3 - Mise-en-Scene Flashcards
-Mise-en-scene
Visually telling the story through shots
-Setting
In a film, the setting can come to the forefront; it need not be only a container for human events but can dynamically enter the narrative action.
-Highlighting
A highlight is a patch of relative brightness on a surface.
-Attached and Cast Shadows
Shadows likewise do the same, allowing objects to have portions of darkness (called shading) or to cast their shadows onto something else.
-Hard and Soft Light
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-Frontal lighting
Frontal lighting can be recognized by its tendency to eliminate shadows. In 4.60, from Jean-Luc Godard’s La Chinoise, the result of such frontal lighting is a fairly flat-looking image.
-Sidelighting/Crosslighting
in which a hard sidelight (also called a crosslight) sculpt’s the character’s features.
-Backlighting
as the name suggests, comes from behind the subject. The light can be positioned at many angles: high above the figure, at various angles off to the side, pointing straight at the camera, or from below. Used with no other sources of light, backlighting tends to create silhouettes
-Underlighting
underlighting suggests that the light comes from below the subject. Since underlighting tends to distort features, it is often used to create dramatic horror effects, but it may also simply indicate a realistic light source, such as a fireplace, or, as in 4.64, a flashlight
-Top Lighting
Top lighting is exemplified by 4.65, where the spotlight shines down from almost directly above Marlene Dietrich’s face. Here top lighting creates a glamorous image
-Three-point lighting
In 4.70, the Bette Davis character in Jezebel is the most important figure, and the three-point lighting centers attention on her.
-Key light
The key light is the primary source, providing the brightest illumination and casting the strongest shadows. The key light is the most directional light, and it is usually suggested by a light source in the setting.
-Fill light
A fill is a less intense illumination that “fills in,” softening or eliminating shadows cast by the key light.
-Back light
The backlight typically comes from behind and above the figur
-High-key lighting
h-key lighting used in classical Hollywood cinema and other filmmaking traditions. High-key lighting refers to an overall lighting design that uses fill light and backlight to create relatively low contrast between brighter and darker areas.
