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The Shot:
Mise-en-Scene
Film’s Stylistic System
• Mise-en-Scene (“putting in the scene”)
• Cinematography (“writing in motion”)
• Editing (compiling shots)
• Sound (all auditory elements)
Verisimilitude• Film, like all art forms, is a lie. That is, it
is not the literal truth. It is not real.
• Mise-en-Scene is the element of stylistic form that seeks to create verisimilitude, or the appearance or semblance of reality, plausibility, or believability.
Elements of Mise-en-Scene
1. Setting
2. Figures
3. Props & Costumes
4. Light & Shadow
5. Color
6. Perspective Relations
7. Performance
1. Film Setting
• Landscape
• Environment
• Spectacle
• Minute detail
• Directed attention
Landscape/Environment
Spectacle
Minute Detail/Directed Attention
2. Figures in Film• Figures in film have behavior and
motivation. Examples:
Characters (people)
Animals
Machines
Some objects
Figures in Film
3. Props & Costumes• Objects & clothing aren’t necessarily
props & costumes.
• An object becomes a prop when a figure interacts with it.
• An article of clothing becomes a costume when a figure wears it.
• A prop (or costume, for that matter) becomes a figure when it has behavior and motivation.
Objects vs. Props
Clothing vs. Costume
4. Lighting: Type/Source
• Hard vs. soft light
• Key vs. fill light
• Light source
Natural
Artificial diegetic
Artificial nondiegetic
Hard Key vs. Soft Fill
Natural Light
Artificial Diegetic Light
Artificial Nondiegetic Light
4. Lighting: Direction
• Frontal (flattens features)
• Sidelight (sculpts features)
• Backlight (creates silhouettes)
• Underlight (horror effect)
• Toplight (halo effect)
• Hairlight (specific toplight)
• Eyelight (tiny light for eye sparkle)
Frontlighting
Sidelighting
Backlighting
Underlighting
Toplighting
Hairlight
Eyelight
4. Shadows
• Attached shadows (aka shading) – object/figure creates shadow on itself
• Cast shadows – object/figure casts shadow on something else
• Chiaroscuro – areas of extreme light and dark in a single shot
• Film noir – “Dark Film”
Attached Shadows
Cast Shadow
Chiaroscuro
Film Noir
5. Color
• Descriptive – it looks like what it is
• Emotional – creates a feeling
• Symbolic – represents an idea
• Formal/structural – lines, areas of composition
Descriptive Color
Emotional Color
Symbolic Color
Structural Color
6. Perspective Relations• Size & Balance – create depth cues and
emphasis
• Depth cues – clues as to distance
• Planes (overlapping) – a depth cue
• Size diminution – smaller = further away
• Linear perspective – parallel lines converge
• Aerial perspective – hazing of distant planes
• Shallow vs. deep-space composition – few planes vs. many planes in the shot
Overlapping Planes/Size Diminution
Linear Perspective
Aerial Perspective
Shallow-Space Composition
Deep-Space Composition
7. Performance
• Blocking – general movement and placement of figures
• Choreography – specific/detailed movement of figures (dance, fights)
• Acting
7. Performance: Acting• Two aspects of an actor’s performance:
Visual elements (body, gesture)
Auditory elements (voice)
• Film acting vs. stage acting – largely a
question of scale and spontaneity
• Acting Styles:
Realistic (aims for verisimilitude)
Stylized (stagey, fantastical)