See film and write an essay according to questions that my teacher gave

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Mise en Scene

  • Mise en Scene (meez ahn sen) is a French term coming from the theater.
  • Translated it means ‘putting into the scene’
  • often referred to as ‘staging’
  • The term was first applied to cinema by Truffaut, in 1954

Definition of Mise en Scene

  • Mise en Scene refers to the visual representation of elements within the frame
  • It is visually, how a story is told
  • Objects within the frame, chosen to obtain a ‘look’
  • Art direction
  • The arrangement of those objects
  • Composition
  • cinematography

Study of Mise en Scene

  • A study of mise en scene is an analysis of a films visual elements in relation to a film’s narrative content.

How is the narrative visually represented on screen? How does the camera interpret?

Including:

  • What those objects are (content)
  • Their formal arrangement within the frame (form)
  • Relation to the frame
  • Relation to other objects in the frame

Mise en Scene- Film Grammar

  • Mise en Scene uses a number of basic terms that are elements of Film Grammar
  • A study of Mise en Scene requires the understanding and application of these terms
  • The Long Shot, is a term that represents an element of film grammar.

Mise en Scene - Interpretation

  • Consider the line from a script:
  • We see an old barn with billowy clouds along the horizon. Spring is near.
  • Content
  • Barn, Clouds, Horizon, Spring
  • Form
  • Rustic Barn – Set Design
  • Fluffy clouds on horizon - Pictorial Composition
  • Wide shot - Framing
  • Tracking Shot - Moving Camera

Components of Mise En Scene

  • There are two basic components of Mise en Scene
  • Setting
  • Cinematography

Setting

  • Setting determines:
  • Time and Place
  • Mood
  • The Production Designer oversees this aspect of Mise en Scene
  • Art Director
  • Variables include:
  • Set Design/location
  • Props
  • Wardrobe
  • Make-up

Cinematography

  • Elements of Cinematography:
  • Composition
  • Lighting
  • Framing (shot size)
  • Camera Angle
  • Camera movement
  • Duration of the shot

The Cinematographer oversees this aspect of Mise en Scene

The Frame

  • The Frame is a rectangular area in which the image is photographed.

  • The relationship between the height and width of a frame is call Aspect Ratio
  • Aspect ratio is a compositional element
  • Impacts how a frame is interpreted
  • Decisions are made, prior to shooting, based on intended ‘look’ of the film

Types of Aspect Ratio

  • Academy-1.33:1 (older films, analog TV)
  • 16x9 Standard for HD (Video, DSLR)
  • European Standard 1.85:1 (most common in commercial released films)
  • Cinemascope 2.35:1 (Epic, Wide screen)

Framing

  • Framing refers to shot size and the arrangement of elements within the frame
  • Size of the subject within the frame
  • Composition
  • Camera angle

Proxemics

  • Represents the apparent closeness (proximity) of the camera.
  • how close we are
  • Determines subject size within the frame
  • Standard framings are
  • LS (Long Shot)
  • MS (Medium Shot)
  • CU (Close Up)
  • Like all aspects of Mise en Scene, framing is deliberately chosen to convey meaning.

The Long Shot

  • The Long Shot (sometimes referred to as an Establishing Shot)
  • Establishes time and place (setting)
  • Diminishes subject, placing them in context (setting)
  • The Long Shot establishes Screen Geography
  • Orients the viewer by establishing a relationship between the objects and the characters in the frame.
  • Enables cutting into tighter framings, without disorienting the viewer

The Medium Shot

  • The Medium Shot is approximately from the waist up, it can be a two shot.
  • It maintains a comfortable space between characters.
  • Often used to establish a sense of ‘normalcy’
  • The ‘common’ distance in conversation and interaction (proxemics)
  • Most dialog scenes utilize the MS

The Close Up

  • The Close-Up is approximately head and shoulders. It is used to convey
  • Important narrative information (detail)
  • A significant moment
  • A sense of intimacy
  • Heightened emotion

View Tutorial: Shot Types Proximity

Framings and Screen Grammar

  • Framings are deliberately selected with an editing ‘scheme’ in mind
  • Combinations of framings are edited together to convey meaning
  • Convey Narrative content
  • Dramatic emphasis
  • Continuity within a scene
  • All framings (shot types) maintain Screen Geography
  • Often shot types uses Proxemics by moving from wider to tighter framings, to ‘pull us into’ the scene

View: Perrier’s Bounty

French New Wave

  • 1958-65
  • Cinemateque Francaise, Henry Langois, screened ‘opus’ of director’s work
  • A director is to be judged by a body of work
  • Cahiers du Cinema, Film Journal founded by Andre Bazin
  • Truffaut, Godard
  • Critics- Cahiers
  • Seminal directors French New Wave

Auteur Theory

  • Politique de Auteurs (Truffaut 1954)
  • Revolt against ‘cinema du papa’
  • Director is the author of the film

Criteria of Auteur

  • Andrew Sarris - Film Critic to first define the criteria for the auteur:
  • The first premise is a technical competency of the director
  • must know the craft
  • The second premise is the distinguished personality of the director
  • a director must have something to say, life experience, knowledge etc
  • The third premise is that the ultimate glory of cinema is an art form.
  • must have aesthetic content

Truffaut

  • Truffaut films are lyrical impulses, leisurely in their narrative development, rarely interested in strident clashes
  • “I enjoy unexpected details, things that prove nothing, things that show how vulnerable people are.”
  • Strong autobiographical influence
  • The moving camera
  • Hand-held, Dolly

Godard

  • Explored language of the cinema, experimental, challenging accepted forms, defying popular approaches.
  • Political commentary, Marxist cinema
  • Heavily influenced by iconic Hollywood
  • the gangster film.
  • Documentary film, television production
  • “I don’t like to tell a story, I prefer to use a kind of tapestry, a background on which I can embroider my own ideas.”