AS Film: Mise en Scene - Lecture 1 13/09/13

Welcome to the supporting teaching blog for your AS Film Studies.

In today's lesson we considered one of the major cinematic techniques - Mise en Scene. This, as you will remember, translates as "everything in the frame". Mise en Scene includes: setting, location, costume, props, lighting and character placement, and has a vitally important role in how meaning is constructed by film makers, and consequently understood by the audience.

In this blog entry you will find the sequences shown today.

You may choose one of these sequences for your 1500 word coursework analysis. Other film sequences will be shown in the lectures the coming weeks which you can also choose from, as well as those which I did not show in the lessons.

IMPORTANT: You will be required to undertake a short 400-500 analysis of one of these three sequences as part of your initial review on the AS Film Studies course. This will help me assess your analytical and written skills in order to progress further onto this AS Level course.


William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, directed by Baz Lurhmann (1996).
Consider how Lurhmann provides a modern take on a classic play in order to engage the contemporary audience. This is achieved by its modern setting, costumes and props, while still retaining the original language. Note how the repeated visual motif of fire set up the violence ahead.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind, directed by Steven Spielberg (1977)
Think about how Spielberg shows both fear and wonderment of the alien contact, through the eyes of the mother and her son. Note how ordinary, everyday objects ,or props, take on a new life in this extraordinary setting. You should also note how Spielberg uses creative lighting techniques to endorse the meaning of the sequence.

28 Days Later, directed by Danny Boyle (2002)
A sequence full of meaning, which Boyle achieves with his creative use of a deserted London as a setting, the use of costume and props, together with how he places the main character within the various locations.

Consider how directors use Mise en Scene in other films which you have watched.

More on Mise en Scene next week.