MISE-EN-SCENE, THIS MUCH I KNOW...

Mise-en-scene is a French term meaning what is put into the scene of a frame. For film, it has a broader meaning, and refers to almost everything that goes into the composition of the shot. There are five elements of mise-en-scene, facial expressions and body language, lighting and colour, positioning of characters/objects within a frame, settings and props, and the costume, hair and makeup of characters. Mise-en-scene is a tool used in film making to communicate essential information to the audience.

Settings and Props

Settings and locations play an important part in film making and are not just ‘backgrounds’. Sets are either built from scratch or time is spent to find a setting that already exists. Settings have the ability to manipulate an audience. The setting can be used to amplify character emotion or the dominant mood of a film.

Costume and makeup

Costume refers to the clothes that characters wear. Using certain colors or designs, costumes in film can be used to signify characters or to make clear distinctions between characters. They can also give the audience a better understanding of the character’s personality and what part they have to play in the scene. Makeup can be used to subtly add expression to an actor’s face. For example makeup can be applied under the eyes to add tone and make the actor look tired. Makeup can also be used to hide any wrinkle, blemishes and imperfections that the camera picks up and is not wanted in the film.

Lighting and Colour

Lighting can have a massive affect on how a shot is received by an audience. The direction, intensity, the type (natural or artificial) all contribute to have a scene is received and gives the audience snippets of information about where and when the scene is taking place.

Acting

The facial expressions and the body language an actor/actress uses to in a film can have a major impact on the audience. Different facial expressions at different times within a scene can give the audience information at the character (his personality, how he reacts in different situations, etc). The body language used by an actor is another subtle affect of mise-en-scene. Without closely analysing what the actor is doing, an audience might not realise how his body language is affecting there interpratation of the character.

Positioning of characters/objects within a frame

A director will carefully position objects that may have a significant role in the story in specific positions in a scene. Doing this is just another layer of telling the story. Positioning of the actors and actresses in a scene can add to the tone of the scene, and where they are placed can show who are the main dominant characters.