Mise En Scene

Hi!

Mise En Scene is a huge part of filming and media as a whole. Everything that we see in a film has a meaning and is put there for a purpose! This all comes under Mise En Scene! It includes these elements: props, costume, hair, makeup, facial expressions, body language, lighting, colour and positioning.

After learning the basics of what this meant I made notes in class about what Mise En Scene was and is:

Mise En Scene:

·         The French meaning for ‘in the scene’

·         Is everything we see on the screen that everyone can notice.

·         That everything is done for a purpose

·         Making the production as realistic as possible

Elements to this:

·        -  Setting

·         - Costume, hair and make up

·         - Facial and Tone expressions

·         - Lighting and Colour

·         - Posting of the Characters

·         - Props and Equipment

Setting:

·         To let the audience know where the scene is

·         Gives an indication of what might happen

·         Can be used to link characters and props

·         Also shows at what time and when the film is

Costume, hair and make up:

·        -  Tells us where and when the scene is set

·        - Tells us about the character and their role within the film

Facial and Tone Expressions:

·        -  Gives us and indication on what the character is thinking or feeling

·        - It can communicate with the audience what’s happening and how they should feel

Lighting and Colour:

·         - Shows us where we should be looking in the scene

·         - Can indicate a person’s personality

Posting of the Character:

·         Tells us what we should be looking at

-       Can indicate power and relationships between characters

Props and Equipment:

·        -  Can show us the roles in which the characters are in

·        - Can show how the characters are feeling and what they are going to do

·        - Used as a part of costume

 

Now that I am fully aware of what Mise En Scene is I am now going to use the skills and knowledge I have just learned to a photo from a movie. The movie I have chosen is rise of the planet of the apes. In this scene Caesar the ape, has attacked a man for shouting at his owner’s father. He has a relationship where he is a part of the family and when he sees his owner’s father who is an old man, he attacks the person and bites his ear. Caesar being a super intelligent ape realises what he has done as you see below.

 

Setting:


From this photo you can only tell a few things about the setting. One is the definition of film and photo. This shows that it is in either modern day or in the future, however we can’t tell as we don’t have enough evidence. We can also tell about the setting as the ape or chimp wouldn’t have that sort of emotion or feel that sort of emotion on his face unless he has been altered or genetically modified. This means the technology must be further than its time and that it has the brains, ability and facilities to do this.

Costume, hair and make up:

This is one is staring us right in the face. As an ape in present days wouldn’t be able to look like that and act on a movie set. Therefore they would have had a man to play the role and then it would have been computer generated. Also we can see the back of the man and he is dressed in a polyester shirt which are most commonly known to be worn by older men.

Facial and Tone Expressions:

We can tell by looking at Casers face that something bad has happened or that he feels guilty by the way his eyes look.  Even though we can only see Caser we can tell that something has just happened. We can also tell by looking at his face that he knows the consequences that will follow for his actions.

Lighting and Colour:

The lighting in this shot is very bright and everything in the shot we can see, this is so we can see the emotion on the face of Caesar and see what he is doing and what is happening. Also the colour used in the scene is especially focused on Caesar's eyes. This is so it directs our eyes straight to his so we can see the emotion on Caesar's face and what he is feeling.

Positioning of Character:

The positioning of Caesar being in front of the man and that the camera is looking at him being over the shoulder of the man. This is because we are meant to straight away focus and only look at caser. He is also right in front of the camera and a close up shot is used so we can see everything that he is feeling and that we can see all his emotions.

See you soon!