Mind Diary

How To Read A Film 1:
05. Elements of Mise–en–scène

Mise–en–scène:

Everything we see in a film is placed carefully … the characters that we see acting out that story and the time and place where the story is set.

The device of mise–en–scène creates this world and makes meaning through these areas of the creative filmmaking process:

  • Settings & props
  • Costume
  • Hair & make–up
  • Lighting and colour
  • Facial expression & body language
  • Position of characters & objects within a frame

One could say that these filmic aspects are what we see in the frame that is projected onto a screen.

What every film starts out as – the script.

Settings:

Settings are where the action of a film takes place. They can help us understand when and where the film is happening.

A film set in the past will have to convey when it is set through the selection of locations which give the viewer the impression of a particular period in history. The setting also needs to be linked to the correct costumes and props. All of these combined will help create a “filmic world” to represent a time in the past that the viewer understands.

What Is A Movie Prop ?

A movie prop, or simply a prop, is an object used on–screen to help the actors tell the story. Props can be anything from weapons and furniture to food and jewelry.

The term “prop” is short for “property,” which is a theatrical term that means any inanimate object that tells the story of a production.

The world of the film needs to have a cohesive feeling to it, it needs to be “believable”: The audience must have an instant understanding of where the film is taking place.

Whereas the film title might not indicate what type or genre (romance, comedy, thriller, for example) the film is, setting can suggest the genre, or type, of film, so that once we start to see the settings we would generally recognise these as being typical of a certain genre.

It is not only the place itself that is important. The filmmaker can suggest other ideas or meanings to the audience through things like the weather –
a country lane in bright sunlight feels very different to the same lane covered in snow or in heavy rain at night.
Change the colour of the walls or the furniture in a room and it can feel very different.

Set design can be used to amplify (add details) characters, emotions and the mood of a scene.

In the scene from “Paddington” we are introduced to the Brown family … the image gives us a sense of the isolation of each character in their own rooms.

Filming on Location:

One of the issues of location shooting is “health and safety”. However, actual locations can play an important part in creating an atmosphere in a film.

I think that one of the main reasons why all of us enjoy (and admire) watching films is the ability of the art of film making to make us “believe” that what we see, hear and feel (or simply, experience) is REAL.

That is why I think that if this scene would have been shot inside a huge studio (maybe), it would have been still “NOT–as–REAL”, at least not to same degree, as being filmed in a real part of the physical world we all live in.

It is needless to say that a "studio" is more like an “imaginative” world of its own, while filming in actual locations of the physical world would be as if the director shouting quietly in our ears:
Look, it is REAL.
That is why films as an art achieve an impact and can lead to change.

And maybe instead of writing that long comment, I should have just pointed at one sentence on this very web page:
"Actual locations can play an important part in creating an 'atmosphere' in a film."

The word 'atmosphere' is, of course, the key word here. Managing to create, again, a REAL 'atmosphere' helps the film generate impact and affects our lives.

Creating a 'REAL atmosphere' is certainly also a part of the PLEASURE of watching films.

Settings and Genres:

Different genres of films have readily identifiable settings.

Costumes:

HARRIET KENDALL:
Costume design is really important in creating the “world” of the film. It is a very powerful tool to create that "character", to help the actor or actress create that character.

HARRIET KENDALL:
It is very good at setting the scene along with the sets behind them. You straightaway might know the "date". You might know the "style" of the person. Are they stylish? Are they back–dated for that period?

HARRIET KENDALL:
Within a split second of visualising that character, you can tell a lot:

  • A costume come straightaway maybe give an indication of where that country, where that "location" might be.
  • And also maybe the socioeconomic class of the character.
  • And also the event.
    Is it a black–tie event? Is it an everyday scene?
  • And does that person or character “fit” into that scene?

HARRIET KENDALL:
Working with the actor or the actress for them to feel, help them “feel their character”.
Do they want to feel at "ease" in that costume?
Or do they actually want to feel "uncomfortable"?
Do they want to feel that the colours suit them?
Or does actually the colours want to drain them?

What a character wears in a film can rapidly communicate all sorts of information about them to the audience – their position in society, the particular social group they belong to, whether they may be "threatening" or "sympathetic". We can pick up clues from jewellery, hairstyle, shoes, the colour of a particular shirt or dress.

"Meaning" in relation to "clothing".

Costumes give us "reference points" for understanding a particular character's 'type' and potential "significance" within the narrative of a film.

Makeup:

Makeup can be used in different ways to create meaning. It may be used to make the characters look "natural" under the studio lighting. Or it may be used as part of the iconography of the genre; for example, horror films …
to make the created filmic world more believable or to meet audience expectations of either genre or narrative.

The aim of the makeup artist is to ensure that the faces of actors blend in with the overall reality of a film.

Lighting:

A graphic image of a spotlight.

lighting is one of the devices that filmmakers use to create meaning in the filmic world.

The way in which a filmmaker illuminates the objects and characters in a film frame can greatly influence our "understanding" of a scene.

By brightly lighting an object or gesture important to the storyline, whilst keeping other minor details in relative darkness, the viewer's attention can be guided.

A director can also build up suspense by concealing something the audience is keen to see with a shadow.

In a studio, there are usually three main sources of lighting:

  1. The key light — usually the brightest and the most influential.
  2. The backlight — helps counteract the effect of the key light, thus making the figure look more ‘rounded’.
  3. The filler light — helps to soften the harsh shadows that the use of back and key lights creates.

Filmmakers manipulate this basic format to achieve the atmosphere they wish to convey.

Low–Key Lighting:

Low–key lighting is often seen as expressive.
When using only the key and backlights, filmmakers produce a sharp contrast of dark and light areas on the screen as shadows are formed.

High–Key Lighting:

More filler lights are used, which will appear more normal and realistic to our eyes.
can also be manipulated to give a more glamorous appearance to a star's face, or add a twinkle to their eyes.

Light and darkness have strong symbolic meanings that can be exploited in order to convey something about individual "characters" or the "situations" they are in.

A high–contrast image, with many jagged edges of light and shadow can evoke a “feeling of unease”, used in so many film noir productions.

Lighting can be used to create a "sense of place", give ideas about the weather, the "state of mind" of the character and also for aesthetic or artistic reasons.
For example, in a thriller you might expect to see certain scenes shot in shadow – to create the sense of the unknown (the unseen).

Lighting can be used to make characters or situations seem frightening or mysterious by shading and hiding sections of what we can see.

Lighting can be used to create a certain mood in the filmic world, and also to draw our attention to a particular character's actions or a significant object.