Mise-en-scene
Mise-en-scene is an arrangement of all the elements (lighting, props, actors, set design, location, costume etc.) within a frame/scene. The goal of all the visual factors within a scene is to clearly communicate an idea that in turn creates an emotional response in the audience, this is called visual storytelling.
Composition and Set design
Setting and props – it is the design of everything visible in the frame (goes closely with composition). Often used to amplify the mood/emotion of the character and the general atmosphere of the scene. The placement or the presence or absence of certain elements within a scene can tell a story on its own (I.e., Buzz Lightyear’s wings). Props contain a lot of information, often crucial to the story, we can automatically understand the setting or the situation of the intended action, before it even happens, to certain extend placing our mind in that scene already, deepening the transportation and identification with the narrative.
Composition is the creative and purposeful placement of the props within a scene is the key in filmmaking, one can achieve more with minimal sets and other elements if they are all working towards the same direction (purpose of the movie). All included in the scene will be interpreted as relevant by the audience, furthermore the meaning of the elements can be affected by their placement, size, visibility (Hitchcock’s rule) and their relation to their companion within that frame as well as the general atmosphere and mood of the scene (I.e., red = love or anger).
The composition and right element placement can convey emotions as much or even more than a facial expression. We are programmed to recognize the expressions of human face but, it often remains just an emotion of the other person, when we have an environment that emphasises that emotion, i.e., loneliness, we feel the weight of that emotion as we place ourselves within that setting, further empathising with the character we see sad and lonely in the corner of the scene on the screen in front of us.
Costume (+ hair and make-up) – crucial for understanding the character before they even have a chance to say a word, allowing intellectual and emotional engagement with the scene, the audience is in theory fed the information but they are left to interpret it in their own way, which feels like it was their own initiative to think about that. Character traits or background can be easily conveyed in this subconscious way before they are either confirmed – to the satisfaction of the viewer, or dispelled. Both of those outcomes result in the increase of audience engagement, one by promoting understanding and one by grabbing attention with the shock of being completely opposite to what the audience had expected, given that information. A prop for a character can also convey loads of information, i.e., Cruella DeVille’s cigarette holder (‘101 Dalmatians’) and the way she uses it, point to her authority and power, and the character design message would have been very different without that costume prop, decreasing the significance of the character.
Acting (facial expression, body language) – a huge amount of information can be conveyed through the way a character is posed, or by the acting of the facial expressions. We are sort of ‘programmed’ to read others, in terms of good communication and relationships in real life. Right poses and expressions communicate how the character feels about a situation or somebody in a split of a second, again, allowing a deeper immersion and understanding of the narrative.
Relatively, from the direction of their sight line we can learn that there is something significant happening outside the frame we see, often resulting in a mild anticipation and further increasing the engagement with the viewer with the world on screen.
– Rule of Thirds
– Angles and Framing
Space, Depth – Frame Axis
Every frame is 2D and has two axes; X and Y but filmmakers and VFX artists in post need to be aware that there is also the Z axis, which is basically the depth of the frame (set). To create successful shot without it looking flat, a lot of the Z axes emphasis is in place. The final visual often consists of clearly visible layers, creating that depth. To put it simply – foreground – midground – background, not to say there is only three layers though, there can be loads, but those three explain the structure the easiest.
Aspect Ratio (research)
Every composition decision has to be made with the aspect ratio in mind, the dimensions of the frame will dictate how the frame will be displayed and how the elements will look in the final takes. Most common ratios for cinema are; cine scope – 2.39:1, American theatrical – 1.85:1, European theatrical – 1.66:1 and the 16:9/HDTV – 1.78:1.
Light and Colour
Lighting and colour – they go together but can also be separated, as both are pretty broad subjects. The way the scene is lit, the amount of exposure we see and how the colours are affected by the lighting can convey many things, from the time of the day to the mood and atmosphere of the scene (dulled down colours by a cool or small light source can convey sadness or sentiment, depression as well as simply early morning or evening etc). Lighting also stages and highlights the information on the screen, as well as it creates effects that can direct the viewers sight into areas of the action or a small detail of the frame, that has to be noticed to ensure the full understanding of the main action and/or the entire narrative. Colours are associated with certain feelings and emotions automatically by our brains, furthermore some are known to promote a certain feeling like calmness (green). Colour connotations are used very widely within visual aesthetic mediums to add or emphasize meaning by prompting human brain to think of those subconscious relations (red = love/anger, blue/purple = royalty, peace, balance, etc.).
Light is a trans-cultural language used in visual storytelling, as particular lighting characteristics help to evoke a common emotional response in the viewer. Good lighting makes the illusion of reality, purposefully-lit sets and scenes not only introduce atmosphere and mood factor but also make the image on screen appear real enough to create the illusion of possibility and believability. The lighting, as a part of mise-en-scene needs to render the illusion of three-dimensionality and must be logical (right source, direction, consistency, colour etc.). Particular exposure or light tint can evoke a reaction and association in the audience.
Light within a scene is not only about making the subject visible, it is used in artistic ways to emphasize its meaning, place and purpose within the scene, a good example is a flash, it lits up the subject, at the cost of the three-dimensionality as it renders it relatively flat in comparison with a scene lit by light previously bounced of a wall for example, which creates softer, more realistic effect. Light radiates outwards from the source to the subject and all its surroundings, it can be blocked, reflected, directed or bounced.
As light reflects from all the elements within the scene, it can create Spill if a large dominant colour object is used in relation with thin hairs or light-coloured clothes, very often observed with the use of blue or green screen. Spill in practice means that the subject is partially lit by the light that bounced from the green screen, and so carries the green tint which will make parts (mainly outline or light clothes) appear slightly greenish.
– Intensity
Easiest described as brightness, it is measured in ‘foot-candles’ (by a light meter) and the measurement establishes the aperture needed for that shot. To manipulate the intensity of the light we can dim it down, block it or back out the light.
– Quality
Light quality is as important as its intensity, and two main categories are; soft and hard lighting. Hard lighting is defined by hard edge shadows (hard, defined edge of the shadow, no fall-off, created by sun, single light bulbs or candles) and is used for sharper subject description whereas soft light creates shadows with softer edges, that gradually gradient into the highlights (soft blend between shadow and highlight values, created by over casted skies or windows).
Matching the conditions (weather, particles in the air etc.) as well as the lighting (colour, intensity, type) on the set, is as important as matching the camera settings on the camera (week 3 – cinematography intro I) in terms of creating a convincing VFX.
Light quality depends on a few factors and can be controlled by; the size of the source (small sources generally make hard light and larger light sources tend to make the shadows softer), its distance from the subject (the further away the source the harder the light and consequently shadows) and filtering (using a diffuser or bouncing on another surface before it is applied to the subject softens the light).
Angle of the light refers to its position in relation to the subject or the camera, as in the case of the three-point lighting method, which uses three light sources – Key Light (main source at 45 degrees towards a subject), Fill Light (lower intensity light at 45 degrees opposite to the Key Light, used to fill the shadows and lift the ambience of the scene) and Backlight (small light behind the subject used to clearly define and separate the subject form its environment) to light a scene or subject. Back light can also be moved to ¾ angle behind the subject, in which case it is called a Rim Light and is used to sculp the subject’s outline. The Lighting angles are generally used to set a location, time of the day and the dramatic content of the scene.
Light colour is based around three basic colours; Red, Green and Blue (RGB), all other colours can be obtained a combination of these three. Every light has its own colour temperature or colour cast (measured in Kalvin) which affects the way the light feels, is perceived and understood by the audience (connotation of set location, weather, daytime or atmosphere), and so sunrise/sunset and candlelight are 2000K, appearing dark orange, daylight and flash are 5500K making them appear white and shade under a blue sky with 10000K would appear as a darker blue value. Motion picture cameras are often set to for Tungsten 3200K or Daylight 5600K, changing those settings will affect the way the final shot looks and feels like.