Film studies as an academic discipline emerged in the twentieth century, decades after the invention of motion pictures. Not to be confused with the technical aspects of film production, film studies exists only with the creation of film theory—which approaches film critically as an art—and the writing of film historiography. Because the modern film became an invention and industry only in the late nineteenth century, a generation of film producers and directors existed significantly before the academic analysis that followed in later generations.
2. Mise-en- scène
• Mise en scène – is a French term originally used in theatre
• Literal meaning ‘staging’ or ‘placed on the stage’
• Later the term came to be widely used in film studies
To signify the film production practices involved in the framing
of shots
It encompasses the most recognizable attributes of a film scene
It refers to the totality or combination of setting, costume,
lighting and landscape (ambience) within the frame of a shot
3. Mise-en- scène
• Some commentators include even the movements within the
frame –as an essential part of the mise-en-scene
• These aspects of mise-en-scene are usually described as the
“pro-filmic” elements as they exist prior to and independent
of actual filming or camera activity
4. Mise-en-scène
Mise-en-scène refers to everything that appears before the camera
and its arrangement—composition, sets, props, actors, costumes,
and lighting.
Mise-en-scène" also includes the composition, which consists of the
positioning and movement of actors, as well as objects, in the shot.
5. Mise-en-scène
• Mise en scène – literally “placing on stage” in French – is a common
term in film analysis and criticism circles.
• To explain it simply, mise en scène refers to what we see onscreen in
a film. It’s the film’s visuals; meaning, all of the elements that
appear on camera and their arrangement.
• Of course, many different factors contribute to the visuals – the
setting, decor, lighting, depth of space, and costumes and makeup, to
name only a few – but together, they comprise the mise en scène.
7. SETTING
• It denotes the background for a depicted figure or
subject
• It could be either exterior or interior, which is
determined by the story, cost, and practicality
• Setting creates both a sense of place and a mood
proper to the narrative
• It can be expansive or narrow, splendid or squalid,
artificial or natural
8. Costume
• It is the most easily noticeable aspect of mise-en-scene
• Costume includes clothing, make-up, and hairstyle of actors
• Particular items and combinations of clothing act as powerful pointers of
national identity, class allegiance, gender position and emotional and
psychological states of actors, besides offering an idea about the film genre
• Post structuralist feminist film criticism since Judith Butler highlights the
performative aspect of costume
• The writings on costume and fashion by Roland Barthes and others treat
every piece of clothing as a ‘signifier’ with corresponding ‘signifieds’ or
meanings that will determine identity, status, and power
9. LIGHTING
• It includes the lamps and other light sources used
for illuminating the film scene
• In cinematography, the key light is the main source
of illumination, and the fill light illuminates shadows
cast by the key light
10. LIGHTING
• In classical Hollywood cinema, three-point lighting was
customary; besides the key and fill lights, a back light
illuminated the subject from above and behind.
• The three-point lighting is the most commonly used lighting
scheme in typical narrative cinema.
• The light comes from three different directions to provide
the subject with a sense of depth in the frame.
• Blake Edward’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) is a classic
example for the use of three-point lighting.
11. PROPS AND ACTING
• Props or ‘décor’ stands for objects of varying dimensions that appear on
screen from cigarette smoke to parachutes.
• Theorists like Andre Bazin and Siegfried Kracaucer stand for a realistic
presentation of props or things as they really exist in the material world.
• French surrealist author Louis Aragon endorses props with other non-
realist meanings, highlighting the multiple significances or symbolic density
of film props.
• Like settings, props can also indicate socio-economic and occupational
status of characters/actors.
• At times, it can take on expressionistic or symbolic power.
12. PROPS AND ACTING
• Acting or performance can be thought of as the repertoire of
onscreen facial expressions, gesture, positioning, movement and
speech.
• Two of the most common styles of performance in modern cinema
are method and non-method acting.
• They are also known as naturalistic and stylized acting respectively
14. Aerial Shot
An exterior shot
filmed from — hey!
— the air. Often
used to establish a
(usually exotic)
location. All films in
the '70s open with
one — FACT.
15. Example: The opening of The Sound Of Music
(1965). Altogether now, “The hills are alive..."
16. Arc shot
A shot in which the
subject is circled by
the camera.
Beloved by Brian De
Palma, Michael Bay.
17. Example: The shot in De Palma's Carrie (1976) where Carrie White (Sissy
Spacek) and Tommy Ross (William Katt) are dancing at the prom. The
swirling camera move represents her giddy euphoria, see?
18. CLOSE UP
A shot that keeps
only the face full in
the frame. Perhaps
the most important
building block in
cinematic
storytelling.
20. Medium Shot
Medium Shot
The shot that utilises
the most common
framing in movies,
shows less than a long
shot, more than a
close-up. Obviously.
21. • Example: Any John Ford film (i.e. The Searchers), the master of the
mid shot.
22. LONG SHOT
A shot that depicts an
entire character or
object from head to
foot. Not as long as an
establishing shot. Aka
a wide shot.
23. • Example: Omar Sharif approaching the camera on camel in David
Lean's Lawrence Of Arabia (1962).
24. DEEP FOCUS
A shot that keeps the
foreground, middle ground
and background ALL in
sharp focus. Beloved by
Orson Welles (and
cinematographer Gregg
Toland). Production
designers hate them.
Means they have to put
detail in the whole set.
26. • Example: Thatcher (George Couloris) and Kane's mother (Agnes
Moorehead) discussing Charles (Buddy Swan)'s fate while the young
boy plays in the background in Citizen Kane (1941).
27. Dutch Tilt
A shot where the camera is
tilted on its side to create a
kooky angle. Often used to
suggest disorientation.
Beloved by German
Expressionism, Tim Burton,
Sam Raimi and the
designers of the villains
hideouts in '60s TV Batman.
29. • Example: The beginning of the laboratory scene in Bride Of
Frankenstein (1935).
30. Establishing Shot
The clue is in the name.
A shot, at the head of
the scene, that clearly
shows the locale the
action is set in. Often
comes after the aerial
shot. Beloved by TV
directors and thick
people.
33. • Example: The first glimpse of the prison in The Shawshank Redemption
(1994).61
34. Tracking Shot
A shot that follows a subject be
it from behind or alongside or
in front of the subject. Not as
clumsy or random as a panning
shot, an elegant shot for a
more civilized age. Beloved by
Stanley Kubrick, Andrei
Tarkovsky, Terence Davies, Paul
Thomas Anderson.
Example: The dolly shots in the
trenches during Stanley
Kubrick's Paths Of Glory
(1957).
35. Example: The dolly shots in the trenches during Stanley
Kubrick's Paths Of Glory (1957).
36. Pan
A shot where the camera
moves continuously right
to left or left to right. An
abbreviation of
"panning". Turns up a lot
in car chases and on
You've Been Framed
(worth £250 if they use a
clip).
37. Example: Brian de Palma's Blow Out (1981) — a 360 degree pan in Jack
Terry (John Travolta)'s sound studio.
38. Whip Pan
• A shot that is the same as a pan but is so fast that picture blurs beyond
recognition. Usually accompanied by a whoosh sound. Beloved by Sam
Raimi and Edgar Wright.
• Example: Any one of a dozen sequences in Hot Fuzz (2007).
39. Tilt
• A shot where the camera moves continuously Up to Down or Down To Up.
A vertical panning shot. A tilt to the sky is traditionally a last shot in a
movie. Example: The last shot of Robert Altman's Nashville (1975).
40. Shot and scene
• A shot is a continuous view filmed by one camera without
interruption.
• A scene is a place or setting where the action takes place. A scene
may consist of one shot or series of shots depicting a continuous
event.
41. • Two major categories of shots: Commonly used shot types in film,
video, and animation can be categorized into two major groups: static
shots and dynamic shots.
• In a static shot, the camera does not move or change its aim within
the shot, although the camera may move from the shot to the next
shot.
• In a dynamic shot, the camera moves or changes its aim within the
shot.
42. Static shots
• There are many types of static shots and can be categorized in
multiple ways. We will see how static shots are identified by A) scale
and then B) angle. And see C) the point of view shots, D) two shot
sand over the shoulder shots.
43. • One set of shots are identified by
their scale or shot sizes. The shot size
determines how large the area that’s visible
within the frame. Among the following common
shot sizes, the distance between the camera and
subject varies:
• Extreme close-up shot
• Close-up shot
• Medium shot
• Medium wide shot (American shot)
• Wide shot (full shot)
• Extreme wide shot (long shot)
