Mise En Scene

Session Aims 

• Understand the concept of mise en scene 
• Apply the concept to a film extract

Mise en scene: Is the visual information in front of the camera
Made up of five elements:

• Settings & Props 
• Costume, hair & makeup
• Facial expression & body language 
• Lighting & colour 
• Positioning of characters/objects within the frame 

Each aspect of mise en scene has hidden meanings within a film and sends signals to the audience about how we are supposed to feel at a certain point.

1. Settings & props 

• Sets are either built from scratch or a great deal of time is spent finding a set that already exists.
• Settings can manipulate an audience by building certain expectations and then taking a different turn.

Sci-Fi

• Space
• Planets
• Futuristic technology
• Wars

Rom-Com

• Paris
• Bedroom
• School

Horror

• Woods/Forest
• Home alone 
• Abandoned building 
• Dark setting 
• Knife 
• Mask

2. Costume, hair & makeup

• Costume, hair & makeup actas an instant indicator to a characters personality , status & job
• Certain costumes can signify certain individuals
• it tells us immediately whether the film is set in the present and in what culture it will centre around. 

3. Facial expressions and body language 

• Facial expressions provide a clear indicator of how someone is feeling
• If someone is smiling broadly, we assume they're are happy, but we may get a different feeling if it is accompanied by scary music
• Body language may also indicate how a character feels about another character or may reflect the state of the relationship

Image 1 

• Is a sci-Fi film
• The setting is a alley way
• Spidermans costume

Rom-Com costume

Sci-Fi prop

Horror prop

Horror

Sci-Fi

Rom-Com