Mise En Scne

By the end of the lesson you will be able to:

- Understand the concept of mise en scne
- Apply the concept when analysing a variety
of film and TV production stills and extracts

- A French term meaning what is put

into a scene or frame
- Visual information in front of the
camera
- Communicates essential information
to the audience

- Settings & Props

Each aspect of mise-en-scne has

hidden meanings within a film and
sends signals to the audience about
how we are supposed to feel at a
certain point

- Costume, Hair & Make Up

- Facial Expressions, Body Language &
Performance
- Lighting & Colour
- Positioning of characters/objects within the
frame

- Settings & Locations play an

important part in film-making and are
not just backgrounds
- Sets are either built from scratch or
a great deal of time is spent to find a
setting which already exists
- Setting is crucial to giving the narrative
a time and place so the audience
understands where they are.

TASK:

What settings and props you would

find in:

1. A Science Fiction Film

2. A Western Film
3. A Horror Film

- Costume, Hair & Make Up act as an instant

indicator to us of a characters personality,
status & job
- It tells us immediately whether the film is
set in the present and what society/or
culture it will centre around
- Certain costumes can signify certain
individuals (i.e. black cloak of a vampire,
Spideys Spiderman suit)

- Facial Expressions provide a clear indicator of how

someone is feeling
- If someone is smiling broadly, we assume they are
happy but we may get a different feeling if this is
accompanied by scary music
- Body Language may also indicate how a character
feels towards another character or may reflect the
state of their relationship

TASK:

What meanings/emotions do the

following images convey?

- Positioning within a frame can draw

our attention to an important
character/object
- A film-maker can use positioning to
indicate relationships between people

TASK: What does the positioning in

the following images reveal about
the characters/film?

- Colour carries certain

connotations which may add
meaning to a scene (i.e. Red
= Danger/Passion)
- Can give a scene a
particular look, feel or mood
- Can be used for dramatic
effect

Scene analysis

Jigsaw Task: Learning Groups

TASK:

You will be divided into

learning groups. Each group
will be given an element of
mise en scene to analyse.
Watch the 5 minute extract
from the film The Secret Life of
Walter Mitty and make notes
(connotation/denotation).

Scene analysis

Scene analysis

Jigsaw Task: Teaching Groups

TASK:

You will now be organised into

teaching groups that include a member from
each of the learning groups (so that there is
someone one who has knowledge/information
from each area).
Each person in the teaching group should share
their information so that everyone in the group
has written notes for each element of mise en
scene.
You will have 4 minutes each to teach the rest of your group your analysis.
You need to explain each of your points clearly and be prepared to answer any questions.

Scene analysis

TASK:
Choose one of your
points and write it up in
a paragraph.
POINT (connotation)
EVIDENCE (denotation
LOTS!)
EXPLAIN (Why is this
interesting/important?
What effect does this
have? Purpose?)