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By Ms. Vicki Anderson. Mise -en- scÈne. Definition. Mise-en-scène is everything that appears in the film frame. Originally a French theater term, it means “put into the scene.”. Realism. Viewers often judge mise-en-scène by standards of realism.
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By Ms. Vicki Anderson Mise-en-scÈne
Definition • Mise-en-scène is everything that appears in the film frame. • Originally a French theater term, it means “put into the scene.”
Realism • Viewers often judge mise-en-scène by standards of realism. • However, notions of realism vary across eras and cultures. • Instead of looking at how realistic mise-en-scène seems, it’s better to judge it by its function: How is it being used and what is it trying to convey in the narrative?
Aspects of Mise-en-scène • Setting • The Human Figure • Acting, Costume, and Makeup • Lighting • Composition • Balance, Contrast, Movement, Depth
Setting • Container, background for action • Plays an active role in narrative
Prop • Abbreviation for Property • Part of the setting that plays an active role in the narrative. • May reoccur as a motif.
Acting • Early Cinema Influenced by Stage Acting • Emotive, Conventional Gestures • Stage Actors Project to Audience • Film Actors More Restrained, Closer to Viewer, more intimate • Facial expression Mae Marsh in Birth of a Nation
Stars • Present their own body of work, own Personality – or Star Image • Still acting, but relying on a persona • John Wayne, Leonardo DiCaprio
Different Kinds of Roles • Character actors play supporting parts • Extras appear briefly in films without lines • Cameos are brief appearances in films by well-known actors.
Costume • Like setting, costume can have specific functions in the total film, and be either authentic or highly stylized.
Makeup As Craft In recent decades, the craft of makeup has developed in response to the popularity of horror and science fiction. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) Directed by Gore Verbinski
Two Jokers • Highly stylized, exaggerated costume and makeup characterizes Nicholson’s Joker as theatrical, aberrant. • More muted approach characterizes Ledger’s Joker as more “realistic.”
Lighting Dreamgirls (2006) Directed by Bill Condon Lesson 4: Part II
Creating Composition • In cinema, lighting is more than just illumination that permits us to see the action. • Lighter and darker areas within the frame help create the overall composition of each shot, and thus guide our attention to certain objects and actions.
Features of Film Lighting • Quality • Direction • Source • Color
More Examples of Light Direction Underlighting Top lighting Backlighting
Movement Film has one resource that painting lacks. Our tendency to notice visual differences shifts into high gear when the image includes movement.
Foreground and Background • Mise-en-scène serves not only to draw our attention to foreground elements, but rather to create a dynamic relation between foreground and background. • It subtly guides the eye to what is most important in a scene and influences the audience’s emotional response.