Mise en Scene
We’re researching on mis en scene because it’s a very important aspect into creating a film and i need to know more about it in order to learn more about film making.
A French term meaning what is put into a scene or frame.
Visual information in the frame.
Communicates essential information to the audience.Represents people,places and events.
Everything you put in your scene needs to be there for a reason because it will communicate some visual information.
5 Elements
1.Settings & Props
2.Costume,Hair and Makeup
3.Lighting & Colour
4.Facial Expressions and Body Language
5.Blocking/Composition Positioning of characters/objects within the frame
An example of how i could be applying of the 5 elements of mise-en scene into our film opening
Settings & Props
Props play a big role in representing the character's personality and also to move the story.A prop is formally known as (theatrical) property which is an object used on stage or on screen by actors during a performance or screen production.In several iconic films like Amelie and Inception props has become and played one the main roles in moving the story of the film forward.Many scenes in Amelie a character each has their own habits and objects related to them which effectively represents which type of a person they are and suggests what they like.A male character from Amelie which always appears at the coffee shop has a unique habits of popping bubble wraps,as a result this insert and give the audience an idea that he likes to create satisfaction through popping bubble wraps which in this case is the prop.Another scene from Amelie shows an old man who received his long lost childhood memory football toy.After the old man received the toy he had a flashback to his childhood memories and started sobbing with joy.This shows that a prop can also be used to affect the character's feelings and used as a certain form to create a nostalgia.
In addition,a film which contains prop as one of the important parts of a film is inception where a totem is spin in the story to dictate whether or not the protagonist is in the real world or imaginary.The ending of inception has caused many controversy whether or not the protagonist was able to comeback to reality or does he stays in the imaginary world.If the totem stops spinning it simply means that the protagonist is in reality whilst if it continues to go on forever the protagonist is then still in the imaginary world.In this scene the totem is spun for a few moments and the film just ended without showing if it stops or continues to spin forever so,the totem has forced the audience to make judgement for themselves if it actually stops and to be honest it had caused many to be feel incomplete as they wanted a clear explanation to the ending.This means that props can be used to create different aspects to the film and act different roles eg. moving the story forward or just representing a character's background/personality depending on how it's decided to be used.From learning more about props I’ll be using props to pass on minor information to the audience and at the same time making them question and wanting to find out more about the identity of the protagonist.Items such as wedding pictures put in a frame and pills placed near the bed of the main character can insert some information in the audience’s mind that the character is married and could be facing some type of sickness or have personal reasons to use the pills.
Facial Expressions and Body Language
One of the key aspects about acting
Acting can actually be a thing that goes deep down to your DNA if it’s done and focus highly to a certain point.From listening to the video of John Windsor (an experienced actor) giving advice to how to actually be good at acting I can actually understand and sees a wider aspects of how acting can be made into a more genuine level.John talks about this idea of actually embracing and entirely engaging into your role and really just be the character you’re given.You should be reading lines to a certain point that it’s into your DNA and that every time being asked questions in scenes you should automatically be replying in the lines without any thinking.What you say shouldn’t be considered as a line from a script but instead be something you should or would say because you’re indeed that character.In film as The Dark Knight a character which has really popped off and mention by many people is the Joker.Originally Joker has always been a famous character which everybody have high expectations on,however,after Heath Ledger took the role in 2012 on The Dark Knight Rises his outstanding acting created a phenomenon and has set the standard of the playing the Joker role to a whole new level.
A scene showing the brilliance of Heath Ledger acting skills in one of the scenes in The Dark Knight
An interesting fact about the The dark Knight Rises (2012) Joker is that Christopher Nolan the director actually allowed Heath Ledger to explore and create his own version of the Joker from his mind.As a result the Joker which appears in The Dark Knight Rises tend to be quite different and unique than both the old version and the comic version but rather a more intelligent and has more depth inside the character.Heath Ledger won an Oscar for best supporting actor from this brilliant performance from The Dark Knight although had sadly passed away before the announcement due to the overdose of drugs.Many said that he was really into the role of Joker and dedicated a lot in order to really understand and be one with the role of Joker.He had studied all sorts of stuffs about the character from the way he think and what he would do in a situation according to his views of what the joker is like. I could be using this advice from John to help and suggests improvements to my actor’s acting skills during the time in the sets as i believe it can become handy and useful in making the film more realistic and enables the audience to believe and engage more in making thoughts on the story.
Lighting and Colour
Lighting and colour can be an important aspects in creating films or scenes that would grab the audience attention and be useful in creating a rich-enjoyment which gratifies the viewer.In looking at the website Learn About Film and etc. i have found that planning on the size of the light you use in each scenes would can give different moods into the scenes and could lead different patterns of editing required in order to improve the view on the scenes for instance using a big light can create hard shadows which may result to having to soften them with a diffuser or fill them.Planning on where the light is coming from allows you to control the mood of the scenes and how the character is being seen in that particular scene eg. Light from the side can be really atmospheric but is trickier to work with. Shooting against a dark background, you’ll get a moody low-key effect.You should notice how the atmosphere around can have different colour so if shot scenes from different places and put it together they may look very different and not very convincing that they are relevant.So, basically try to make sure that all the light in the scene is the same kind. If you mix light sources – eg daylight from a window and fluorescent light in the room – it’ll be impossible to get them both right.This can help scenes look more realistic and interesting to watch for the audience.
Mise-en Scene Additional Notes
Mise-en-scene
Setting, décor and props
naturalism, time period, symbolism,
Atmosphere, emotional response,
dramatic irony/ tension, colour symbolism
Body language & facial expression
Character status, emotion, stereotype,
Where characters look
Hair & Make Up and Costume
Characterisation, status, symbolism, colours,
Emotion, similarities/ differences, alliances/ enemies
Blocking & Composition
Conflicts / alliances, statuses,
centre of attention / outcast, spacing – positive. Negative space
Lighting
Shadows, spotlight on? High / low key –
Emotion, colour symbolism