Mise-en-Scene Practical and Evaluation

Mise-en-Scene is a french term meaning 'in the scene of the frame'.
There are 5 elements of mise-en-scene, which are:
- Settings and props
- Costume, hair and makeup
- Facial expressions and body language
- Lighting and colour
- Positioning of characters and objects in the frame.

Colour
The first time colour was used in a film was in 1904, in a film named Travers L'impossible by the pioneer Georges Melies. The film was hand painted frame by frame.
The next development was the introduction of two-strip technicolor using only two colours, red and green. An example of a film that used this was The Mystery of the Wax Museum which was made in 1933. The first full three strip technicolor was used in the film Becky Sharp in 1935.
In the 1930s and 1940s, colour was used in films to represent fantasy and spectacle whereas black and white films were used to represent reality.

Setting
The setting of a film is where the media text takes place. Props are used in the films to make them more realistic. Props are the objects you see in the setting of a film. Certain props can be used in films to give
the viewer a certain perspective on a character.




Costume, Hair and Make-up 

In films, different costumes are used to represent the character. For example, villains will be represented in dark, clothes with scary make-up. This gives a dark impression on the viewer. Different films have different setting meaning that they need to have different costumes. For example in western film, you will see the characters riding horses, wearing cowboy hats and boots. it would be odd for someone to be wearing a tuxedo in a western.

Facial Expressions and Body Language
In reality, everyone communicates through their facial
expressions and body language. This is extremely important in films with close ups and extreme close ups. Different facial expres
sions represent how that character is feeling. If a character has an angry look on his face all the time, this will represent him as a very angry character who maybe doesn't care about anything wheres if someone always has a smile on their face, they are being represented as a happy character who loves life.

Positioning of Characters and Objects within a Frame
Ina  film, the positioning of objects and characters are very important. Characters and objects can be placed in the for-ground, mid-ground or the background depending on their importance. A lot of feeling can be felt with different positioning of characters. In a shot, if the characters are positioned evenly in the frame, this gives a very balanced feel in the shot whereas if the characters are positioned on the outside of the screen, it represents a distance between the two characters. When the shot is not clurred out, neither in the foreground or the background, it gives the viewer a choice of where to look. A good example of this is in the film The Best Years of Our Lives.

For the task we were asked to film different facial expressions and body languages that are used in films. Whilst doing this exercise, we realised that it is not as easy as it looks to act out a certain feeling. To improve on this task, we could have added some music to make the facial expressions seem a little bit more realistic.