MISE-EN-SCÈNE

ESSENTIALCONCEPTS

Whatismise-en-scène?

•  Frenchterm:“puttingintothescene”

•  Firstappliedtothepracticeofdirectingplays

•  Thetermextendedtofilmdirection:

– Thedirector’scontroloverwhatappearsinthefilmframe

Whatdoesmise-en-scèneinclude?

Thoseaspectsoffilmthatoverlapwiththeartofthetheater:

1.Setting

2.Lighting3.Costume&make-up4.Staging

Mise-en-scène&thedirector

Incontrollingthemise-en-scène

thedirector

stagestheeventforthecamera

Mise-en-scènehasavastrangeofpossibilities

Itusuallyinvolvessomeplanning

butthefilmmakermaybeopento unplannedeventsaswell

Understandingmise-en-scène

Whileonefilmmayuseittocreateanimpressionofrealism,othersmayseekverydifferenteffects: Comicexaggeration Supernaturalterror Beauty … andmanyotherfunctions

Weshouldanalyzeitsfunctioninthetotalfilm:

howitismotivatedhowitvariesordevelopshowitworksinrelationtootherfilmtechniques

Thepowerofmise-en-scène

Thistechniquehasthepowertotranscendnormalconceptionsofreality

Forexample,GeorgesMéliès’useofmise-en-scène

enabledhimtocreateatotallyimaginaryworldonfilm

HisStar-Filmstudiomadehundredsofshortfantasy&

trickfilmscontrollingovereveryelementoftheframe.

SeeMartinScorsese’sHugo(2011), withBenKingsleyasGeorgesMéliès

Aspectsofmise-en-scène

Whatpossibilitiesforselection&controldoesitofferthefilmmaker?Fourgeneralareas:

1.Setting 2.Costume&make-up 3.Lighting 4.Staging

1.Setting

•  Analreadyexistinglocaleinwhichtostagetheaction

OR•  Aconstructedsetting

TheoveralldesignofasettingcansignificantlyshapehowweunderstandstoryactionColorcanbeanimportantcomponentofsettings

1.Setting-cont.

Afull-sizesettingneednotalwaysbebuiltMiniaturebuildingscanbeconstructedPartsofsettingscanbedoneaspaintings&

combinedphotographicallywithfull-sizedsectionsofthespace

Digitaleffectscanbeusedtofillinportionsof

thesetting

1.Settings-props

Prop:shortfor‘property’–borrowedfromthetheaterWhenanobjectinthesettinghasafunctionwithinthe

ongoingaction,itiscalleda‘prop’.Inthecourseofthefilm,thepropmaybecomeamotifWhenthefilmmakerusescolortocreateparallels

amongelementsofsetting,acolormotifmaybecomeassociatedwithseveralprops.

2.CostumeandMake-upCostumecanhavespecificfunctionsinthefilmTherangeofpossibilitiesishuge–costumesinwesterns;

recentexample,PhantomThread(2017)Filmgenresmakeextensiveuseofcostumeprops–

superheroescostumesintheMarvelUniverseCostumeisoftencoordinatedwithsetting–importance

ofcolordesignByintegratingitselfwithsetting,costumemayfunctionto

reinforcethefilm’snarrative&thematicpatterns

3.Lighting

Muchoftheimpactofanimagecomesfromitsmanipulationoflighting

Lightingshapesobjectsbycreatinghighlights&

shadowsHighlights&shadowshelpcreateoursenseofa

scene’sspace

3.Lighting–highlights&shadows

Ahighlightisapatchofrelativebrightnessonasurface

Attachedshadows:lightfailstoilluminatepartof

anobjectCastshadows:projectedbyanobject

3.FeaturesofFilmlighting

•  Quality

•  Direction

•  Source

•  Color

3.Lightingquality

Qualityreferstotherelativeintensityoftheillumination

Hardlightingcreatesclearlydefinedshadows,

crisptextures&sharpedgesSoftlightingcreatesadiffusedillumination

3.Directionoflighting

DirectionoflightingreferestothepathoflightfromitssourcetotheobjectlitWedistinguishbetweenfrontallightingsidelightingbacklightingunderlightingtoplighting

3.Directionoflighting-cont

•  Frontallighting–tendencytoeliminateshadows•  Sidelight-sculptsthecharacter’sfeatures•  Backlighting–comesfrombehindthesubjectfilmed

Canbepositionedatmanyangles:offtothe side,pointingstraighttothecamera,orfrom belowUsedwithnoothersources,backlightingtends tocreatesilhouettesCombinedwithmorefrontalsourcesoflight,the techniquecancreateanunobtrusively illuminatedcontour

3.Directionoflighting-cont

Underlighting–lightcomesfrombelowthesubjectIttendstodistortfeatures,soit’softenusedtocreatedramatichorroreffectButitmaysimplyindicatearealisticlightsource,suchasafireplace

Toplighting–thespotlightshinesdownformalmost

directlyabove

3.Sourceoflighting

Asubjectnormallyrequirestwolightsources: akeylight afilllight

Keylight–primarysource,providingthedominantillumination&castingthestrongestshadowsIt’sthemostdirectionallightIt’susuallycorrespondstothemotivatinglightsourceinthesetting

Filllight–lessintenseilluminationwhichfillsin,softeningoreliminatingshadowscastthethekeylight

3.Lighting–Three-pointinglighting

ClassicalHollywoodfilmmakingdevelopedthecustomofusingatleastthreelightsourcespershot: Keylight Filllight Backlight

ItisstillwidelyusedMostHollywoodfilmswillhaveadifferentlighting

arrangementforeachcameraposition

3.Three-pointlighting:high-keylighting

Overalllightingdesignwhichusesfill&backlighttocreatelowcontrastbetweenbrighter&darkerareas

Usually,thelightqualityissoft,makingshadowareas

fairlytransparentHigh-keylightingisanoverallapproachtoillumination

thatcansuggestdifferentlightingconditionsortimesofday

3.Three-pointlighting:low-keyillumination

Createsstrongercontrast&sharper,darkershadows

Oftenthelightingishard,&filllightislessenedor

eliminatedaltogetherTheeffectisofchiaroscuro

Lighting–remember!

Nocomponentofthemise-en-scène

ismoreimportantthan

thedramaandadventureoflight!

4.Staging:movement&acting

Themostfamiliarcaseoffigureexpression&movement areactorsplayingroles

Anactor’sperformanceconsistsof

visualelements:appearancegestures

facialexpressionssound: voice

effects

4.Staging-Acting

Conceptsofrealisticactinghavechangedoverfilmhistory

Considerperformancestylesalongtwodimensions

individualizedstylized

Manyfilmmakingtraditionsemphasizethecreationof

broader,moreanonymoustypes

3.Acting:HollywoodClassicalHollywoodnarrativewasbuiltupon

ideologicallystereotypedrolesThrough‘typecasting’,actorswereselected&directed

toconformtotypeOften,however,skillfulperformersgavethese

conventionsafreshness&vividnessInSovietcinemaofthe1920s,asimilarprinciple,

typagewasused–theactorportrayedatupicarepresentativeofasocialclassorhistoricalmoment

4.FeaturesofactingCinemacallsforastronginterplaybetweenrestraint&

emphasisActormustbeabletoadjusttoeachtypeofcamera

distanceThestagingoftheaction&thecamera’sdistancefrom

itdeterminehowwewillseetheactors’performance

Extroversion&exaggerationcreatestylized

performances

Mise-en-scèneinspace&time

Eachelementofmise-en-scènesettingcostumelightingstaging

seldomappearsinisolationEachusuallycombineswithotherstocreateaspecific

systemineveryfilmThegeneralformalprinciplesofunity,disunity,

similarity,difference&developmenthelpusanalyzehowspecificelementsofmise-en-scènefunctiontogether

Mise-en-scèneinspaceThearrangementofthemise-en-scènecreatesthe

compositionofthescreenspaceOurvisionisattunedtochangesofseveralkinds:

movement,color,differences,balanceofdistinctcomponents&variationsinsize

Oursensitivitytothesechangesallowsthefilmmakerto

directournoticeacrossthetwo-dimensionalspaceoftheframe

Mise-en-scènecreatesadynamicrelationbetween

foreground&background

Mise-en-scèneintime

Withintheconfinesoftheshot’sduration,thedirectorcancontroltherhythmoftimeasitunfolds

ThecomplexchoreographiesofBusbyBerkeleyarea

caseinpoint–e.g.thesong&dancenumbersofTheGang’sAllHere(1943)

Mise-en-scène:summary

Asasetoftechniques,mise-en-scènehelpscomposethefilmshotinspace&time

Setting,lighting,costume&staginginteracttocreate

patternsofmovement,ofcoloranddepth,line&shape,light&dark

Thesepatternsdefine&developthespaceofthestory

world&emphasizesalientstoryinformationThedirector’suseofmise-en-scènenotonlyguidesour

perceptionfrommomenttomomentbutalsohelpscreatetheoverallformofthefilm

Interestingexamplesofmise-en-scène-openingsequences,unlessotherwisenoted

•  TheGeneral(1927)dir.BusterKeaton-thelocomotiveasaprop

•  TheGodfather(1972)dir.FrancisCoppola•  TheGraduate(1967)dir.MikeNichols•  Hugo(2011)dir.MartinScorsese

-howtostageascene[74min&94min intothefilm]

•  IronMan2(2010)dir.JonFavreau-digitalsettingsforcarrace

•  TheNakedKiss(1964)dir.SamFuller•  OliveKitteridge(2014)HBOminiseries•  OnceuponaTimeintheWest(1969)dir.

SergioLeone•  OntheWaterfront(1954)dir.EliaKazan [conversationincar,72minintofilm]•  Patton(1970)dir.JohnFrankenheimer

•  PhantomThread(2017)dir.P.T.Anderson-thegowns(props)asemblematicof character

•  StrangersonaTrain(1951)dir.AHitchcock•  Sunrise(1927)dir.F.W.Murnau•  WalkontheWildSide(1962)dir.E.Dmytryk•  WildGrass(2009)dir.AlainResnais

-useofcolor

Mise-en-scèneexamples–Documentaryshorts

•  “TrickoftheLight,episode11ofdocseriesHollywood(1980),dir.KevinBrownlow

•  Docshort“JamesWongHowe:Cinematographer”(1973)-howtolightthreescenes

•  Video“InServiceoftheDemon”,bonusmaterialofHellboyII(2008)dir.GuillermodelToro

•  Video“CapturingAvatar”,bonusmaterialinAvatar(2009)dir.JamesCameron– digitalsettings

Source:

Thisoutlinefollowstheconceptsonmise-en-scènedevelopedbyDavidBordwell&KristinThompsonintheirbookFilmArt,AnIntroduction(2001&2010)

Thelistoffilmexampleshasbeenpreparedby byMaríaElenadelasCarreras