Mise en scene Lectures One and Two

Mise en Scène

Journal Question 3

Why is it important to watch films made outside of the U.S.?

Mise en Scène

Arrangement of materials and subjects in front of the camera

-“placing on the stage” in French

Elements of Style (Mise en scene)

Serves to shape the narrative

Shows what the audience needs to see or hear to understand the scene

Including:

set design, costumes,

the blocking of actors, performance,

lighting, camera movement,

composition

THE FRAME

Aspect Ratio: Width and height of image

Aspect Ratio: Width and height of image

filmmakers compose the image to fit the frame

The composition is restricted by the aspect ratio of the film

“Each shot choice a director makes results in mise-en-scene that creates a unique effect”

Bernard F. Dick

The frame

Certain areas can be exploited for symbolic meaning

Center of the frame: reserved for important visual elements

Top of the frame: power, authority, control

Bottom of the frame: vulnerability and powerlessness

Edges of the frame: darkness can suggest fearfulness and the unknown

Composition and Design

The eye can detect 7 or 8 major elements of composition simultaneously

The mise en scène guides the eye through the composition

The dominant is the area that immediately attracts attention

What is the dominant is in this composition?

Composition and Design

After taking in the dominant the eyes moves to the subsidiary contrasts

What are the subsidiary contrasts?

Balanced Composition: places the most important elements in the center of the frame

Placement of people in frame - near center of frame is a “comfortable” place

Closer

Gattica

Edges of frame can create tension

Designs composed of even numbers can appear stable and balanced

The Royal Tenenbaums

Designs with odd numbers can appear off balance

Rosemary’s Baby

Design lines can be vertical

The Shining

Design lines can be horizontal

The Graduate

Design lines can be diagonal

The Big Combo

Territorial Space

5 basic positions each sends a different message

Full frontal: facing the camera is the most intimate

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Addressing the camera: the viewer becomes a confidant

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Quarter Turn: a favored position with a high degree of intimacy

Volver

Profile: looking off camera left or right

The Killer Inside Me

Minority Report

Profile: more mysterious and less accessible

Three-quarter turn: more anonymous and anti-social,

Black Swan

Back to camera: alienation and mystery

Madadayo

Composition in Depth

Composition in Depth

FOREGROUNDMIDDLE GROUND

BACKGROUND

The distance from the near to the farthest

that objects are in focus

DEPTH OF FIELD

DEPTH OF FIELD

D E E P

S H A L L O W

Deep Depth of Field

Citizen Kane

Shallow Depth of Field

FOREGROUND

The Color Purple

Where important subjects are often placed

MIDDLE GROUND

- often where the actors are placed

The Town

BACKGROUND

Lost in Translation

BACKGROUND

- the location

- info about character

- sometimes background is a character

Lost in Translation

Proxemic Patterns

The relationships of organisms within a given space

The distance between the subject and the camera

Intimate: skin contact to 18” (XCU CU)

City of God

Intimacy between viewer and subject

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Or an invasionOf personalspace

With strangers with distance is intrusive

Personal: 18” to 4 ft (MCU MS)

Reserved for Friends

and family

The Duchess

Social Distances: 4 ft to 12 ft (LS)

Long Shot (LS)

Rebecca

Public distances: 12ft to 25ft (XLS)

Tends to be formal and detached

Extreme Long Shot

Lighting as an element of mise en scene

Available or natural lighting is often used in realist films for a neutral presentation

High-key lighting is often used in musicals, comedies, romantic comedies to present an bright or glossy finish

• Low-key lighting in color and black and white is used to create high contrast and use light and dark symbolically.

Low-key example from Closer

Available/natural light example Sherrybaby

High-key example Singin in the Rain

• Color can be used to create a dominant, symbolically and to set up a contrast

• What is the dominant color in this composition?

• How is used symbolically here and to what effect?

• Use of contrasting color or foil to draw the eye to an area of the frame

• What is the dominant color and what is the foil of contrasting color?

• Lens have a profound effect of the image

• Wide angle create a deep depth of field and allows for multiple elements of mise en scene

• Telephoto creates a shallow depth of field and shows a limited amount of information

• 50 MM creates a neutral composition and just like eye level angle and available lighting is often a realist tendency

• Film stock can be fast or slow

• Fast film stock works in low light conditions

• Is highly sensitive to light

• Can produce a grainy image

• Fast film stock example for Barry Lyndon

Slow film stock requires more illumination than fast stock

Capable of capturing colors precisely and vividly

Slow film stock example

• Density of the composition

• Texture of the image

• STARK

• MODERATE

• HIGHLY DETAILED

Moderate: The eye can easily take in the elements without being overwhelmed

Highly detailed: The image is packed with visual information and texture

• OPEN AND CLOSED COMPOSITIONS

• OPEN FORM

part of subject is cut off

• Similar to theater: everything is included

What your thesis sentence should do

What your thesis sentence should do

Make a clear and specific statement

What your thesis sentence should do

Make a clear and specific statement

Indicate the direction of your thoughts

What your thesis sentence should do

Make a clear and specific statement

Indicate the direction of your thoughts

Provide structure

What your thesis sentence should do

Make a clear and specific statement

Indicate the direction of your thoughts

Provide structure

Be supported by the body of your paper

Mise-en-scene is French for placing the stage and refers to the arrangement of materials in front of the camera (Kendall).

Remember if you are using my definitions make sure to give me credit by putting my last name in parenthesis at the end of the sentence.

This applies to anything that is not your original idea! If you take concepts from the text be sure to source the author in the same way.

Action in the film

Present Tense!!!!

Example: Benjamin Braddock is a young man with an uncertain future.

Avoid using pronouns

Here’s an example of what NOT to include in your response paper

You can tell that the protagonist is an anti-hero. We can see this by Joe’s behavior.

The Graduate (put film titles in italics)

Type the entire question out at the top of the page

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