Mise en scene
- 1. What does mise-en-scene mean? It means “everything in the scene” What are the 6 key areas of mise-en-scene? 1. Colour 2. costume 3. props 4. lighting 5. set/location 6. performance Colour: How is colour used in the 3 below pictures? Symbolic use of colour can appear in several places – the set, lighting, costumes makeup etc. Connotations of colour are generally so well understood that they are used in children’s texts. She is literally “green with envy” and her skin represents that as it’s a green tint. Purple represents royalty and a form of high power as this indicates. White to represents pureness and blue to represent coldness Costume: What can we interpret from these costumes? Clothing is important as it makes us judge the character, for example in EastEnders we think that they are lower class because of what they’re wearing and how they’re wearing it but if you look at Sherlock they look a lot higher in class and status as what they’re wearing seems more posh and proper.
- 2. Props: Option 1 - You have to provide props for a tense police interview between two officers and one suspected murderer. Decide what props you would incorporate and how the actors should be directed to use them. Option 2 – You have to provide props for a romantic meal between two characters on their first date. Decide what props you would incorporate and how the actors should be directed to use them. How would actors be directed to use them: Actors are sometimes connected to some props because it shows the audience that it has some type of value to the film and expresses mood of the character. Location: Where you are filming your piece, and this is important because you could either find a location or could use a set depending on what you need. Blocking/Performance: Blocking refers to the positioning and movement of actors within the frame, both in relation to each other and in relation to the camera (which represents us, the audience) Performance covers all aspects of the actual acting – gesture, expression, accent etc. Lighting: How is lighting being used to create mood in the following examples? There are two main types of lighting, high key lighting and low key lighting, low key would often be used in horror / action / drama films etc. or scenes with tension behind them to create an atmosphere, the high key lighting is used for happy scenarios to create a mood of safety and security to show that there is nothing bad about to happen, could be used in films that are comedies and such. There is also ambient lighting where this literally just means natural lighting from the sun. Verisimilitude = this means authenticity of environment.