Mise En Scene

Mise en Scene is a French term meaning what's in the scene. Essentially it is the information in front of the camera for the audience to help them work out what is going on.

It is made up of 5 elements:

- Settings & Props
- Costume, Hair & Make Up
- Facial Expressions & Body Language
- Lighting & Colour
- Positioning of Characters

SETTINGS & PROPS
 - Settings and locations are not just 'backgrounds'. They play an important part in film-making.

TYPES OF LIGHTING
Low Key Lighting: Created by only using the key and back-lights. Produces dark contrasts of light and dark areas. Deep, distinct shadows/silhouettes are formed, e.g. horror films.
High Key Lighting: More filler lights are used. Lighting is natural and realistic to our eyes. Produces brightly lit sets or a sunny day, e.g. Rom-Coms

This is the example of Mise en Scene that we used in class:

The picture is set in London, an older part with older buildings. Old buildings have the connotations of importance and classical and Bond is supposed to be a classic and important character. The fact that Big Ben is placed in the background is a use of iconography.
Bond is wearing a dark jacket which has connotations of mystery and because we cannot see his face, this adds to the mystery element.
The use of high-key lighting over the buildings in London could show that the ordinary people below have no idea of what is really going on and think that everything is normal. However because Bond is dressed in black, this could illustrate how he knows the hidden and dark secrets that the city really holds. He is positioned above the city, which represents how he is protecting London from evil. 


Another Example of Mise en Scene:

The film seems to be set on a plane which contains a scary element as all these people are shut in this enclosed space from which they cannot escape. The use of the gun as a prop could indicate that the genre of this film is a thriller. Liam Neeson is dressed in black which again, shows that he may be mysterious or maybe even the villain. Neeson's facial expression looks serious but not frightened whereas the people behind look terrified and are obeying the orders of Neeson. High-key lighting is used which shows that this is meant to be an everyday situation. Neeson is positioned at the front which shows how he is the protagonist.