel (bellybutton).

4. Medium Close up: A relatively close shot, usually revealing the human from head to waist, feet to thighs, or knees to navel (bellybutton).

5. Close up: Reveals head and shoulder of human figure in central focus of frame.

6. Extreme Close up: Reveals a body part: a face, an eye, a pupil; a finger, a fingernail, etc.

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2.Examples and analyzing

Describe how the elements of Mise-en-Scène in the following scenes:

• Setting & Props: This part puts characters into a scene containing diffenrent kinds of chemistry-related props, such as bottles, goggles and so forth. Obviously, The setting of this scene is the chemical lab, which gives viewer the guide that this event happens in a place in which characters are doing chemical experiment.
• Costume, Hair & Make Up: The characters do not all wear in white coat but dress way more casual, such as shirt, braces skirt, appearing that it is not serious chemical experiment also they are not professional chemist.
• Figure Behaviour(Facial Expressions & Body Language): One male fox who dresses in white are doing experiment seriously as opposed to his partner, a female fox who are distracted all the time by the other fox. When the camera moves to other two foxes, we can tell the personality of this two characters, which one is more clumsy when he doing something stupid on the experiment also through his giggles. in contrast, the slim one could be much more reliable when he uses fire extinguisher to handle the mess.Besides, the eye contacts shows the sparks between the female fox and the male fox.
• Lighting and Colour: This scene uses the three-point lighting, which is the most standard ones, consisted by the warm colour, such as orange, yellow, red, brown and so forth.
• Positioning of characters/objects within the frame: It puts foxes all in the middle of the shot, showing the same importance and focus on each characters.
• What role does the shot choice (Cinematography) play in the scene: Medium shot, revealing the foxes head to waist.