Mise-en-scene

• Is a french term meaning what is put into a scene or frame.
• It's made up of visual information in front of the camera.
• communicates essential information to the audience about setting(time and place) and characters

It is made up of 5 elements

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 the frame


Setting and props

• Settings and 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
• Settings can manipulate an audience by building certain expectations and the taking of a different turn

Costume, Hair and Make Up

• Tell us immediately whether the film is set in the present and what society or culture it will pertain to.
• Acts as an indicator to the audience of a characters' personality, status and job
• certain costumes can signify certain individuals( e.g black cloak of a vampire) or groups( men in uniform)

Facial Expressions and Body Language

• Provide clear indicator of how someone is feeling
• If someone is smiling broadly, we assume they are happy but we may have got a different feeling if this was accompanied with scary themed music
• Body language may also indicate how a character feels towards another character or may reflect the state of their relationship