Mise en Scène: what is put into a scene or frame.
Setting and props
Costume, hair and make up
Facial expressions and body language
Positioning of characters/objects within the frame
Lighting and colour
Setting and props: these are either built from scratch or a great deal of time is spent finding a set which already exists.
For example: sci-fi = space, in another universe
rom-com = major cities e.g. Paris or New York
horror = dark forest, abandoned crooked house
Costume, hair and make up: act as an instant indicator to us of a character's personality, status and job. They also give us an idea of society and culture within the film and certain costumes can signify certain individuals e.g. black cloak = vampire.
Facial expressions and body language: facial expressions provide a clear indicator of how someone is feeling e.g. smiling = happy, smiling = sad. However, you have to be careful as if you add scary music to a smiling facial expression, we get a different feeling. Body language indicates how characters feel towards each other.
Positioning of characters/objects within the frame: this can draw our attention to characters/objects within the frame. The film-maker uses positioning to show characters feelings towards each other, e.g. if two characters were opposite ends of the frame, facing away from each other, we get the feeling they are rivals.
Lighting and colour: highlights important characters or objects within the frame. Also, it can be used to make characters look a certain way, for example by shading sections of the face/body, it makes the character looks mysterious.
Low key lighting is created by using only the key and back lights, for example horror films.
High key lighting uses more filler lights, this makes it look more natural and realistic e.g. rom-coms.
Mise en Scène analysis for a trailer of my choice:
Thor: The Dark World trailer
The trailer is set mainly in another world which doesn't exist in real life, this creates a sci-fi feel. Another major setting of this trailer is in a highly secure prison, this represents one of the characters is very dangerous. Thor wears a cape throughout the whole trailer, this shows he is a hero, alongside some of his 'team' who also wear hero-like outfits. To contrast this, the girl from the human world wears jeans and a tshirt to show the normality of her life compared to the hero life. Throughout the trailer, many serious facial expressions are used to co-inside with the serious story line, there is also many shouting facial expressions during the battle to show the determination of the characters. There are lots of close up's and extreme wide shots, this always shows them in the centre of the frame to draw attention to how important the characters are. At the beginning of the trailer, Thor and his brother are faced opposite each other when his brother is in the prison, this represents a grudge Thor may hold and a rivalry between them. However at the end of the trailer, they are walking along in slow motion side by side, this shows they have teamed up and now work on the same side.Throughout the trailer, low key lighting is used along with a grey sky colour, this creates a mysterious feel for the film, what is going to happen?
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