Mise-En-Scene

Thursday 4th May

LO: To Explore the term 'Mise-En-scene'

May the fourth be with you!

Mise-En-Scene:

A French term meaning what is put into a scene or frame

The five elements of Mise-En-Scene are...

• Settings and Props
• Costume, Hair, and Make-Up
• Facial Expression and Body Language
• Lighting and Colour
• Positioning of characters/Objects within the frame

Setting and Props

• Settings and Locations play an important part in film making and are not just 'backgrounds'.
• Sets are either built from scratcher a great deal of time is spent to find a setting which already exists.

You would find props like space ship, robots and futuristic weapons in a sci-fi movie. The setting would usually be in space or on an alien planet. In a Romantic Comedy film the setting would be in a house or everyday locations, the props would be like flowers, a bed, cars and everyday objects. The setting for a Horror Film would a haunted house, a forest, a prison or an isolated locations and for props you would find things like weapons and sharp objects.

Costume, Hair and Make-Up

• Costume, Hair and Make-Up acts as an instant indicator about a characters personality, status and job.
• It tells us immediately whether the film is set in the present and what society it is set in.

The Costume, Hair and Make-Up of this character suggests that he is very smart and is quite wealthy, he looks wealthy because he is wearing and expensive watch and a suit. Also that he is 

organised as he doesn't look untidy at all.

Facial Expressions and Body Language

• Facial Expressions provide a clear indicator of how someone is feeling.
• If someone is smiling broadly, we assume they are happy but we may get a different feeling if they are holding a knife accompanied by scary music.

The Facial Expressions and Body Language of this character suggests that he is angry as he is tensed. His Facial Expressions suggest that he slightly jealous as he has a slight smirk and his eyebrows are not raised. 

Positioning of Characters and objects within a frame

• Positioning within a frame can draw our attention to them
• It can show the people's feelings to each other and can show the relationship between them

Lighting and Colour

• To highlight characters or objects within the frame

The types of lighting are...

• Low-Key lighting - Deep distinct shadows
• High-Key lighting - Light filters are used and natural lighting to the eyes

• In this scene they have used props like ships and buildings like a castle and houses.
• They use the big ships and buildings that overcast the town to create tension as it might seem like something bad is going to happen. The low-key lighting and over by the castle also creates tension and adds a spooky effect, along with a dark colour.
• The type of ships and buildings used suggest the film is set in the 1700's. The setting suggests it  is set in a caribbean/jungle environment.

• In this scene the positioning of the characters suggest they are friends or on the same side as they are close together and not angry at each other.
• Their costume is very ripped up and dirty which suggests the characters are from a poor background, they also have pirate hats which suggests they are pirates so they could be pirates that aren't so highly ranked as they are quite poor. Their clothes also suggest that the film is set int the 1700's.
• The Make-Up used on the characters is very tattered and very un-human which suggests the characters aren't human.