MISE-EN-SCENE

Introduction to Film Language

WHAT IS MISE-EN-SCÈNE?

Mise-en-scène is a french term that means what is put into a scene or frame.

It includes setting, props, staging, costume and make-up, figure expression and movement

and off-screen space.

The common sense descriptive level of meaning in an image or sound.

The secondary level of meaning by which images and sounds are interpreted.

DENOTATION & CONNOTATION

DENOTATION

CONNOTATION

Example:

A red flower,

with petals and

a green stem.Example: Red flowers are associated with love – handing someone a red rose can symbolize your love for them.

Setting and locations play an important part in filmmaking and

are not just ‘backgrounds’.

Sets are either built from scratch or a great deal of time is spent to

find a setting which already exists.

Settings can manipulate an audience by building certain

expectations and then taking a different turn.

SETTING & PROPS

LIGHTING & COLOR

HIGH-KEY & LOW-KEYLighting to achieve a certain mood is easy if you work with three basic elements: key, contrast and color.

High-key images are basically light-toned with darker accents. This doesn't mean low contrast; a good high-key lighting design includes a full range of tones from white to black. Usually, high-key lighting feels warm, cheerful, expansive and energetic.

Low-key lighting produces mainly dark images accented by lighter areas. Film noir classics and dramas like Casablanca use a full gray scale from black to white, but the darker tones predominate.

There's nothing like color to influence mood, whether hot reds, sunny yellows, soothing blues, living greens or violent purples. The production design usually sets the color, but you can enhance it with colored gels over your lights.

COLOR

COSTUME, HAIR & MAKE-UP

Costume, hair and make-up act as an instant indicator to us of a character’s personality, status and job.

As well it indicates immediately whether the film is set in the present and what society/culture it will be centered around.

POSITIONING AND SPACE

Positioning within a frame can draw our attention to an important character/object.

A filmmaker can use positioning to indicate relationships between people.

EXPRESSIONS & BODY LANGUAGE

Facial expressions provide a clear indicator of how someone is feeling.

Body language can indicate how a character feels towards another character or may reflect the state of their relationship.

SPECIAL EFFECTS The illusions or tricks of the eye used in the film, television,

theatre, video game, and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual world are traditionally called special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, SPFX, or

simply FX).