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Screen LanguageMise-en-scene
● How elements of the scene (costumes, props,
characters…) are placed. How they’re
positioned in relation to other things.
● What it all means and how it’s being used to
tell the story.
● Why it is there? For verisimilitude (Appearance
of reality) or for symbolic reasons?
● As a signal of the film’s genre? Iconography?
● A trademark of the director?
Mise-en-scene ‘put in the scene’
How elements of the
scene (costumes,
props, characters…)
are placed. How
they’re positioned in
relation to other
things.
Mise-en-scene
What it all means and
how it’s being used to
tell the story
Mise-en-scene
Why it is there? For
verisimilitude
(Appearance of
reality) or for
symbolic reasons?
Mise-en-scene
As a signal of the
film’s genre?
Iconography?
Mise-en-scene
A trademark of
the director?
Mise-en-scene
Main Elements of mise-en-scene
SetsWhere the action takes place and is vital to
establishing the tone and visual style. More
than just a backdrop for the action. Integral
part of the world of the film.
Inside Llewyn Davis (dir. Coens, 2013) The
centre of Manhattan’s alternative music scene
in the late 1950s and early 1960s was
MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village.
Film settings can reveal:GenreLocationTime periodCharacter’s state of mind/ personalityCan create a sense of mood
Mise-en-scene
Location Studio Set
Vs
Controlling the environment: filming Titanic (dir. Cameron, 1997)
Studio Settings
Costume
Main Elements of mise-en-scene
· What a character wears in a film can rapidly communicate all sorts of information about them to the audience:· their position in society· the particular social group they belong to· whether they may be threatening or sympathetic· We can pick up clues from jewellery, hairstyle, shoes, the colour of a particular shirt or dress.
Brief for Carrie-Ann Moss's costume was simply "like an oil slick" Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus wore tough (faux) alligator skin, while his trademark sunglasses added to his inscrutable quality. Finally, the sinister black-suited agents were designed to remind us of "sixties Kennedy Secret Service guys".
Each character was given her own colour palette; vivid bright shades for bad girl Hatsumomo, peaceful and calm colours for the kindly big sister who takes Sayuri under her wing.
As Sayuri (Ziyi Zhang) develops into Kyoto's most sought-after geisha, she also progresses from subdued dark cotton kimonos to rich silk.
Designer assembled Edward's suit from vinyl, leather, and latex, and added accessories such as buckles, screws, and bits of machinery.
The resulting buttoned-up and restrictive suit separates Edward from the light-hearted pastels worn by the ordinary residents of the town.
Main Elements of mise-en-sceneProps
● Shortened form of ‘properties’ and is
borrowed from theatrical staging.
● Can show genre
● Signifiers of meaning. Not just to
make sequence look right.
● Attention can be drawn to particular
props
● Can anchor characters into particular
meanings…● Authenticity
Props
An object or device in a film or a book which serves merely as a trigger for the plot.
Make-Up
Physical States
Special Effects
Help to construct
character
Drawing audience into
world of a character
Make-Up
Staging:
placing and
movement of
actors in the
frame
Acting and Performance
•Performance styles•How the text is interpreted by the actor•Realistic performance retains the illusion of the fictional world of the film. •Sylized performance. E.g. musicals. •Preparation for the role•Methods. Investigating the character’s motivation and connecting to what they are feeling. •‘Method acting: ‘Emotional memory’…actor recalls events from own experience and uses for fuel for performance.
· Expressions
· body movement and positions
· Body language
· Acting style
