Chapter 4: Mise-en-Scene Flashcards
Mise-en-scene
all of the elements placed in front of the camera to be photographed: the settings and props, lighting, costumes and makeup, and figure behavior
Prop
an object in the setting that has a function within the ongoing action
What are the functions of a prop?
- can convey character psychology
- may become a motif- color may help props become motifs
Setting in mise-en-scene
- can dynamically enter the narrative action
- natural vs constructed settings
- the overall design of a setting can shape how we understand story action
- color can create parallels among settings
Costume and makeup in mise-en-scene
- can become motifs, enhancing characterization and tracing changes in attitude
- can be used for their purely graphic qualities
- can help pick out characters
- color coordinating or contrasting with or against the setting
- costumes may reinforce narrative and thematic patterns when combined with the setting
Lighting in mise-en-scene
- lighter and darker areas within the frame help to create the overall composition of each shot and guide our attention to certain objects and actions
- articulates textures
- creates overall shape
- joins with the setting in controlling our sense of a scene’s space
- shapes a shot’s overall composition
Highlight
a patch of relative brightness on a surface
provides important cues to the texture of a surface
Shadows
allow objects to have portions of darkness (shading) or to cast their shadows onto something else
Lighting Quality
refers to the relative intensity of illumination
Hard Lighting
creates clearly defined shadows, crisp textures, and sharp edges
Soft Lighting
creates a diffused illumination
Lighting Direction
refers to the path of light from its source to the object lit
Front Lighting (effect)
tendency to eliminate shadows
Sidelight (effect)
sculpts the character’s features
Backlighting
comes from behind the subject
creates silhouettes and edge or rim lighting
Underlighting
comes from below the subject
distorts features or acts as a realistic light source
Top Lighting
spotlight shines down from almost directly above- used for glamour or realism
Key Light
the primary source- brightest illumination and strongest shadows
most directional and usually suggested by a light source in the setting
Fill Light
a less intense illumination that “fills in,” softening or eliminating shadows cast by the key light (including background, eye, and set lighting)
Three-Point Lighting
backlight, key light, fill light
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
the light quality is usually soft, making shadow areas fairly transparent
Function of high-key lighting
can suggest different lighting conditions or times of day
Low-Key Lighting
creates stronger contrasts and sharper, darker shadows
lighting is often hard and fill light is lessened or eliminated altogether
Movement and performance in mise-en-scene
- mise-en-scene allows the figures we see onscreen to express feelings and thoughts; it can also dynamize them to create kinetic patterns
- an actor’s performance consists of visual elements and sound elements
- a performance should be examined according to its function in the film’s overall formal design
- stylized performances can be created through extroversion and exaggeration
Typecasting
actors are selected and directed to conform to what audiences expect
Motion Capture
the whole body is filmed
Performance Capture
concentrates on the face
Bilateral Symmetry
extreme type of balance between the right and left halves
Monochromatic Color Design
the filmmaker emphasizes a single color, varying it only in purity or lightness
Depth Cues
the elements of the image that create a 3-D impression
provided by lighting, setting, costumes, and staging- all the aspects of mise-en-scene
suggest that a space has both volume and several distinct planes
Planes
the layers of space occupied by persons or objects
described according to how close or far away from the camera they are (foreground, middle ground, background)
Overlap
one of the most basic depth cues- can define many planes
color differences also create overlapping
Movement
one of the most important depth cues because it strongly suggests both planes and volumes
Aerial Perspective
another depth cue- the hazing of more distant planes
Size Diminution
figures and objects farther away from us are seen to get proportionally smaller
reinforces our sense of seeing a deep space with considerable distances between the planes
Monocular
the illusion of depth requires input from only one eye
Stereopsis
a binocular depth cue that results from the fact that our two eyes see the world from slightly different angles
Shallow-Space Composition
in such shots, the mise-en-scene suggests comparatively little depth, and the closest and most distant planes seem only slightly separated
Deep-Space Composition
a significant distance seems to separate planes
will often use background events to create expectations about what is about to happen in the foreground
Frontality
the positioning of figures so that they face the viewer
can change over time to guide our attention to various parts of the shot
