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Ch. 5 Mise-en-scène

What is a frame?

•  A frame demarcates the 3 dimensions of the image we see on screen §  Height §  Width §  Depth

•  Filmmakers must decide what to include and what to exclude §  What is seen/not seen (onscreen off screen space) §  Control distribution, balance and spatial perspectival

relations of what appears on screen §  In controlling framing, filmmakers shape the from,

content, and meaning of the image

Framing: What we see on Screen

•  Cinematic seeing = framing – The frame of the camera’s viewfinder

indicates the boundaries of the camera’s point of view.

– The frame offers filmmaker’s complete control over 2 kinds of cinematic space •  Onscreen space •  Offscreen space

Open vs. Closed Frames

•  Open frame: designed to depict a world where characters move freely within an open, recognizable environment

•  Closed frame: designed to imply that other forces (such as fate; social, education or economic background) have robbed characters of their ability to move and act freely

Mise-en-scene

from French mettre – “to place, put”

•  refers to the visual arrangement or staging of items on screen

BUT, mise-en-scene also takes into account how those items affect the

atmosphere and the mood of the shot

2 Components of Mise

•  Design: the process by which the look of the settings, props, lighting and actors is determined

•  Composition: the organization, distribution, balance, and general relationship of actors and objects within the space of each shot

Elements of Design

1.  Setting, Décor & Props 2.  Lighting 3.  Costume, makeup, and hairstyle

4.  Actors and performance **

Definitions

•  Setting: the environment (realistic or imagined) in which the narrative takes place

•  Properties (props): objects that help us understand the characters by showing us their preferences in things

Setting

•  Background for Action

OR •  Dynamic; Plays

Active Role in Narrative

Elements of Mise-en-Scene

1.  Setting, Décor & Props 2.  Lighting 3.  Costume, makeup, and hairstyle

4.  Actors and performance

Lighting

•  Allows us to see action

•  Shadows strategically conceal things

•  Directs our attention

Three Point Lighting

•  Key: Main source (not always the brightest)

•  Fill: Eliminates Shadow/ softens key

•  Back: Depth

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High Key

•  Low Contrast •  Soft •  Detail •  Clarity •  Hollywood

Optimism

Low Key

•  Contrast •  Hard •  Shadow

Light (Direction) •  Frontal (flattens features, no shadow) •  Sidelight (sculpts features) •  Backlight (creates silhouettes) •  Underlight (horror effect) •  Toplight (halo/glamour effect) •  Hairlight (specific toplight) •  Eyelight (tiny light for eye sparkle)

Frontlighting

Sidelighting

Backlighting

Toplighting

Eyelight

Light (Shadows) •  Attached shadows (aka shading)

– object/figure creates shadow on itself •  Cast shadows – object/figure

casts shadow on something else •  Chiaroscuro – areas of extreme

light and dark in a single shot

Attached Shadows

Cast Shadow

Chiaroscuro

Elements of Mise-en-Scene

1.  Setting, Décor & Props 2.  Lighting 3.  Costume, makeup, and hairstyle

4.  Actors and performance

Costumes

•  Costume: clothing (wardrobe) worn in film

•  Costumes can contribute to the setting and suggest specific character traits, such as social station, self-image, the public image the character is trying to project, state of mind, etc.

Makeup

•  The makeup used to enhance or alter (positively or negatively) an actor’s appearance can be traditional or digital

Nicholson in Batman (1989)

•  Highly Stylized, Exaggerated Costume/

Makeup •  Characterize Joker as theatrical, aberrant.

Ledger in The Dark Knight (2008)

Kirsten Dunst in Marie Antoinette (2006)

Elements of Mise-en-Scene

1.  Setting, Décor & Props 2.  Lighting 3.  Costume, makeup, and hairstyle

4.  Actors and performance

Performance

•  Blocking: general movement and placement of figures • Choreography: specific/

detailed movement of figures (dance, fights) • Acting

Character Placement

•  The arrangement of characters on the screen (position, size, etc.)

Staging Position

•  The characters’ reactions to the camera

Is the character looking at the viewer? Looking away? How intimate is the viewer able to get with the character?

Acting •  Two aspects of an actor’s performance:

Ø Visual elements (body, gesture)

Ø Auditory elements (voice)

•  Film acting vs. stage acting – largely a question of scale and spontaneity

•  Acting Styles:

Ø Realistic (aims for verisimilitude)

Ø Stylized (stagey, fantastical)

Kinesis

COMPOSITION

Composition

•  The visual organization of all objects on screen (similar to elements of a good shot, but for a still image)

•  Note horizon, placement, sizes, positions, etc. of objects.

Density

•  The amount of visual information on screen

•  High density can symbolize chaos.

•  Low density can symbolize calmness.