MISE-EN-SCENE
WHAT IS MISE-EN-SCENE?
When applied to the cinema, mise-en-scène
refers to everything that appears before the camera and its arrangement—
composition, sets, props, actors, costumes, and lighting. The “mise-en-scène”, along with
the cinematography and editing of a film, influence the verisimilitude or
believability of a film in the eyes of its viewers.
Key Aspects
Set design
An important element of
"putting in the scene" is set design—the setting of a scene and the
objects (props) visible in a scene. Set design can be used to intensify
character emotion or the main mood, which has physical, social, psychological,
emotional, economic and cultural importance in film. One of the most significant
decisions made by the production des production designer and director is
deciding whether to shoot on location or on set. The main difference between
the two is that décor and props must be taken into consideration when shooting
on set. However, shooting on set is more commonly done than shooting on
location as a result of it proving to be more cost effective.
Lighting
The strength, direction, and
quality of lighting can effect an audience’s understanding of characters,
actions, themes and mood. Light (and shade) can emphasize texture, shape,
distance, mood, time of day or night, season, glamour; it affects the way
colors are rendered, both in terms of hue and depth, and can focus attention on
particular elements of the composition. Highlights, for example, call attention
to shapes and textures, while shadows often conceal things, creating a sense of
mystery or fear. For this reason, lighting must be thoroughly planned in
advance to ensure its desired effect on an audience.
Space
The representation of space
affects the reading of a film. Depth, proximity, size and proportions of the
places and objects in a film can be manipulated through camera placement and
lenses, lighting, set design, effectively determining mood or relationships
between elements in the story world.
Composition
The organization of objects,
actors and space within the frame. One of the most important concepts with the
regard to the composition of a film is maintaining a balance of symmetry. This
refers to having an equal distribution of light, colour, and objects and/or
figures in a shot. Unbalanced composition can be used to emphasize certain
elements of a film that the director wishes to be given particular attention
to. This tool works because audiences are more inclined to pay attention to
something off balance, as it may seem abnormal. Where the director places a
character can also vary depending on the importance of the role
Costume
Costume simply refers to the
clothes that characters wear. Using certain colors or designs, costumes in
narrative cinema are used to signify characters or to make clear distinctions
between characters.
Makeup and hair styles
Establish time period, reveal
character traits and signal changes in character.
Acting
There is enormous historical and
cultural variation in performance styles in the cinema. In the early years of
cinema, stage acting and film acting were difficult to differentiate, as most
film actors had previously been stage actors and therefore knew no other method
of acting. Eventually, early melodramatic styles, clearly indebted to the 19th
century theater, gave way in Western cinema to a relatively naturalistic style.
This more naturalistic style of acting is largely influenced by Constantin Stanislavski’s
theory of method acting, which involves the actor fully immersing themselves in
their character.
