Mise en Scene
Mise en Scene

Refers generally to the arrangements of
everything physical in a camera shot,
which includes the setting, costumes,
makeup, and objects
Setting

Movie landscapes often provide a
specialized environment that supports
some species but not others
Ways to show Setting

Spell it out
Ways to show Setting

Use visual information
at the beginning of
the film so the
audience will
recognize the setting.
Shane
Uses of Setting

Reveals personality of
character
Sometimes these environments even
seem to determine the actions of the
species who inhabit them
Uses of Setting

Provide landscape for action of story
In the 1969 movie, "Midnight
Cowboy," Joe Buck, played by Jon
Voight, and Ratso Rizzo, played by
Dustin Hoffman, try to cross West
58th Street and Ratso yells at a
cab "Hey, we're walking here" in a
classic jaywalking sequence
In 1951, during the Korean war,
some youth are bored in their
small Texan town; only two
places to go to: the bar, and the
movie theater; the first one
closes down when its owner dies,
and so does the second one for
lack of patrons...
Costumes and Makeup

Costumes and
makeup help identify
and remember
characters
Costumes and Makeup

Costumes and
Makeup show
character alliances
Costumes and Makeup

Costumes and
Makeup can indicate
character
transformations
Objects

Property or Prop
 Any
object, other than scenery or costumes,
that appears in a scene
Objects

Objects can introduce
bits of information
that helps advance
the story or delineate
a character
Objects

Objects are
sometimes used for
the associations they
evoke
Objects

Objects can be focus
of action in a film.

For film theorists objects are not merely
props or clever narrative devices but
essential elements of cinema. Because
camera close-ups can depict objects in
such explicit detail, their potential for
arousing emotions and communicating
meaning is tremendously enhanced.

The same can be said for setting,
costumes and makeup because they also
help to “objectify” a film’s meaning in
actual physical terms. Thus, it is clear
that Mise en Scene can serve several
important functions in the movies,
depending on how the filmmaker depicts
“the plastics of the image” on the screen.