Mise-En-Scene Research

Mise-En-Scene: 

All About Mise-En-Scene: 

• Mise-En-Scene is a French phrase that “staging or putting on an action or scene.” 
• In film, Mise-En-Scene refers to the overall look or feel towards a movie. (This includes what the audience experiences and sees during the movie. 
• Mise-En-Scene affects the way that we think about the story and the character in the story.  
• Nearly everything that is put inside of the frame is done so intentionally because there might be a significance to the story and there might not be for some. 
• There are 2 major visual components of Mise-En-Scene:  - Composition: The organization, distribution, balance, and general relationship of actors on objects.  - Design: The look of the settings, props, lighting and actors. 

• Many films challenge us to read the Mise-En-Scene to understand the themes and concepts of the film or story. 
• Mise-En-Scene allows the viewer to experience a certain place at a certain time. (Ex. A person watching a space film might feel like they're in space at one point.) 
• Mise-En-Scene helps the audience feel like there apart/in the film. 
• Genre can influence the Mise-En-Scene of a Film. 

Design: 

A movie design should: 

• Help express a movie's vision. 
• Create a convincing sense of times, spaces, and moods. 
• Suggest a character state of mind. 
• Relate to developing themes. 

There are also elements of design: 

• Setting: The setting of a film is the environment in which the narrative takes place. Setting has physical significance and creates mood. 
• Décor: the color and textures of the interior decoration, furniture, draperies, curtains, etc. 
• Properties (aka props): objects such as paintings, flowers, guns, etc. That are used in a scene. 
• Lighting: Light is essential for recording images on film, it also shapes the way the final product looks. Lighting can be used to create different moods. 
• Costume: Costumes can express character traits, social status, self-image, projected image, state of mind, etc. 
• Makeup: Makeup has a practical purpose, to make characters more photographable for film. 
• Hairstyle: Like costumes, hairstyle can be used to reflect historical periods or show something about a character. 

Composition: 

Composition is part of the process of visualizing and planning the look of a movie. Always consider the relationships between everything within the frame: 

• Stationary objects  
• Figures (any significant things that move on the screen) 
• Light 
• Shade 
• Line 
• Color 

As filmmakers visualize and plan each shot, they must consider two aspects of composition:  

• Framing: what we see on the screen. 
• Kinesis: what moves on the screen. 

Framing: The frame is the border between what we see onscreen and everything else. Unlike a painting, motion picture frames can move and change point of view. Framing can also imply point of view (POV). Subjective POV is the view of one person. For example, over-the-shoulder shots, POV shots, Omniscient POV (the viewpoint of nobody). Also, sometimes the intended POV is unclear. 

 

Kinesis: We mainly perceive kinesis (movement) on the screen when we see… 

• The movement of objects and characters within the frame. 
• The movement of the frame itself. 

Both types of movement are part of a movie’s Mise-En-Scene. Some films move more than others such as action films whereas dramas and biographies move less. 

This is a lot of information to take in but reviewing helped with this. Also, this was a detailed explanation of Mise-En-Scene, but I suggest breaking up the information into smaller parts with the basic information you will need. I hope you found this useful to you.