Today I learned Mise en Scene - this means 'what is in the scene or visual frame' and is the visual aspect in storytelling. It's a useful way of showing an audience instead of telling and can help define characters for example their emotional state and status. It defines relationships between characters and there are 4 key elements to Mise en Scene which are:
- Setting - location, environment (genre)
- Costume/Makeup e.g good or bad
- Lighting - how it affects setting and character e.g shadows for villains
- Staging - positions of characters or items in the frame
Reading Mise en Scene depends on your interpretation of visual codes, signs and symbols. Semiotics - the study of signs and their meaning. Denotation -the sign (word, colour, image) and Connotation - the concept or meaning of these signs.
The connotation test means when you change the use or element of the sign to see how this effects the interpretation.
Mise en Scene interpretation can also be influenced by culture, we watched a scene from The Matrix and although in western culture a black costume usually represents bad and a white costume good, as the film is influenced by Asian cinema the black costume in the matrix is representing good and the white bad.
We watched a few clips to gain a better understanding of Mise en Scene. The first clip was from Games of Thrones (GOT):
- Setting -Warm, rich and exotic
- Costume/Makeup - luxurious, contrast of colour
- Lighting- Soft, natural, fill light
- Staging - Dominant female
We also watched a second clip from GOT:
- Setting: Cold, masculine
- Costume/Makeup - uniformity
- Lighting- Cold, blue, key light
- Staging- Status and rank
Another clip we watched was of The only was is essex which is a scripted reality show.
- Setting - Hyperrealism, stage set?
- Costume/Makeup - Glamour, aspirational?
- Lighting - High key drama
- Staging - Imitates conventions of drama
The final clip we watched was from Dispatches a documentary.
- Setting - Authentic locations
- Costume/Makeup - Social class?
- Lighting - Natural and low key
- Staging - Suggests social isolation
Typically the following applies to Mise en Scene with dramas:
- Setting - Usually studio sets
- Costume/Makeup - Designed as character specific
- Lighting - Classically high key even if simulated natural lighting
- Staging - Director specific
Mise en Scene with documentary:
- Setting - Classically uses real locations
- Costume/Makeup - Typically authentic but can be directed
- Lighting - Traditionally natural but often artificial
- Staging - Typically natural but ofter director specific.
After learning about Mise en Scene I am going to watch a film or TV show and take a scene to apply this to.
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