CONTEXTUAL STUDIES: Mise en Scène (Lecture)

Yesterday was our first contextual studies lesson with Louis. We learnt about Mise en Scène and how to point it out in films and television shows. Mise en Scène means what is in the scene which was new information to me. Something else I learnt was the 4 key elements of Mise en Scène. These are setting, costume/make-up, lighting, staging. With these, we split up scenes in different films and television programmes into the key elements.
These included two different clips of Game of Thrones. They were completely different to each other, one was a warm setting and the other was a cold setting, therefore showing two different atmospheres in the scenes. The first one we split up into:

1. Setting - Warm, rich, exotic 
2. Costume/make-up - Luxurious, contrasts
3. Lighting - Soft, natural, fill light
4. Staging - Dominant female 

And the second:

1. Setting - Cold, austere, masculine
2. Costume/make-up - Uniformity
3. Lighting - Cold blue, key light
4. Staging - Status and rank

The next clip we analysed was TOWIE, a scripted reality show:

1. Setting - Hyperrealism, staged set?
2. Costume/makeup - Glamour, aspirational?
3. Lighting - High-key, dramatic
4. Staging - Imitates conventions of drama

The fourth clip was Dispatches which is an observational documentary on Channel 4:

1. Setting - Authentic locations
2. Costume/make-up - Defines social class?
3. Lighting - Natural/low key
4. Staging - Contextual/suggests social isolation

Finally, the last clip was from a YouTuber called Philip DeFranco. This one was very different as he was just in his room talking to the camera, but was it a constructed 'geek' bedroom? His clothing suggested a 'blue collar' authenticity as he wore a check shirt like any of us would. 

I also learnt that Mise en Scène can help in story-telling too, which was interesting to hear about as it could help in my two minute short film for this unit. It would help us be able to 'show' and not 'tell' in our films as the viewers would be able to work out a lot of things about the film/characters with Mise en Scène. For example, in my script, Miranda will be wearing smart clothes as she works in a police station, the viewer should be able to see she has a job in a professional place by these smart clothes. Also, I'm thinking a lot of the shots will be done in low light which should show the viewer that it is a drama rather than a brightly-lit comedy. 

It was really interesting to split different clips up into Mise en Scène because I never realised how different genres were from each other. For example, in a drama the setting is usually a studio set, the costume/make-up is specific and designed for the character, the lighting is high-key and the staging is usually pre-determined by the director, whereas, in a documentary the setting is classically a real location, the costume/make-up is typically authentic but can be directed, the lighting is 'natural' but can often be artificial and finally, the staging in a documentary is 'natural' but can be director-specific.

I feel like this will help a lot when it comes to filming our two minute stories. It's definitely going to be stuck in my head while I'm thinking about how to film it.