Mise-en-Scene

Mise-en-Scene (MeS) is a French term meaning ‘what is put into the scene or frame’. What is put into or left out of a frame can make a big difference to how we receive the film and how we are suppose to feel.

 

The elements of mise-en-scene are an indicator of the genre of the film and as an audience we have expectations of the mise-en-scene depending on the genre.

The elements within MES include;

1. setting and props
2. costume, hair and make-up
3. facial expressions and body language
4. lighting and colour
5. positioning of characters & objects within a frame

·                     SETTINGS & PROPS

Settings used in a film are rarely just backgrounds to the characters and sometimes we see settings with no action taking place. Filmmakers can choose to build a set from scratch in a studio. Alternatively a lot of time and effort is put in by a location manager to find a setting that already exists.

Props is the term given to objects in a scene and are usually used to help the narrative or to follow the generic conventions of a film.

·                     COSTUME, HAIR & MAKE-UP

Costume plays a large part because it can indicate a character’s personality, social status and job. It tells us when the film is set and in what culture.

MAKE-UP

Make-up in the early days of cinema was used to highlight facial features, as black and white film stock could not register detail very well.

·                     Facial Expressions & Body Language

Facial expressions are a clear indicator of how a person feels. The filmmaker may use a character’s eyes to draw our attention to something or a slight change in a character’s face can tell us something has happened.

Body Language also indicates how we are thinking and feeling. Everyone is different but we recognise common features such as shaking a fist means anger, or curling into a ball to protect ourselves.

·                     Lighting

Lighting can help to give a scene a realistic look (high key) or a dramatic look (low key). It can also be used to highlight particular objects, characters or to change a character’s appearance.

·                     COLOUR

Colour has connotations associated with it and can be used to create a mood and atmosphere.

Connotation= the secondary meaning of a word

-Yellow= happiness,

-Blue= Sadness,

-White= pureness

-Green= jealousy, illness

-Black= evil, pessimistic

-Red= anger, passion

Denotation= the first meaning of a word

·                     POSITIONING OF CHARACTERS & OBJECTS WITHIN A FRAME

Positioning can indicate the importance of a person or object. If a character is positioned in the foreground we know to assume they have some importance in the scene. Also the positioning of objects can direct our attention to a particular area.

Firstly i Will be talking about the props. the props mainly used in this scene will be the sword's which is a weapon. the props can most times betray the genre of the movie for example a weapon such a sword like she is holding shows us this is a action film.

The costume she is to be wearing has yellow and black, something we should pay attention to because yellow and black are usually used for warning's or caution.

 The girls costume and prop gives us a big explanation of her personality and she's dangerous also fighter. The way the girl is standing shows us she is on a defence and ready for action. her facial expression shows us she is on alert. The lighting being used is key lighting showing everything bright so the audience is aware of what is going on. as for the girl she is on focus while her back ground is blurred out slightly which shows us that she is a main character and her importance in the film.

The setting and background set in this shot looks like a old factory sort of place which has not been in use for a very long time. The gun's prospect's the genre of the move which can be  crime or action.

The men's costume show us they are business men or serious people like a mafia who dress smart. The blood on the mans shirt threes blood which can indicate that his either hurt or something has happened to someone close to him and the blood got there from that person.

The man standing is looking down at the other man which shows he has he power there, also holding the gun at him shows he has no fear and he is angry. From this shot e cant see the facial expression clearly but it shows that he is very angry from the body language. As for the man on the floor, his body language shows he is alert and has fear.

The lighting here is high key spot light sort of style which indicates that they are what the audience is meant to be focusing on.

There isn't much of colour to be focusing because the suits has the black and white colour which doesn't link to any meaning but their personality or what job they do.

The positioning of the characters show the importance of that scene and the placing of the objects in the background is a generic convention it allows the audience to understand what kidn of place the location is at or what the location is.

Matrix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te6qG4yn-Ps

The most commonly used shots were over shoulder and shot reverse shot to be able to show the conversation between the two people. This shot involves the audience with the scene and keeps them interested on whats going on.

extreme close up was another shot that was used and only once. this shot was reflecting the mans glasses showing Neo's confusion , at this moment the music stops's and silence approaches. This causes the tension and in the glasses seeing hes going for the red pill makes it quiet clear of the action hat is coming up. this shot and the silence makes the audience want to know more. as an audience we are Neo and they are showing the rest if the rabbit hole.

Camera Movements

Zoom-  When zooming the camera does not move and the lens is focused down from a long shot to a close up, whilst recording.


Tracking (dollying)-  when tracking, the camera itself is moved smoothly towards or away from the subject while the focus remains constant. Tracking in (like zooming) draws the audience into a closer relationship with the subject, moving away tends to create emotional distance.

Tracking back- tends to divert attention to the edges of the screen and the speed of tracking may affect the viewer’s mood.

Pan- the camera moves left to right or right to left to follow a moving subject

whip pan-  when a very fast pan causes the subject to blur.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLKxiOaTnO4


Handheld camera- Is used to produce a jerky, bouncy, unsteady image, which can create a sense of immediacy or chaos.


Steadicam- A handheld camera worn as a kind of harness. It uses a gyroscope system to ensure the camera remains perfectly level and smooth as the camera moves.

Tilt shot-  is where the camera moves up or down or down to up from a fixed Axis.

Crane shot-  a camera is mounted on a crane and it moves around at a distance above ground level and it can move up or down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPRekG7hLM4&feature=related

Rolling shot- a camera moves diagonally, which makes the image askew (often used to show that a character is drugged/ drunk).

Aerial shot- is where the camera looks down on something and it is like a birds eye view shot.

Camera angles

Straight on Angle- Is a shot that is on eye line level facing straight on

High Angle shot- a shot that captures the subject or action from high up looking down

Low angle shot - is a shot that takes the action or subject from below looking up

Camera positions

Long Shot - shows all of a fairly large subject (person) and usually much of the surroundings.

this show will be use full in a thriller film, it would show what is around the person, and gives the audience and idea of where they could be and also what could possibly be happening.

 

Extreme Long Shot (ELS ) - Is a shot that is sometimes used as an establishing shot. This is because the camera is at its further distance from the subject, emphasising the background and also reducing the importance of the subject.

Establishing Shot (ES) -Can give the audience a opportunity to guess where the location and the action that is about to happen. It can also allow them to prospect the genre

Master Shot (MS) - Is similar to establishing shots and are used at the beginning of sequences, as a reference point for the rest of the sequence to follow.

Medium long shot (MLS) - The shot focus on the subject from the knees upwards. This shot can also show the differences between the subject and the surroundings.

As we can see in a thriller film this shot would be use full to show the villain's face closer, it makes it easier to see their facial expressions or who they are and gets the audience a step closer the the villain which brings tension.

Medium shot (MS) - Is when the camera frames the actor from the waist up and allows us to see the body language or expression. like this character in our film we can see she is worries and a mother. this shot makes it a kulashov effect because we start thinking this baby is hers and the man is married to her because of his ring.

Close up (CU) - Shows a fairly small part of the scene and emphasises on something, such as a characters face and neck in detail that it fills the screen which can be used a reaction shot.

This shot will be very use full in a thriller because it shows the persons face clearly. we can understand how they feel and see what they may be thinking through their facial expressions. we can See scars or any other details on their face.

Extreme Close Up (ECU) - Singles out a portion of the face isolates detail and magnifies the minute e.g eyes or mouth. 

Point of View (POV) - A shot made from a camera position close to the line of sight of a subject, to imply that the camera is looking with their eyes. 

Point of view in thriller movies could be a point from the villain or the victim. The point of view shot creates tension in the audience, when the shot is shown from the victims point it makes the audience feel as if they are the victim. It starts to create tension in them and the audience starts to get scared which is what is needed.
When this shot is viewed as the villain it will be the complete opposite, the audience would want the victim to be caught because they get in the emotion of the killer/villain. The audience start to get in the mood of the film. In our film we used this shot from the villains view and this was a surprise for the audience and a shock which was scary. The audience felt like they had done something bad without knowing or wanting to.

Two shot (TS) - Is where two people are featured in the frame.

this shot would be use full to show what is going on in the scene and it would be easier to cut down the shot reverse shot.

Over the shoulder shot - Is where the camera is placed at shoulder level and is shot this way. this shot can be used to show conversations going on.

Over Head shots - Show the subject and surrounding to get more of an impact on what is happening.  we used this shot in our film to show what is going on in the scene when the girl was washing the glasses. this shot helped with the lighting being darker because it was shot from above and the audience could see what is behind her.

This is a close up shot of my friend (Neslihan). In this shot we can see her facial expressions clearly. she seems to be strikes a pose but also very happy at whatever shes staring at.

Here is a long shot of Esra, we can clearly see her body language comfortable and with the camera in her hand trying to mark a moment in her life. looking at her eyes you can happiness.

This mid shot of my friend shows her upper body language and her facial expression, her head being tilt back and her eyes looking down shows the anger/hate in her face and her holding the knife towards the camera gives us the clear explanation of what shes thinking to do next. This shot is perfect for reactions and to show emotions.

Lighting

Film Language

LIGHTING

Lighting helps to convey mood and atmosphere in a scene. It can also be used to guide the audience’s attention to a particular object, person or gesture. Lighting can also be used to cast shadows and build tension and suspense.

  Key Light; is usually the brightest light and the most influential

           

Back light; helps to counteract the effect of the key light, making the character/object look more rounded.

Filler light; helps to soften the harsh shadows that the other lights create. There may be more than one filler light. this would be usefull in a thriller film to make the scene look darker.

Angles of lighting

Under lighting; is when the main source of light comes from below the subject. This tends to have distorting effect on the character or object that is being lit and is often used in horror films.

Top Lighting; is when the main source of lighting comes from above, highlighting the features of a character – it can be used to create glamorous look in a star

Back lighting; is when the light sources behind the subject. If little or no light is used, silhouettes are created

Types of Lighting

Low-Key; lighting is created by the use of back lights. This will produce a sharp contrast of light and dark areas on the screen and cause deep shadows to form. This effect is known as chiaroscuro.

High-Key; Lighting means that more filler lights are use. The term means lighting that appears more natural and realistic to our eyes. It can be used to describe lighting on brightly lit sets such as a reacted sunny day in the park, or to describe a more subtly-lit night time scene. Although shadows will be produced the contrast is a lot softer.

Drag Me To Hell 

 In this scene they mainly use filler light and under lighting to show the appearance on the old lady. this light is used here to show that they are in a dark environment, It also gets the audience in the mood of the bad things happening.