A long and detailed look at what mise-en-scene is and how it can be looked at in different aspects of film language. The presentation is split into the areas of Setting & Props; Costume, Hair and Make-up; Lighting and Colour; Positioning of Objects and People; Facial expression and Body Language. Each section contains a range of examples (many of which are gifs and videos which obviously won't play on here) and some activities for students to engage with.

1. mise-en-scene

3. What do we learn about Alma,
the town and the shop just from
this picture?

4. Mise-en-scene is a French phrase
that means ‘placing on stage’.
It is used to describe the design
aspects of film through
cinematography and stage
design, and also through
direction.

5. In Film Studies, we need to be
able to analyse what we can see
by describing what we can see in
accurate and detailed language.
We also need to explain what it
means or what it is trying to
communicate to the audience.

6. Mise-en-scene is comprised of:
Setting & Props
Costume, hair and make-up
Lighting and colour
Positioning of objects and people
Facial expression and body
language

7. Mise-en-scene is comprised of:
• Setting & Props
• Costume, hair and make-up
• Lighting and colour
• Positioning of objects and people
• Facial expression and body language
Where the film takes place.
What objects people use or we can see.

8. • Setting & Props
• Costume, hair and make-up
• Lighting and colour
• Positioning of objects and people
• Facial expression and body language
Mise-en-scene is comprised of:
The clothes people wear and the way that
people look

9. Mise-en-scene is comprised of:
• Setting & Props
• Costume, hair and make-up
• Lighting and colour
• Positioning of objects and people
• Facial expression and body language
The use of lights to highlight or obscure things
and the way that colour communicates feelings

10. Mise-en-scene is comprised of:
Where people have been told to stand or move based on what the script or
Director has decided. Also applies for props-why are certain props in certain
places and used or not?
• Setting & Props
• Costume, hair and make-up
• Lighting and colour
• Positioning of objects and people
• Facial expression and body language

11. Mise-en-scene is comprised of:
How are the actor using their face and body to communicate ideas and their feelings?
What is their face trying to tell us? Are they standing or sitting in a way that tells us
something? Are they moving in a way that tells us about them as a character?
• Setting & Props
• Costume, hair and make-up
• Lighting and colour
• Positioning of objects and people
• Facial expression and body language

12. setting & props:

13. What is this setting?
How would you describe it?

14. What does it tell the audience?
What do we learn about this person?

15. What does it tell the audience?
What do we learn about this person?

16. If we see this shot next…
What does it tell us? Who do we think this person is? Where are they?

17. What do the props help to show us?
Why have they been included? What is the purpose of these props?

18. What is the setting here?
What is the situation? What is happening?
How can we tell?

19. In your exercise books:
Glue in this screengrab and analyse the mise-en-scene using the
help sheet. Aim to write about at least 3 aspects of mine-en-scene.

20. Setting & props
• Where is this scene taking place?
• What props can we see?
• What do we learn about the situation?
• What is this shot telling us about the scene?

21. • How are people dressed? Do people have
make up on? Who? Why?
• What does the clothing of everyone suggest
about the situation or scene?
• Why is it that everyone is dressed in the same
style?
Costume, hair & make-up

22. • Lighting and colour :
• Is this scene bright/dark? What colours stand out? Is
anything particularly bright? Where is the light coming from?
• Are there any parts of the scene that are darker than others?
• Why is this lighting like this? What does it tell us about the
time of day or the situation as a whole?
• What does the colour or light tell us about the people or
scene?
Lighting and colour

23. • Where are the people standing? Is anyone in a
place that really stands out? Where?
• Who is the most important person in this
scene? How can we tell this?
• What do we learn about this situation or scene
based on what we can see in terms of where
people and objects are?
Positioning of objects and people

24. • Facial expression and body language:
• Are the actors using their faces in an interesting way? Are
they pulling a certain face?! What does this tell us?
• How are people standing? Are they posing in a certain way
of using their body to communicate their feelings at all?
• What can we learn about people based just on their faces
and how they’re reacting to others around them? Is it
suggesting anything about their feelings, emotions or
character as a person?
Facial expression & body language

25. costume, hair &
make up

26. •Costumes are clothes.
•Hair is, well, hair!
•Make up are the products used to help make a character look a
certain way. It does not just mean things like lipstick or eye
shadow, it can be used to create scars or cuts, to make a
character look pale, to create a creepy looking character or to
help someone appear to be warm and kind.
Costume, hair & make up

27. Analyse the use of the clothing and hair as part of the mise-en-scene here,
focusing on what you think the Director wants to tell us about these
characters and how the costume and hair helps to do this.
In your exercise books:

28. •Johnny Depp is an actor who uses costume, hair and make up
to really help create a detailed, authentic and interesting
character.
Costume, hair & make up

29. •Johnny Depp is an actor who uses costume, hair and make up
to really help create a detailed, authentic and interesting
character.
Costume, hair & make up

31. What does the use of hair,
costume and make up tell the
audience about the character?

32. In your exercise books, annotate the
image by making a point about Edward
Scissorhands and then using something
in the image as evidence.

33. •These can also be used to transform an actor into someone or
something completely different:
Costume, hair & make up

34. •These can also be used to transform an actor into someone or
something completely different:
Costume, hair & make up

35. •However, is doesn’t always have to be a dramatic thing:
Costume, hair & make up

36. • What do these costumes tell us?
Costume:

37. Costume can also tell us about how characters change:
Costume:

38. What do we learn from these two just by their costume?
Costume:

39. How does the costume signify change?
Costume:
What other elements of
mise-en-scene also
gives the idea or
impression of change
here?

41. What do the use of costume, make up
and hair tell us about these characters?

42. lighting &
colour

43. lighting

44. Lighting and colour:
•Lighting helps to create the mood and atmosphere of a
scene. The director will decide what they want the audience
to feel and one way of doing this is by changing the lighting.
•A director can put people or objects in darkness to surprise
the audience.
•They can also use lighting to ‘shine’ on specific objects that
are significant.

45. Whether natural or artificial light is used in making
a film, it has a big influence on the look and mood
that is created.
Natural light can vary from bright, clear and sunny…
The Straight Story (1999)

46. to the softer English sunlight in
Atonement

47. to dull and
gloomy
which both reflects and is a metaphor for the mood of
the people in Whale Rider (2002)

48. to threatening, as in
The Princess Bride

49. Lars and the Real Girl
to the glowering winter light of Minnesota

50. to the pouring rain…
… the skies weeping as the political prisoners are brought to the detention
centre that only one will leave alive, in
V for Vendetta.

51. Here the storm is more than just bad weather; it is also a metaphor for the
troubles facing the hero and heroine.
to the drama of storm in Moulin
Rouge

52. Lighting a studio
All of the examples
we have just seen are
created by placing
different lights in
different positions
and with differing
strength

53. ACTOR
FILLER LIGHT KEY LIGHT
BACK LIGHT
CAMERA
Lighting a studio

54. The Key Light is usually the brightest light. It is used to light up the
entire scene or most important part of the scene.
The Back Light is designed to help stop the Key Light being too ‘fake’
looking and help cut out the obvious brightness of the Key Light.
The Filler Light helps to soften the shadows that are created from
the other two lights. There are often more than 1 filler lights used.
Lighting a studio

55. Can you label the lights?

56. • You can move lights to create different effects.
• Where do you think the key light would be placed in these situations:
Under lighting
Top lighting
Back lighting
Lighting from different angles

57. Under lighting
This is when the key light is placed below the character or object on screen.
Top lighting
Is when the key light is placed above the character or object. This will help highlight the
features of that person or object.
Back lighting
Is where the key light is placed behind the subject.
Lighting from different angles

58. For these 3 examples, what are the lighting directions?
Discuss where you think the key lighting is coming from and why
you think it has been place there.
Lighting from different angles
What effect is the film trying to create?

59. Lighting in a film

60. Lighting in a film
In your exercise book:
Why are the two rooms lit
differently? What are they trying
to suggest or show us?

62. Final aspect of light
Low-key (or hard) lighting
is where the lighting is more towards the greyer and darker scale, where there is a good
deal of shadow, and where the key light is less bright and does not dominate.
High key (or soft) lighting
is where the scene is lit evenly and brightly. It allows the audience to see everything
clearly and without there being any dark spots or parts in the frame.

63. Low key

64. High key

65. Genre Low-key High-key Why? How would you
create this?
Horror
Romantic comedy
Super Hero
In your book, copy the table down and complete. Think carefully about which would be best suited and why and
think how you could create this type of lighting (where would you put the lights?)
When to use different lighting

67. 1.How would you describe the lighting?
2.What is the mood of each scene? How does
the lighting create mood?
3.What does the lighting tell you about the
characters?
4.How is the lighting trying to make the
audience react or feel?

68. 1.How would you describe the lighting?
2.What is the mood of each scene? How does
the lighting create mood?
3.What does the lighting tell you about the
characters?
4.How is the lighting trying to make the
audience react or feel?

69. colour

70. Under normal circumstances,
our eyes adjust rapidly and we
usually don't notice differences
– unless we look for them – but
cinematographers will often
adjust for colour.

72. WARM OR COLD?
Pink filters for a moment of great happiness for Jess who has helped win her
football game and now dresses to return to her sister's wedding, in Bend It Like
Beckham.

73. The Dark Knight (2008) was shot in
predominately blues, greens and greys:
Is this
colour
palette
warm or
cold?

74. You will notice that 'noon daylight' is the closest to white light. The bluer the light, the
'cooler' it is; the redder the light, the 'warmer' it is.

75. Even grey can be warm or cold:
warmer cooler

76. Looking at the images, try to sort the
screenshots into ‘order’ of temperature.

77. Looking at the images, try to sort the
screenshots into ‘order’ of temperature.
Cut these out, rearrange from cold to
warm and then stick into your book.

78. For each, label with your
interpretation of whether
this is a happy or sad
scene based on the use
of colour alone. Try to
give a simple explanation
of why the colour makes
you think that is true.

79. We now expect to see a film in colour, but sometimes film use
black and white for effect in films such as Sin City, Pleasantville
and The Artist.
When colour was first used in film it was also used for effect
such as this clip from the Wizard of Oz.
Watch this clip and think about why this has been done by the
director? If the audience is used to black and white, why have
they used colour in this way?
Colour

80. Colour in film

81. Colour in film
In modern film making it is now possible to change
and alter the colour of a whole film or even a small
part of a film clip.

82. Colour is very important in life because of the ideas that it
suggests.
Colour helps to create mood by suggesting ideas to it’s
audience whether you realise it or not.
Colour works on your subconscious because people have an idea
of what colours suit certain situations. Whilst each person is
different, there are some colours which usually have the same
idea for each person.
Colour

83. Psychological experiments have shown that people respond
to colours in specific ways.
For example, what does the colour red suggest if you saw
that colour on a sign when you were driving?
Why do you think that Hospitals are usually painted light
blue inside?
Colour

84. How colour psychology works
What do we associate with the colour red?
Where is red used in this image?
What does the use of red suggest about
this person?
1.
2.
3.

85. How colour psychology works
Red = anger
Red = used as a coat
Red coat= combined with her emotion,
creates a sense of anger in the
character and therefore the audience.
1.
2.
3.

86. Colour grading
It doesn’t have to be for just
one thing on the screen
however.
Using computers, every
scene can have the colour
change to suit the mood of
the scene.
In these two shoots from
Gladiator, the colour has
been graded.
Why is one shot more
‘yellow’ and one more ‘blue?
What mood or atmosphere
is the director trying to get
across?

87. Colour grading for genres
Modern Horror Films use blue a lot to create a certain look for their films
Saw
The
Ring
Nightmare on Elm Street

88. End of the
world /
Apocalypse
films.
Why are these colours so
‘washed out’? (Very dull
colours of grey and
yellow.)

89. Cut out and glue into book

90. Leave a decent amount of space between each

91. For two images, analyse the use of light and colour.
Consider the following points for each image:
•What does the Director want the audience to think/feel?
• How would you describe the lighting for each?
• What colours stand out?
• Why are those colours prominent for this image?

92. Now complete sections 3-5 of your review.
Don’t forget to use imdb.com to help with key
information and ideas.

93. In the classroom you’ll find loads of
great ideas from other students.
Have a read of their work and copy
some of their best ones!
Then, paste your version of that idea
down on the notepad to use in your
own work.

94. Now improve your own review using a Purple Pen to show what
you’ve added in.
This could be examples of lighting or could be ideas from other
students as part of the Copy and Paste exercise.

95. position of
objects & people

96. The position of objects and people is important
as it helps to tell us about people, props and the
world in which the film takes place.
There are two main aspects to this: being able
to accurately describe where someone/
something is and then what the effect of this is
on the audience.

97. Each of you has a ‘cube’. Use the words to
accurately label the cube.
This will allow you to explain positions in film
studies accurately.
Front | Middle | Back | Left | Right | Top | Bottom

98. Each of you has a ‘cube’. Use the words to
accurately label the cube.
This will allow you to explain positions in film
studies accurately.
Front | Middle | Back | Left | Right | Top | Bottom

99. 1. Using the labels, describe the following
screenshots in terms of where the people are.
You can also refer to size, if it helps.

101. 1. Using the labels, describe the following
screenshots in terms of where the people are.
You can also refer to size, if it helps.
2. Describe what you learn about the scene
based on the position of people and objects.
To do this:
1. Who is important and how you can tell
2. Where is it set based what you can see
3. What is happening and to who

104. 2. Describe what you learn about the scene
based on the position of people and objects.
To do this:
1. Who is important and how you can tell
2. Where is it set based what you can see
3. What is happening and to who
1. Using the labels, describe the following
screenshots in terms of where the people are.
You can also refer to size, if it helps.

106. 1. Using the labels, describe the following
screenshots in terms of where the people are.
You can also refer to size, if it helps.
2. Describe what you learn about the scene
based on the position of people and objects.
To do this:
1. Who is important and how you can tell
2. Where is it set based what you can see
3. What is happening and to who

108. 1. Using the labels, describe the following
screenshots in terms of where the people are.
You can also refer to size, if it helps.
2. Describe what you learn about the scene
based on the position of people and objects.
To do this:
1. Who is important and how you can tell
2. Where is it set based what you can see
3. What is happening and to who

109. 1. Using the labels, describe the following
screenshots in terms of where the people are.
You can also refer to size, if it helps.
2. Describe what you learn about the scene
based on the position of people and objects.
To do this:
1. Who is important and how you can tell
2. Where is it set based what you can see
3. What is happening and to who
The even better descriptions will
ever to colour and light, props
and clothing, make up and hair
to help describe things in a lot of
detail.

111. 1. Using the labels, describe the following
screenshots in terms of where the people are.
You can also refer to size, if it helps.
2. Describe what you learn about the scene
based on the position of people and objects.
To do this:
1. Who is important and how you can tell
2. Where is it set based what you can see
3. What is happening and to who

113. 1. Using the labels, describe the following
screenshots in terms of where the people are.
You can also refer to size, if it helps.
2. Describe what you learn about the scene
based on the position of people and objects.
To do this:
1. Who is important and how you can tell
2. Where is it set based what you can see
3. What is happening and to who

115. facial expression
and body language

116. Facial expression and body
language:
• Are the actors using their faces in
an interesting way?
• Are they pulling a certain face?!
What does this tell us?

117. Facial expression and body language:
• Are the actors using their faces in an interesting way?
• Are they pulling a certain face?! What does this tell
us?

118. Facial expression and body language:
•How are people standing? Are they posing in a certain
way of using their body to communicate their feelings
at all?
•What can we learn about people based just on their
faces and how they’re reacting to others around them?
Is it suggesting anything about their feelings,
emotions or character as a person?

119. Facial expression and body language:
•How are people standing? Are they posing in a certain
way of using their body to communicate their feelings
at all?
•What can we learn about people based just on their
faces and how they’re reacting to others around them?
Is it suggesting anything about their feelings,
emotions or character as a person?

120. The best thing to do for both facial
expression and body language is to
just to describe what you can see.
However, to do this we need to use
some specific language.

121. levels
paradox
dominant
proximity
stereotypical
subservient
subtext
expression
non-verbal communication
precision
portray
posture
exaggerated
admonitory
gesture
mannerism
Use dictionaries and the
internet to find the
definitions to these
words:

122. levels
paradox
dominant
proximity
stereotypical
subservient
subtext
expression
non-verbal communication
precision
portray
posture
exaggerated
admonitory
gesture
mannerism

123. ‘Body Language’

124. We can see the top of his body but he is
holding his hands up so that they are just
in frame at the bottom of the scteen, by his
side.
His face has almost been stretched; his
mouth is wide open, so are his eyes and his
forehead is scrunched up. It looks like he’s
quite happy as his eyebrows are quite high
up and he is looking to his left making it
look like he is looking at someone else.

126. Describe the facial
expression and
body language

128. Describe the facial
expression and
body language

130. Describe the facial
expression and
body language

131. levels
paradox
dominant
proximity
stereotypical
subservient
subtext
expression
non-verbal communication
precision
portray
posture
exaggerated
admonitory
gesture
mannerism
Try to use some of these
words to describe the
performance of the
actor.

132. His mannerism is quite odd-he’s looking
forwards the whole time but he is moving
his around, a bit like a bird might! He is
doing this with precision; he never looks
away from the camera. There is a clear
suggestion that he is looking for
something but there is a subtext that
something odd is happening for him to be
behaving in such a strange way.

134. Describe the facial
expression and
body language

136. Describe the facial
expression and
body language

138. Describe the facial
expression and
body language

140. Describe the facial
expression and
body language

141. Find an image.
Describe it.
I will draw that scene when I mark your book.
I can only do so if you are accurate in your
description-so be careful and precise!
DO NOW
PLEASE!

143. 1. What do we learn about the scene, the
characters or the story? How does it make
you feel?
2. What does the mise-en-scene do to help
create this? Use the handout to answer.
Go through the sections one at a time.

145. TASK
Use the picture of a blank room and draw
props that would make it look like a
classroom.
Label the picture to explain what the props
are as well as why you’ve chosen them.

146. Clip 1:

147. Clip 2: