Film Language: Mise-En-Scene explanation and examples

mise-en-scene

What do we learn about Alma, the town and the shop just from this picture?

Mise-en-scene is a French phrase

that means ‘placing on stage’.

It is used to describe the design

aspects of film through

cinematography and stage

design, and also through

direction.

In Film Studies, we need to be

able to analyse what we can see

by describing what we can see in

accurate and detailed language.

We also need to explain what it

means or what it is trying to

communicate to the audience.

Mise-en-scene is comprised of:

Setting & Props

Costume, hair and make-up

Lighting and colour

Positioning of objects and people

Facial expression and body

language

• Setting & Props

• Costume, hair and make-up

• Lighting and colour

• Positioning of objects and people

• Facial expression and body language

W h e r e t h e f i l m t a k e s p l a c e . What objects people use or we can see.

• Setting & Props

The clothes people wear and the way that people look

• Setting & Props

The use of lights to highlight or obscure things and the way that colour communicates feelings

Where people have been told to stand or move based on what the script or Director has decided. Also applies for props-why are certain props in certain places and used or not?

• Setting & Props

How are the actor using their face and body to communicate ideas and their feelings? What is their face trying to tell us? Are they standing or sitting in a way that tells us something? Are they moving in a way that tells us about them as a character?

• Setting & Props

setting & props:

What is this setting?

How would you describe it?

What does it tell the audience?

What do we learn about this person?

What does it tell the audience?

What do we learn about this person?

If we see this shot next…

What does it tell us? Who do we think this person is? Where are they?

What do the props help to show us?

Why have they been included? What is the purpose of these props?

What is the setting here?

What is the situation? What is happening?

How can we tell?

In your exercise books:

Glue in this screengrab and analyse the mise-en-scene using the

help sheet. Aim to write about at least 3 aspects of mine-en-scene.

Setting & props

• Where is this scene taking place?

• What props can we see?

• What do we learn about the situation?

• What is this shot telling us about the scene?

• How are people dressed? Do people have

make up on? Who? Why?

• What does the clothing of everyone suggest

about the situation or scene?

• Why is it that everyone is dressed in the same

style?

Costume, hair & make-up

• Lighting and colour : • Is this scene bright/dark? What colours stand out? Is

anything particularly bright? Where is the light coming from?

• Are there any parts of the scene that are darker than others?

•Why is this lighting like this? What does it tell us about the

time of day or the situation as a whole?

•What does the colour or light tell us about the people or

scene?

Lighting and colour

• Where are the people standing? Is anyone in a

place that really stands out? Where?

• Who is the most important person in this

scene? How can we tell this?

• What do we learn about this situation or scene

based on what we can see in terms of where

people and objects are?

Positioning of objects and people

• Facial expression and body language: • Are the actors using their faces in an interesting way? Are

they pulling a certain face?! What does this tell us?

• How are people standing? Are they posing in a certain way

of using their body to communicate their feelings at all?

•What can we learn about people based just on their faces

and how they’re reacting to others around them? Is it

suggesting anything about their feelings, emotions or

character as a person?

Facial expression & body language

costume, hair & make up

•Costumes are clothes.

•Hair is, well, hair!

•Make up are the products used to help make a character look a

certain way. It does not just mean things like lipstick or eye

shadow, it can be used to create scars or cuts, to make a

character look pale, to create a creepy looking character or to

help someone appear to be warm and kind.

Costume, hair & make up

Analyse the use of the clothing and hair as part of the mise-en-scene here,

focusing on what you think the Director wants to tell us about these

characters and how the costume and hair helps to do this.

In your exercise books:

•Johnny Depp is an actor who uses costume, hair and make up

to really help create a detailed, authentic and interesting

character.

•Johnny Depp is an actor who uses costume, hair and make up

to really help create a detailed, authentic and interesting

character.

What does the use of hair,

costume and make up tell the

audience about the character?

In your exercise books, annotate the

image by making a point about Edward

Scissorhands and then using something

in the image as evidence.

•These can also be used to transform an actor into someone or

something completely different:

•These can also be used to transform an actor into someone or

something completely different:

•However, is doesn’t always have to be a dramatic thing:

• What do these costumes tell us?

Costume:

Costume can also tell us about how characters change:

Costume:

What do we learn from these two just by their costume?

Costume:

How does the costume signify change?

Costume:

What other elements of

mise-en-scene also

gives the idea or

impression of change

What do the use of costume, make up

and hair tell us about these characters?

lighting & colour

lighting

Lighting and colour:

•Lighting helps to create the mood and atmosphere of a

scene. The director will decide what they want the audience

to feel and one way of doing this is by changing the lighting.

•A director can put people or objects in darkness to surprise

the audience.

•They can also use lighting to ‘shine’ on specific objects that

are significant.

Whether natural or artificial light is used in making a film, it has a big influence on the look and mood that is created.

Natural light can vary from bright, clear and sunny…

The Straight Story (1999)

to the softer English sunlight in Atonement

to dull and gloomy

which both reflects and is a metaphor for the mood of the people in Whale Rider (2002)

to threatening, as in

The Princess Bride

Lars and the Real Girl

to the glowering winter light of Minnesota

to the pouring rain…

… the skies weeping as the political prisoners are brought to the detention centre that only one will leave alive, in

V for Vendetta.

Here the storm is more than just bad weather; it is also a metaphor for the troubles facing the hero and heroine.

to the drama of storm in Moulin Rouge

Lighting a studioAll of the examples

we have just seen are

created by placing

different lights in

different positions

and with differing

strength

FILLER LIGHT KEY LIGHT

BACK LIGHT

CAMERA

Lighting a studio

The Key Light is usually the brightest light. It is used to light up the

entire scene or most important part of the scene.

The Back Light is designed to help stop the Key Light being too ‘fake’

looking and help cut out the obvious brightness of the Key Light.

The Filler Light helps to soften the shadows that are created from

the other two lights. There are often more than 1 filler lights used.

Lighting a studio

Can you label the lights?

• You can move lights to create different effects.

• Where do you think the key light would be placed in these situations:

Under lighting

Top lighting

Back lighting

Lighting from different angles

Under lighting

This is when the key light is placed below the character or object on screen.

Top lighting

Is when the key light is placed above the character or object. This will help highlight the

features of that person or object.

Back lighting

Is where the key light is placed behind the subject.

For these 3 examples, what are the lighting directions?

Discuss where you think the key lighting is coming from and why

you think it has been place there.

What effect is the film trying to create?

Lighting in a film

In your exercise book:Why are the two rooms lit

differently? What are they trying to suggest or show us?

Final aspect of lightLow-key (or hard) lighting

is where the lighting is more towards the greyer and darker scale, where there is a good

deal of shadow, and where the key light is less bright and does not dominate.

High key (or soft) lighting

is where the scene is lit evenly and brightly. It allows the audience to see everything

clearly and without there being any dark spots or parts in the frame.

Low key

High key

Genre Low-key High-key Why? How would you create this?

Horror

Romantic comedy

Super Hero

In your book, copy the table down and complete. Think carefully about which would be best suited and why and think how you could create this type of lighting (where would you put the lights?)

When to use different lighting

1.How would you describe the lighting?

2.What is the mood of each scene? How does

the lighting create mood?

3.What does the lighting tell you about the

characters?

4.How is the lighting trying to make the

audience react or feel?

1.How would you describe the lighting?

2.What is the mood of each scene? How does

the lighting create mood?

3.What does the lighting tell you about the

characters?

4.How is the lighting trying to make the

audience react or feel?

colour

Under normal circumstances, our eyes adjust rapidly and we usually don't notice differences – unless we look for them – but cinematographers will often adjust for colour.

WARM OR COLD? Pink filters for a moment of great happiness for Jess who has helped win her

football game and now dresses to return to her sister's wedding, in Bend It Like Beckham.

The Dark Knight (2008) was shot in predominately blues, greens and greys:

Is this

colour

palette

warm or

You will notice that 'noon daylight' is the closest to white light. The bluer the light, the 'cooler' it is; the redder the light, the 'warmer' it is.

Even grey can be warm or cold:

warmer cooler

Looking at the images, try to sort the

screenshots into ‘order’ of temperature.

Looking at the images, try to sort the

screenshots into ‘order’ of temperature.

Cut these out, rearrange from cold to

warm and then stick into your book.

For each, label with your

interpretation of whether

this is a happy or sad

scene based on the use

of colour alone. Try to

give a simple explanation

of why the colour makes

you think that is true.

We now expect to see a film in colour, but sometimes film use black and white for effect in films such as Sin City, Pleasantville and The Artist. When colour was first used in film it was also used for effect such as this clip from the Wizard of Oz.

Watch this clip and think about why this has been done by the director? If the audience is used to black and white, why have they used colour in this way?

Colour

Colour in film

Colour in filmIn modern film making it is now possible to change

and alter the colour of a whole film or even a small

part of a film clip.

Colour is very important in life because of the ideas that it suggests.

Colour helps to create mood by suggesting ideas to it’s

audience whether you realise it or not.

Colour works on your subconscious because people have an idea

of what colours suit certain situations. Whilst each person is

different, there are some colours which usually have the same

idea for each person.

Colour

Psychological experiments have shown that people respond to colours in specific ways.

For example, what does the colour red suggest if you saw that colour on a sign when you were driving?

Why do you think that Hospitals are usually painted light blue inside?

Colour

How colour psychology worksWhat do we associate with the colour red?

Where is red used in this image?

What does the use of red suggest about

this person?

How colour psychology works

Red = anger

Red = used as a coat

Red coat= combined with her emotion,

creates a sense of anger in the

character and therefore the audience.

Colour gradingIt doesn’t have to be for just

one thing on the screen

however.

Using computers, every

scene can have the colour

change to suit the mood of

the scene.

In these two shoots from

Gladiator, the colour has

been graded.

Why is one shot more

‘yellow’ and one more ‘blue?

What mood or atmosphere

is the director trying to get

across?

Colour grading for genresModern Horror Films use blue a lot to create a certain look for their films

Nightmare on Elm Street

End of the

world /

Apocalypse

films.

Why are these colours so

‘washed out’? (Very dull

colours of grey and

yellow.)

Cut out and glue into book

Leave a decent amount of space between each

For two images, analyse the use of light and colour. Consider the following points for each image:

• What does the Director want the audience to think/feel? • How would you describe the lighting for each? • What colours stand out? • Why are those colours prominent for this image?

Now complete sections 3-5 of your review. Don’t forget to use imdb.com to help with key

information and ideas.

In the classroom you’ll find loads of great ideas from other students.

Have a read of their work and copy some of their best ones!

Then, paste your version of that idea down on the notepad to use in your own work.

Now improve your own review using a Purple Pen to show what you’ve added in.

This could be examples of lighting or could be ideas from other students as part of the Copy and Paste exercise.

position of objects & people

The position of objects and people is important

as it helps to tell us about people, props and the

world in which the film takes place.

There are two main aspects to this: being able

to accurately describe where someone/

something is and then what the effect of this is

on the audience.

Each of you has a ‘cube’. Use the words to

accurately label the cube.

This will allow you to explain positions in film

studies accurately.

Each of you has a ‘cube’. Use the words to

accurately label the cube.

This will allow you to explain positions in film

studies accurately.

1. Using the labels, describe the following

screenshots in terms of where the people are.

You can also refer to size, if it helps.

2. Describe what you learn about the scene

based on the position of people and objects.

To do this:

1. Who is important and how you can tell

2. Where is it set based what you can see

3. What is happening and to who

To do this:

The even better descriptions will

ever to colour and light, props

and clothing, make up and hair

to help describe things in a lot of

detail.

To do this:

facial expression and body language

Facial expression and body language:

• Are the actors using their faces in

an interesting way?

• Are they pulling a certain face?!

What does this tell us?

Facial expression and body language: • Are the actors using their faces in an interesting way?

• Are they pulling a certain face?! What does this tell

Facial expression and body language: •How are people standing? Are they posing in a certain

way of using their body to communicate their feelings

at all?

•What can we learn about people based just on their

faces and how they’re reacting to others around them?

Is it suggesting anything about their feelings,

emotions or character as a person?

Facial expression and body language: •How are people standing? Are they posing in a certain

way of using their body to communicate their feelings

at all?

•What can we learn about people based just on their

faces and how they’re reacting to others around them?

Is it suggesting anything about their feelings,

emotions or character as a person?

The best thing to do for both facial

expression and body language is to

just to describe what you can see.

However, to do this we need to use

some specific language.

levels

paradox

dominant

proximity

stereotypical

subservient

subtext

expression

non-verbal communication

precision

portray

posture

exaggerated

admonitory

gesture

mannerism

Use dictionaries and the

internet to find the

definitions to these

words:

levels

paradox

dominant

proximity

stereotypical

subservient

subtext

expression

precision

portray

posture

exaggerated

admonitory

gesture

mannerism

‘Body Language’

We can see the top of his body but he is holding his hands up so that they are just

in frame at the bottom of the scteen, by his side.

His face has almost been stretched; his mouth is wide open, so are his eyes and his forehead is scrunched up. It looks like he’s quite happy as his eyebrows are quite high

up and he is looking to his left making it look like he is looking at someone else.

Describe the facial expression and body language

levels

paradox

dominant

proximity

stereotypical

subservient

subtext

expression

precision

portray

posture

exaggerated

admonitory

gesture

mannerism

Try to use some of these

words to describe the

performance of the

actor.

His mannerism is quite odd-he’s looking forwards the whole time but he is moving his around, a bit like a bird might! He is

doing this with precision; he never looks away from the camera. There is a clear

suggestion that he is looking for something but there is a subtext that

something odd is happening for him to be behaving in such a strange way.

Describe the facial expression and body language

Find an image. Describe it.

I will draw that scene when I mark your book.I can only do so if you are accurate in your

description-so be careful and precise!

DO NOW

PLEASE!

1. What do we learn about the scene, the

characters or the story? How does it make

you feel?

2. What does the mise-en-scene do to help

create this? Use the handout to answer.

Go through the sections one at a time.

Use the picture of a blank room and draw

props that would make it look like a

classroom.

Label the picture to explain what the props

are as well as why you’ve chosen them.

Clip 1:

Clip 2:

Film Language: Mise-En-Scene explanation and examples

Education

Mise en scene 2 (Hospital Scene)

Mise en- scene

Mise en scene cave scene finish

Mise En Scene

Mise en-scene/Cave scene

Mise en Scene

Mise en-scene