Mise-en-scene
• Mise-en-scène is a French
term meaning “onstage” or
“placed in a scene”. It is
what we can see in the
picture.
• Setting
• Set
• Costume
• Props
• Lighting
• Sound
• Blocking
Mise-en-scène
includes:
The arrangement of all these
elements in a particular way have
an effect on the spectator
Lets explore these
terms…
Setting
It is a fictional or real place where the action
and event of the film or play take place.
Set
It is a constructed setting, for example, on a
studio soundstage
The Titanic
The factory in Charlie and the
chocolate factory
Task
What settings would you find in:
a Science Fiction Film
a Romantic Comedy
a Horror Film
Costume design
Costume refers to the clothes that
characters wear. It is used to describe
character, to show particular fashions,
or to make clear distinctions between
characters.
Barbie-like clothes for
Reese Witherspoon in
Legally blonde
Christian Bale becomes Batman with this
black outfit in The Dark Knight Rises.
Soldier outfits in
Saving private Ryan
Props
Objects that are part of
the sets or tools used by
the actors.
The “Heart of the ocean”
in Titanic
The apple in Twilight
The “golden ticket” in Charlie and
the chocolate factory
Task
 What props would you find in:
a Science Fiction Film
a Western
a War Film
Make up
Together with costume design and hair
style, make up tells a lot about the
character’s personality, job, etc.
Make up transforms Natalie
Portman into the “Black Swan”…
… and Heath Ledger becomes “the
joker”.
Sound
Diegetic: music or sounds effects such as
footsteps, explosions, bird songs, church bells,
etc that are heard by both the character and
the spectator.
non- diegetic: music or sound effects not
generated in the filmic world but added to
indicate characters´ feelings, emotions. This
music is only heard by the
spectator.
Blocking
• It is the arrangement and movement
of actors in relation to each other
within the single physical space of
mise-en-scène.
There are 2 types of blocking...
Social blocking: describes the
arrangement of characters to
accentuate relations between them.
Social blocking
in
“The break-up”
 Graphic blocking arranges
characters or groups according to
visual patterns to portray spatial
harmony, tension or some other visual
atmosphere.
Graphic blocking in Jane Eyre
Bibliography:
 Corrigan, T. and White, P.; The Film
Experience, Bedford / St. Martin's
 Bernard F. Dick; Anatomy of film, Bedford /
St. Martin's - 2002