Understanding Mis en Scene

In order to film well, we must understand all types of film language, below is an example of my views from Mis en Scene:


Mise-en-scène

Mise-en-scène means, 'what is put into the scene or frame'.


Elements of Mise-en-scène:

Settings and props
Costume, Hair and make-up
Facial expressions and body language
Lighting and colour
Positioning of characters and objects within a frame

Settings

Settings can be used to manipulate an audience, it can be used to build up a certain expectation, and then the actions in the setting may take a different turn to these expectation, like a horror story taking place in a modern clean house would be more disturbing than a horror story taking place in an old abandoned house.

Props

Props are objects in the setting which play a part in the action. For example, a glass which contains poisoned wine.

Costume

Costumes can be an instant indicator of a character's job, personality or social status. It can also show when the film is set, and may also provide clues to the part the character plays in the action. Certain costumes are identified with specific genres.

Make-up

In the early day's of film, make-up was used to highlight facial features as black and white film stock couldn't register detail very well. Make-up in films now is usually used to add to the character's costume, and often, like the costume, is used to show someone's personality, social status and job, as well as further help get across the genre.

Hair

Like Make-up and costumes, Hair can help show someone's social status and personality, and can help get across in some cases the genre.

Facial Expressions

Facial Expressions are an indicator of how someone is feeling. Small changes to facial expressions also help to show how the character feels, if a smile is held for too long for example, it gives the person a more sinister look, and we know that they are up to no good. Eyes play a huge part in reading facial expressions, if the character's eyes avoid looking at a particular person, we know for some reason they can't bare to look at that person for example. Also, The eyes can be used to grab the audience's attention as it is usual for use to follow someone's eyes line to see what they are looking at.

Body Language

The way in which people move and hold their bodies indicates how we are feeling and thinking. For example, if a character's fists clench, they turn red, they start shaking, we know that they are angry.

Lighting

Lighting can be used to give a realistic look or bring out the dramatic nature of a scene for example, and different lighting styles can be identified with different genres.

Lighting can be used to

Highlight import characters or objects by drawing our attention towards them with a bright light source
Make a character look mysterious by shading section of their face or body
Reflect a character's confused state of mind by
alternating bright and dark light in a strobe effect
Show the time of day