MISE-EN-SCÈNE, Study notes of French

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MISE-EN-SCÈNE

ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS

What is mise-en-scène?

• French term: “putting into the scene”
• First applied to the practice of directing plays
• The term extended to film direction:
  • The director’s control over what appears in the film frame

Mise-en-scène & the director

In controlling the mise-en-scène the director stages the event for the camera

Mise-en-scène has a vast range of possibilities It usually involves some planning but the filmmaker may be open to unplanned events as well

The power of mise-en-scène

This technique has the power to transcend normal conceptions of reality For example, Georges Méliès’ use of mise-en-scène enabled him to create a totally imaginary world on film His Star-Film studio made hundreds of short fantasy & trick films controlling over every element of the frame. See Martin Scorsese’s Hugo (2011), with Ben Kingsley as Georges Méliès

Aspects of mise-en-scène

What possibilities for selection & control does it offer the filmmaker? Four general areas:

1. Setting
2. Costume & make-up
3. Lighting
4. Staging

1. Setting - cont.

A full-size setting need not always be built Miniature buildings can be constructed Parts of settings can be done as paintings & combined photographically with full-sized sections of the space Digital effects can be used to fill in portions of the setting

1. Settings - props

Prop: short for ‘property’ – borrowed from the theater When an object in the setting has a function within the ongoing action, it is called a ‘prop’. In the course of the film, the prop may become a motif When the filmmaker uses color to create parallels among elements of setting, a color motif may become associated with several props.

3. Lighting

Much of the impact of an image comes from its manipulation of lighting Lighting shapes objects by creating highlights & shadows Highlights & shadows help create our sense of a scene’s space

3. Lighting – highlights & shadows

A highlight is a patch of relative brightness on a surface Attached shadows: light fails to illuminate part of an object Cast shadows: projected by an object

3. Lighting quality

Quality refers to the relative intensity of the illumination Hard lighting creates clearly defined shadows, crisp textures & sharp edges Soft lighting creates a diffused illumination

3. Direction of lighting

Direction of lighting referes to the path of light from its source to the object lit We distinguish between frontal lighting sidelighting backlighting underlighting top lighting

3. Direction of lighting - cont

Underlighting – light comes from below the subject It tends to distort features, so it’s often used to create dramatic horror effect But it may simply indicate a realistic light source , such as a fireplace Top lighting – the spotlight shines down form almost directly above

3. Source of lighting

A subject normally requires two light sources: a key light a fill light Key light – primary source, providing the dominant illumination& casting the st rongest shadows It’s the most directional light It’s usually corresponds to the motivating light source in the setting Fill light – less intense illumination which fills in, softening or eliminating shadows cast the the key light