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Ch. 5 Mise-en-scène
What is a frame?
• A frame demarcates the 3 dimensions of the image we see on screen § Height § Width § Depth
• Filmmakers must decide what to include and what to exclude § What is seen/not seen (onscreen off screen space) § Control distribution, balance and spatial perspectival
relations of what appears on screen § In controlling framing, filmmakers shape the from,
content, and meaning of the image
Framing: What we see on Screen
• Cinematic seeing = framing – The frame of the camera’s viewfinder
indicates the boundaries of the camera’s point of view.
– The frame offers filmmaker’s complete control over 2 kinds of cinematic space • Onscreen space • Offscreen space
Open vs. Closed Frames
• Open frame: designed to depict a world where characters move freely within an open, recognizable environment
• Closed frame: designed to imply that other forces (such as fate; social, education or economic background) have robbed characters of their ability to move and act freely
Mise-en-scene
from French mettre – “to place, put”
• refers to the visual arrangement or staging of items on screen
BUT, mise-en-scene also takes into account how those items affect the
atmosphere and the mood of the shot
2 Components of Mise
• Design: the process by which the look of the settings, props, lighting and actors is determined
• Composition: the organization, distribution, balance, and general relationship of actors and objects within the space of each shot
Elements of Design
1. Setting, Décor & Props 2. Lighting 3. Costume, makeup, and hairstyle
4. Actors and performance **
Definitions
• Setting: the environment (realistic or imagined) in which the narrative takes place
• Properties (props): objects that help us understand the characters by showing us their preferences in things
Setting
• Background for Action
OR • Dynamic; Plays
Active Role in Narrative
Elements of Mise-en-Scene
1. Setting, Décor & Props 2. Lighting 3. Costume, makeup, and hairstyle
4. Actors and performance
Lighting
• Allows us to see action
• Shadows strategically conceal things
• Directs our attention
Three Point Lighting
• Key: Main source (not always the brightest)
• Fill: Eliminates Shadow/ softens key
• Back: Depth
15
High Key
• Low Contrast • Soft • Detail • Clarity • Hollywood
Optimism
Low Key
• Contrast • Hard • Shadow
Light (Direction) • Frontal (flattens features, no shadow) • Sidelight (sculpts features) • Backlight (creates silhouettes) • Underlight (horror effect) • Toplight (halo/glamour effect) • Hairlight (specific toplight) • Eyelight (tiny light for eye sparkle)
Frontlighting
Sidelighting
Backlighting
Toplighting
Eyelight
Light (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
Attached Shadows
Cast Shadow
Chiaroscuro
Elements of Mise-en-Scene
1. Setting, Décor & Props 2. Lighting 3. Costume, makeup, and hairstyle
4. Actors and performance
Costumes
• Costume: clothing (wardrobe) worn in film
• Costumes can contribute to the setting and suggest specific character traits, such as social station, self-image, the public image the character is trying to project, state of mind, etc.
Makeup
• The makeup used to enhance or alter (positively or negatively) an actor’s appearance can be traditional or digital
Nicholson in Batman (1989)
• Highly Stylized, Exaggerated Costume/
Makeup • Characterize Joker as theatrical, aberrant.
Ledger in The Dark Knight (2008)
Kirsten Dunst in Marie Antoinette (2006)
Elements of Mise-en-Scene
1. Setting, Décor & Props 2. Lighting 3. Costume, makeup, and hairstyle
4. Actors and performance
Performance
• Blocking: general movement and placement of figures • Choreography: specific/
detailed movement of figures (dance, fights) • Acting
Character Placement
• The arrangement of characters on the screen (position, size, etc.)
Staging Position
• The characters’ reactions to the camera
Is the character looking at the viewer? Looking away? How intimate is the viewer able to get with the character?
Acting • Two aspects of an actor’s performance:
Ø Visual elements (body, gesture)
Ø Auditory elements (voice)
• Film acting vs. stage acting – largely a question of scale and spontaneity
• Acting Styles:
Ø Realistic (aims for verisimilitude)
Ø Stylized (stagey, fantastical)
Kinesis
COMPOSITION
Composition
• The visual organization of all objects on screen (similar to elements of a good shot, but for a still image)
• Note horizon, placement, sizes, positions, etc. of objects.
Density
• The amount of visual information on screen
• High density can symbolize chaos.
• Low density can symbolize calmness.