Week 5: Mise-en-Scene Flashcards
What does Mise-en-Scene mean?
Literal translation: “placed (or set) in the scene”
What are the four categories of mise-en-scene?
- Settings and props
- Costumes and make-up
- Staging of the action (movement and performance)
- Lighting
What does settings and props entail?
- Location vs. constructed
- Realism as a style
What does costumes and make-up entail?
May be coded to establish time, place, character traits
What is the quality of lighting?
Hard light vs. soft light (ex. incandescent bulbs create hard light, an overcast can create a soft, natural light)
What is the three-point system relating to source and direction of lighting?
- The key light
- The fill light
- The back light (“edge” or “rim” lighting)
What is key light?
The main light in the shot
What is “low-key” or “chiaroscuro” lighting
Employs a key light with little or no fill light to create contrasts between light and dark portions of the frame. Often the lighting is hard.
What is fill light?
Added into the shot to reduce the shadows cast by the key light and give the scene a more lighting
What is back light?
From behind the object/ person. Can be called “edge” or “rim” lighting. Can create a silhouette effect.
What is the “halo effect”
Back light that can enhance the appearance of youth and innocence
What can edge-lighting do?
Enhance the appearance of glamour, delineate facial features.
What is “high-key” lighting?
Combination of three-point lighting system. Creates relatively low contrast between brighter and darker areas.
What is a highlight?
A patch of relative brightness on a surface. They provide important cues to the texture of the surface.
How do depth cues suggest a space has both volume and several distinct planes?
Suggests volume by shape, shading and movement.
Planes are layers of space organized by how close or far away from the camera they are: foreground, middle ground, background.
