Part IV: Mise-en-scene
Mise-en-scene is used to describe the setting of the scene in a play or film. It refers to all the objects and people placed on the stage or in front of the camera. The definition of Mise-en-scene includes everything that contributes to the visual presentation and overall look of the piece.
10 Components of the Film Mise-en-scene:
Actors: The actors’ performance and acting style are the focus of the live performance.
Location: The location of the scene (e.g. indoors or outdoors) helps the camera to capture the character’s performance better.
Set design: This refers to all the set pieces that the audience observes in a given scene. The set design helps to enrich the story with background information and personal information about the characters.
Lighting: Lighting directly conveys the character’s emotions in the scene. Depending on the colour or the change of light and shade in the scene, the message of the movie can be better understood in relation to the story.
Shot blocking and camera placement: Determine the actors’ body position, gestures, and movements on the stage. This helps the camera or viewer to capture better or view the actor’s performance.
Composition: Composition is the key to the presentation of the image. Through the use of different compositions can help reflect the plot in the picture and improve the aesthetics of the shot.
Depth of space: the distance between people, props, and landscape. It can convey the distance between characters or props to the audience in the picture.
Film stock: This refers to the texture of the film as it plays on the screen. (For example, is it a black and white movie or a colour movie?) (Is the movie picture clear, or does it have noise?) Different presentation states also express different backgrounds of the plot.
Costumes: Costumes can help actors to develop their characters better. In some cases, you can tell the character’s personality by the style of the costume.
Hair and makeup: This is very similar to Costumes in that it helps to create character traits.
Part V: Visual metaphor
My understanding of Visual metaphor is to take an object in life and use some photographic technique to achieve a symbolic meaning.
There are two forms of Visual metaphor.
1. Through the stylistic language of scene, angle, light and shadow, colour, composition, etc., the image in the picture can be redefined as a metaphor.
2. Through the selection, organization and control of visual elements, all the images in a new pattern combination are combined to form a metaphor.
Two images from Pans Labyrinth can be used for analysis. (Because some of the images maybe make people feel uncomfortable. I’m don’t want to put this type of video clip in my Blog. So, if you’re interested, you can search for the video. Thank you~)
(1) Dusk yellow can express the ease of being at sunset dusk and the warmth of being next to a campfire. But in the film images, dusk expresses the suppressed resistance and the peace taken away by the war. The ruined walls and the yellowish weeds reflect the harsh living conditions of the people during the war years. The warm yellow makes one feel endless heartache and despair at this point.
(2) There is an exceptional sequence in the film ( It’s really special to me, I had nightmares about it for a long time after seeing this image when I was a kid), Pan’s test for the girl. Pan asks the girl to go to a room with a monster, and then she needs to come out of the space within a short time. The girl is asked not to eat anything in the room. If the girl eats anything, something terrible will happen. (The monster will wake up and then grabbing the girl.) At first, all the things going well, but the girl chooses to eat the grapes after seeing them on the table. The bright colours of the film at this point show the temptation of food. The director wants to show is not only the temptation of food but also the beauty and evil, the interweaving of fantasy and reality. The grapes with symbolic colours are used to warn in bright colours. Only by withstanding temptation, people can return to reality and overcome evil.