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MISE-EN-SCÈNEBy Ms. Vicki Anderson

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Definition• Mise-en-scène is

everything that appears in the film frame.

• Originally a French theater term, it means “put into the scene.”

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Realism• Viewers often judge mise-en-scène by

standards of realism.• However, notions of realism vary across

eras and cultures.• Instead of looking at how realistic mise-

en-scène seems, it’s better to judge it by its function: How is it being used and what is it trying to convey in the narrative?

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Aspects of Mise-en-scène • Setting• The Human Figure

– Acting, Costume, and Makeup

• Lighting• Composition

– Balance, Contrast, Movement, Depth

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Setting• Container,

background for action

• Plays an active role in narrative

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Prop• Abbreviation for

Property• Part of the setting

that plays an active role in the narrative.

• May reoccur as a motif.

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Acting• Early Cinema

Influenced by Stage Acting– Emotive, Conventional

Gestures– Stage Actors Project

to Audience– Film Actors More

Restrained, Closer to Viewer, more intimate

– Facial expression7

Mae Marsh in Birth of a Nation

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Stars• Present their own

body of work, own Personality – or Star Image

• Still acting, but relying on a persona

• John Wayne, Leonardo DiCaprio

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Different Kinds of Roles• Character actors

play supporting parts

• Extras appear briefly in films without lines

• Cameos are brief appearances in films by well-known actors.

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Costume• Like setting, costume can have specific

functions in the total film, and be either authentic or highly stylized.

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Costume

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Makeup As CraftIn recent decades, the craft of makeup has developed in response to the popularity of

horror and science fiction.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)Directed by Gore Verbinski

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Two Jokers• Highly stylized,

exaggerated costume and makeup characterizes Nicholson’s Joker as theatrical, aberrant.

• More muted approach characterizes Ledger’s Joker as more “realistic.”

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Lighting

Dreamgirls (2006)Directed by Bill Condon

Lesson 4: Part II

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Creating Composition• In cinema, lighting is more

than just illumination that permits us to see the action.

• Lighter and darker areas within the frame help create the overall composition of each shot, and thus guide our attention to certain objects and actions.

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Features of Film Lighting

• Quality

• Direction

• Source

• Color

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More Examples of Light Direction

UnderlightingTop lighting

Backlighting

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MovementFilm has one resource that painting lacks. Our tendency to notice visual differences

shifts into high gear when the image includes movement.

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Foreground and Background• Mise-en-scène serves not only to draw our attention to

foreground elements, but rather to create a dynamic relation between foreground and background.

• It subtly guides the eye to what is most important in a scene and influences the audience’s emotional response.