Week 5: Mise-en-Scène: My take away

This week we learned a very important word in the history of cinematography: Mise-en-Scène. Personally the word Mise-en-Scène was not new to me since it was in my daily vocabulary from when I was about 12 years old: French is one of the five languages that I speak fluently. In addition, for me Mise-en-Scène does not just mean "to put on stage", but also to frame someone or to accuse someone of something they did not do. This word, Mise-en-Scène, can also mean to lie. At least, those are the three definitions I can give as I try to translate them in english. However, for this class, I am going to focus on the first meaning of Mise-en-Scène: "Put on Stage".

In my defense, Mise-en-Scène is not just a fancy word. It is an art of transforming scripts/stories into vivid images and sounds. Thus, each film need a good director to be successful: the director decides what the audience see on the screen. The product will come from a good Mise-en-Scène that we can break down into four elements of design: setting, character, lighting, composition.

First, setting is the context in which actors and objects are positioned into a particular scene. Viewers need a great setting in a Mise-en-Scène, if not the film can be easily boring.

Second, character is the role of an actor as they inhabit a narrative structure. This is also an important part of film. Most less funded films do not have a strong character design for some actors. A director will need a good actor (not cheap) to fully impersonate the characteristics of a character that is being described by a screenwritter.

Third, lighting design is a powerful part of Mise-en-Scène. I believe, lighting is used to focalize a particular part of the setting that the director want the audience focus on.

Fourth, and lastly, composition is the arrengement of actors, objects, setting in a particular frame of an image. Composition is my favarote and I am fascinated by a composition that makes me more curious about a film. For example, in a murder mystery film, villains are sometimes shown in part (maybe we cannot see their face. This triggers me to think that any character in the film could be a suspect. This makes the film more enjoyable.