Mise En Scene

The elements of Mise En Scene are an indicator to the genre of the film that we are watching. When watching a film we have expectations of the Mise En Scene in the different genres of the films. The five main elements to consider when looking at the Mise En Scene are:

• Settings & Props
• Costume, Hair & Make up
• Facial expressions & Body language
• Lighting & Colour
• Positioning of the characters & objects within the frame.

Setting & Props

The settings within a frame are much more than just the background to the characters dialogue. In fact we often see shots of setting where there is no action taking place. The setting of a film is always far more greater than the setting of a theatre and is much much more detailed. The setting is often made in one of the two ways. The first way is to build a setting entirely from scratch using bare walls and a floor of a studio. The other way is to hire a locations manager to go out and find locations and setting that already exist, which bests suite the film. Then the already existing location will be edited further in order to achieve what the director wants to convey. 

The setting of a film can often be used to manipulate the audience. This means that the setting could build expectations and then the action of characters takes a different turn. Props are what we call the objects that play apart of the action. This means that they are not just part of the background but are in the foreground with the characters them selves. An example of a prop would be a weapon which one of the characters in a film maybe holding.

Costume, Hair &Make up

The costume of the characters within a film carry a large part in the Mise En Scene because it can be an instant indicator to a characters personality, social status or job. The costumes tell us immediately whether its set in the past, present or future, it can also tell us if the film is based around a certain culture. Another one of the roles of the costume out of the many roles i have already gone through is that it may provide a clue to what part of the action the character is going to play. Certain types of costume can be associated with different types of genres for examples a military uniform can be associated with a war film.

In the early days of film making, make up was generally used to highlight the facial features of a character because the black and white film stock could not register detail very easily. Certain genres such as the horror genre used much more make up than others genres.

Facial Expressions & Body Language

On film the camera can be at a range of distances from portraying a character as a small dot in a long shot or very close in an extreme close up. All of this means that there will be different emphasis placed on the facial expressions and body language of the characters according to the type of shot. Facial expressions are a very clear indicator to how one is feeling. However the smallest changes to ones facial expression can send out a completely different message to the first facial expression given. For example a person could go from a smile where we assume their happy to a frown where they may be upset or angry. Eyes are key to us when we are trying to read someones facial expression as we usually follow the direction that they are looking, or their direction of sight. A film maker could use this to draw the audience to something or someone in the frame.

Another way in which the characters in a film indicated there thoughts and feelings is through their body language. 

Once again like with facial expressions everyone is different when it comes down to the body language they use. However there are some things that allot of people signify to represent the same emotions. For example when people fold their arms or curl up in to a ball its because they are feeling frightened or intimidated. Some films need a very realistic type of body language used but others such as musical don't. For example musicals have people randomly burst into song, this is not normal type of behaviour.

Lighting & Colour

Lighting can be used in many ways to give off many different effects. Lighting can be aimed to give a particular scene a realistic look or bring out the dramatic nature of it. We can associate these different lighting styles with different genres. They can be used to deliver a variety of effects to our audience. To highlight a particular person or prop we could use a bright light shone onto them which draws the audiences attention. We can make a character look mysterious if we use allot of back lighting to create a silhouette.  

Colours in the scene can often be used to symbolise emotions as well, we call this a connotation. These connotations are very important in the mise en scene. Certain colours are usually associated with certain genres for example red with horror and romance, symbolising love and blood. This technique is greatly used on poster or on other public materials so the public can easily and quickly identify the film that is being advertised.

Positioning or characters & Objects within a frame.

There are many ways that a director can position their characters in the scene. If the director positions a character or object in the foreground of the scene we know that, that object or person has importance to it. This way we are using the mise en scene once again to direct the audiences attention to what we want them to be looking at. If their is an object or person in the background at this point we assume that the object or person is less important. If we were to put a moving object on a stationary background our attention would be drawn to that object just like in real life. If characters or objects are positioned evenly on each side of the scene we get a balanced feel to the shot. This makes the audience feel settled and at ease. 

However if we were to have all the objects or people at one side of the room the shot is imbalanced and the audience obtains a unsettled mind. If we position the characters or objects diagonally it is balanced but the audience will feel uncomfortable about the action that is taking place. The director could also use positioning to indicate relationships between different characters, for example of two characters are arguing placing them at the outside edges of the frame would indicate the physical distance between the two characters. The distance symbolises the emotional distance that they now have in their relationship.

Thriller Analysis

In my media class we watched three extracts from three different films analysing each extract. The first film that we watched was called Children of Men. The film starts with an enigma, the enigma is a question of why is a teenager of 18 is the youngest person on earth. I think that this question will be answered further on through the film. The environment is a very hostile environment because there is a random explosion right at the start. Just before the explosion our attention is focused on a guy that just brought a coffee so when the explosion takes place we are shocked because we are not expecting the explosion. The last part of the extract that we saw featured a women exiting the site of the explosion holding her own arm in her hand.

The next film that we watched was called memento. The films starts off with a killing which is being played in reverse. This is a strange but affective way of starting a film. The killing is played in reverse so that we take note of every part of it. The enigma of the movie is the main character or protagonist "Lenny" wants to find out what is happening. Lenny finds pictures of events in his pocket with one of a guy saying not to trust him and that he must kill him. Lenny follows the instructions of these pictures because it is in his own hand writing. Lenny suffers from amnesia and cannot remember any events from any previous day so must take pictures of everything so that he knows what he found out the day before. Once again this is an effective film and i look forward to watching the full film as i liked the extract. 

The last of the film extracts that my class viewed was called 'A history of violence'. This film started in a very peculiar way. It started in a very relaxed environment where two guys are talking by their cars. One guy enters a building for a few minutes and then exits. The other guy needs to refill their water canteen so enters the same building. This is when the camera follows him in. In the building we see a few dead bodies where the previous guy that entered the building had killed people. Upon filling the canteen a small girl comes to the second guy. (At this point we do not know their names). The second character pulls a gun calmly and shoots the little girl. The film seems to create a demented psychological theme. It may be in the genre of psychological thriller.

What a thriller needs.

After watching the extracts we were asked to write down some of things that we think need to be included in a thriller in order to be successful. Here are some of the ideas that i came up with.

• Mystery
• Suspense
• Violence
• A twist
• Crime
• Death
• A protagonist

I will be using most of these techniques when making my own thriller.

Alfred Joseph Hitchcock

Alfred Joseph Hitchcock.

Alfred Hitchcock Fact File 

• Name:  Alfred Joseph Hitchcock
• Year Born: 13 August 1899
• Birth Place: Leytonstone, London, England
• Year of Death: 29 April 1980
• Place of Death: Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, United States

Alfred Hitchcock also known as 'The master of suspense' was one of the greatest directors of the world. He was a pioneer in the film industry directing some of the greatest thrillers such as 'Psycho' and 'Spell bound'. Alfred worked in the film industry for 55 years from 1921 to 1976 before retiring at age 77 and passing 3 years later at 80 year of age.

The nickname of 'Master of Suspense' was given to Alfred for the soul reason that his films dealt with a great deal of suspense and tension. Alfred's films quickly became a bench mark for psychological thrillers. Alfred said that he found his films were much greater when he put his own fears in the films. He believed that the only way to overcome his fears was to cast them in his movies. Alfred is well known for including famous techniques in his films such as Maguffins, Enigmas and Red herrings. These are 3 of the many great techniques that Alfred uses allot within his films.

A Maguffin is a plot element that catches the audiences attention and helps drive the plot forward. It is something which the characters in the film are willing to do and risk everything in order to obtain it regardless of what the maguffin is. The maguffin may be undefined or completely unimportant to the film. Some common examples of maguffins are money, victory or a source of power. Maguffins are very common in films particularly thrillers made by Alfred Hitchcock. Usually the Maguffin is the general focus of the film but the importance of it decreases through out the film and by the end it may be forgotten or it can simply rise in importance again. Sometimes films can use multiple maguffins, this technique is often referred to as plot coupons.

An enigma is often a puzzle or riddle needing to be solved within the plot of the film. This is usually something that the protagonist of the film must encounter and then figure out. A protagonist is usually the hero or main character of the film. To solve these enigmas the protagonists usually have to undergo a large amount of activities to overcome the enigma or find the answer to it. An example of an enigma is many murder mystery films where the protagonist usually being the detectives must find out who the murderer is an arrest them.

A red herring is often a device or person that which intends to divert the audiences attention away from the plot and make it less obvious. By hiding the truth until the plot is completely revealed right near the end the audience is taken by surprise. In allot of films red herrings can work together with the enigmas in the film to create allot of suspense in the plot. An example of this is the film 'North by North West' our main character is in a bar with some clients. A bus boy is shouting for a Mr Kaplen, which some gangster's are looking for. Our main character starts to wave over the bus boy to order a drink and is mistaken by the gangsters to be this Mr Kaplen. In the scene you can see that this Mr Kaplen does not exist so therefore is the red herring and diverts the audience away from the true plot.

No Country For Old Men

On Friday the 16th of September my class had to watch a small extract of the beginning of the film 'No country for old men'. As a homework task we was asked to write a post on our blog describing what we saw and try to analyse it as best as we can. So this post will contain my analysis of this small extract.

At the start of the film there were sound effects of a small breeze and a series of images were shown. The images were all similar being large areas or mass landscapes. Most of these images consisted of a dark foreground and a bright background. For example the foreground being in shadow and the background in the sun. I think the effect that this gave was that what ever was coming next is mysterious but in the future it will become clear.

Over the top of these images a narration was put in place. It was a man, possibly elderly giving a description of the main character. One of the key points of the narration which I think had the most effect was a fact told by the narrator himself declaring that the main character killed a 14 year old girl just for the sake of killing someone. This adds a sense that the main character is evil by the fact that he murdered in cold blood a 14 year old girl that could only be innocent. As you can see we already get a bad image of the main character and as the film develops the image only gets worse.

An image of the main character strangling the police officer.

In the next part of the film we see the main character get arrested by a police officer. The character is shot from below which makes him physically large, giving him a authoritative nature. Moving on further into the film the main character is taken to a police station by the officer. This is where the officer is killed by our main character in a brutal way. The character leaves the station carrying a strange item we perceive to be an oxygen tank. This makes us wonder why he is carrying it around, the character now seems to appear a bit different from normal people, making him stand out from the other characters within the film. As you can see by the image on the left of the main character killing the officer he pulls a very crazed face as he strangles the officer to death.

The Main character and his oxygen tank.

Moving on through the film the main character drives a police car out of the station and makes a normal car pull over to the side. The character gets out of the car and very slowly walks over to the car in front. The fact that the character walks very slowly carrying a oxygen tank adds allot of suspense to the moment. Whilst walking to the other car the camera focuses onto the oxygen tank, making the audience think, what is that? what's it for? and what's he going to do with it now? Upon reaching the car he uses the oxygen tank as a weapon killing his 2nd victim. These killings lead to our assumption that the main character is going to be psycho and that the film is going to contain allot of violence.

In all the 1st part of this film is very effective an forces the audience to want to see the rest and wonder what's going to happen next. I would recommend this film to anyone that is reading this post and I look forward to watching the rest of the film in the future.