Mise en Scene

The term “mise-en-scene” refers to the arrangement of stage assets and scenery in a play. When discussing a film in general, this phrase refers to the surrounding or context of an action in a film.

Composition and set design are the two most important visual components of mise-en-scene.

Creates the process for determining the appearance of the locations, props, lighting, and performers.

The arrangement, distribution, balance, and overall relationship of actors and objects inside the space of each shot is referred to as composition.

The director of the film determines the mise-en-scène, which does not happen by chance. A production designer is responsible for: reading scripts to identify the factors indicating a particular visual style, planning and monitoring The major elements of cinematic design include (1) setting, décor, and properties; (2) lighting; and (3) costume, makeup, and hairstyle.

Composition is the process of planning and visualizing the design of a movie. The major elements are framing and kinesis.

In a static frame, the camera stays in the same position while in a moving frame, the camera spans all over the scene.

Most shots in a film rely on both on-screen and off-screen because the frame is dynamic hence as the frame moves, it reveals on the screen the details that were previously off-screen.

What are the essential differences between the open frame and the closed frame?

The two types of movements we see on the screen include the movement of characters and objects within the frame and the movement of the frame itself.

Chapter 6 Cinematography

A setup is the basic component of the film’s production process as it involves one camera position and everything related to it. A shot on the other hand is one uninterrupted run of the camera. Finally, a take is the number of times a particular shot is taken.

The two crew of workers include the camera assistants and the camera operators. Camera assistants assists in measuring and pulling focus during filming while the camera operator does the actual or physical filming under the directions of the Director of Photography.

There are two sources of light: natural and artificial. Daylight is the most convenient and economical source; Artificial lights are called instruments to distinguish them from the light they produce. Among the many kinds of these instruments, the two most basic are focusable spotlights and floodlights, which produce, respectively, hard (mirror like) and soft (diffuse) light.

Light can be thrown onto a movie actor or setting (exterior or interior) from virtually any direction: front, side, back, below, or above. By direction, we also mean the angle of that throw, for the angle helps produce the contrasts and shadows that suggest the location of the scene, its mood, and the time of day. The direction of the lighting must be planned ahead of time by the cinematographer in cooperation with the art director so that the lighting setup achieves effects that complement the director’s overall vision.

The four major lenses include the zoom lenses, the telephoto lenses, the normal lenses and the prime lenses. The zoom lenses provide the camera operator to capture image of any size without necessarily changing the lenses. The prime lenses on the other hand cannot zoom in or out. However, prime lenses allows for a more pristine and clearer recording. Telephoto lenses on the other hand compress images and make images far away appear really close. Finally, the normal lenses mimics what the camera operator sees by neither distorting the image nor getting the image too close.

The principal used to distinguish the common used shots in a movie is the implied distance between the camera lens and the subject. The three commonly used shots include close-up shots, long shots and medium shots.

It takes the form of a grid pattern that, when superimposed on the image, divides it into horizontal thirds representing the foreground, middle ground, and background planes and into vertical thirds that break up those planes into further elements. This grid assists the designer and cinematographer in visualizing the overall potential of the height, width, and depth of any cinematic space.

eye-level shot, is made from the observer’s eye level and usually implies that the camera’s attitude toward the subject being photographed is neutral. An eye-level shot used early in a movie—as part of establishing its characters, time, and place—occurs before we have learned the full context of the story

high-angle shot (also called a high shot or down shot) is made with the camera above the action and typically implies the observer’s sense of superiority to the subject being photographed

low-angle shot (or low shot) is made with the camera below the action and typically places the observer in the position of feeling helpless in the presence of an obviously superior force, as when we look up at King Kong on the Empire State Building or up at the shark from the underwater camera’s point of view in Jaws.

Dutch-angle shot (also called a Dutch-tilt shot or oblique-angle shot), the camera is tilted from its normal horizontal and vertical position so that it is no longer straight, giving the viewer the impression that the world in the frame is out of balance.

aerial-view shot (or bird’s-eye-view shot), an extreme type of point-of-view shot, is taken from an aircraft or very high crane and implies the observer’s omniscience.

There are several types of camera movements. These are: pan shots (horizontal movement), tilt shots (vertical movement), dolly shot (camera fixed to a wheeled support) and crane shots (where the camera is mounted on an elevating arm).

A long take is a shot which lasts longer than the conventional pace of the film. A long shot on the other hand refers to the distance between the camera and the subject. A long take is achieved by a significant camera movement and elaborate blocking.

Basic ways of creating special effects include use of computer generated imagery (CGI) and the optical printers to produce optical effects.