MIDTERM STUDY MATERIALS ON MISE-EN-SCENE

 MIDTERM STUDY MATERIALS ON MISE-EN-SCENE

Hello class, so I thought, today I would try and record our PowerPoint normally this PowerPoint goes over two weeks and so normally I presented next week, but I felt like you head start and it will probably help so, as you know, we have four distinct student learning outcomes and for mise en scene we will explore all four.

Because we will identify and understand learn:
1)The vocabulary of mise en scene and
2)we'll talk about staging and photography and how it affects the aesthetics of film.
3) We’ll describe various elements of mise en scene and how they inform genre and style, to some
    extent, and then we'll talk about.
4) How to evaluate the contents of a frame /the shot /scene and how mise en scene itself affects the spectator

 

So here we go.

Mise en Scene ******

mise en scene encompasses four distinct formal elements:
1)Manner in which they are photographed
2)Manner in which these materials are framed
3)Staging of the action
4)Physical setting and decor

Notes:

Mise en scene you may know why now encompasses four distinct elements it. THE BIG PICTURE

encompasses the manner in which scene, a film is photographed the manner in which the materials are framed within that, how the action is staged, and the physical setting the core, including the wardrobe and all elements of a set.

Notes:

Within those four distinct elements i've divided them into two sides,

Cinematography and Composition and Design

1) one is the cinematography itself manner which is photograph framed and then.

2)The staging of the action and the physical the decor and then within that Gianetti describes 15 points
 so we talk about

COMPOSITION AND DESIGN

Physical Setting and décor     GOOD DENSITY AND DEPTH
a)the color of set the color of the wardrobe color of the lights,
b)even the density how sparsely decorated or absolutely populated a shot is of people and props
c)the depth. How many visual planes so we've talked about the depth of field a lot,
  how many visual planes are both composed upon and or in focus.

JEOPARDY:

24)As exemplified by this shot ____ is an important element of mise-en-scene because through its examination one can determine how visual planes are utilized. For instance, composition can unite or separate characters from each other or their surroundings, one visual plane may ‘inform’ another.

Notes: She’s separated from her husband…all these vertical lines are creating space.

THE ANSWER IS DEPTH
Notes: When we talk about depth, we talk about, How one plane is informing another, like this, you can’t tell. In this case,

And in this case Left, center, right is really important, and the colors also separate also unite people like you know she is actually wearing the same colors he is.
But they’re separated through the owl and the table on the table leg.

……….

As far as competition goes,
Composition
1) The dominant contrast and
2) subsidiary contrast that many of you have already described this week.
3) The composition of the space is it symmetrical are their visual weights divided third are there
     horizontal or vertical lines that inform the space
4) how are those characters placed in that space which direction are they facing in regards to the camera and how close are they to each other and then

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Manner in which Photographed
1)We've talked a lot about already the shot type camera angle lens type
x) lighting we'll talk more about lighting today.

Manner in which framed
x)The camera angle (she didn’t mention)
2)The framing whether it's tight or loose in the form.
3) The form those framing - form itself is one of the harder concepts in this chapter.
     So we'll talk more about it next week.

 

Mise en Scene
The Fifteen Elements
1)Dominant: Where is the eye attracted first? Why?
2)Subsidiary contrasts: What are the main eye-stops after taking in the dominant?
3)Shot and camera proxemics: What type of shot? How far away is the camera from the action?
4)Angle: Is the viewer (through the eye of the camera) looking up or down on the subject?
    Or is the camera neutral (eye level)?

Notes:

And here's a description evolve 15 elements a
1)Dominant is where the eye is attracted to first said
2)Subsidiary is after you see that one thing, what do you look at next how many different elements are within a shot that you notice.
3)How the shot type in camera proxemics, is it a close up because the camera is physically close to the
    subject matter, or are you using a telephoto lens and what does that mean.
4)in regards to what else you can see in the frame the camera angle is it eye level or not.

Mise en Scene
The Fifteen Elements

Don’t forget to use correct cinematic terminology
5)Lighting key: High key? Low key? High contrast? Some combination of these?   ASK ABOUT THIS
6)Color values: What is the dominant color or color palette? Are there contrasting foils? Is there color symbolism? In a black and white shot, how is the grey scale used?
7)Lens/filter/stock: How do these represent, distort or comment on the photographed materials?

Notes:
1)The lighting key and we talked a little bit about the lighting last week we addressed cinematography,
but is it high key lighting low key lighting, is their high contrast is.Is it natural lighting Is there something in between a combination there of.
 2)the color values, so what is the palette is it pastels that vibrant bright colors is it mostly red blue, yellow orange. Are
   there colors that contrast each other and how and what does it mean in regards to, for instance of dominant contrast?
    Including colors in the background, are there colors that inform and frame for instance objects or people within the
    larger frame.
3)Film stock we're not going to talk too much about because many films today are shot digitally and in your mise en scene exercise, the essay, you don't really have to address film stock, because what we're analyzing is stills that have been reprinted so it's not the actual film stock that the movie is projected on, and it may be a production still so it may have been manipulated.

3b)the lens we will we have been talking about and will continue to talk about and

3c)Are there filters used over filters on the lights or the camera. Can you tell? You know the easiest one is perhaps when a  digital image, when you actually remove the color so it becomes black and white.

Mise en Scene
The Fifteen Elements

8)Density: How much visual information is packed into the image? Is the texture stark, moderate, or highly detailed?
9)Composition: How is the two-dimensional space segmented and organized? What is the underlying design?
10)Depth: On how many planes is the image composed? Does the background or foreground comment in any way on the midground? Are there frames with frames.
JEOPARDY:

24)As exemplified by this shot ____ is an important element of mise-en-scene because through its examination one can determine how visual planes are utilized. For instance, composition can unite or separate characters from each other or their surroundings, one visual plane may ‘inform’ another. Notes: She’s separated from her husband…all these vertical lines are creating space.

THE ANSWER IS DEPTH
Notes: When we talk about depth, we talk about, How one plane is informing another, like this, you can’t tell. In this case,

And in this case Left, center, right is really important, and the colors also separate also unite people like you know she is actually wearing the same colors he is.
But they’re separated through the owl and the table on the table leg.

Notes:
1) density, I talked about a minute ago I defined Think about The texture and the frame and how detailed it is with both with people and props you know, is there one cat or are there, six cats and are they unfortunately dressed in clothing, you know, is it a cat house with lots of toys, or is there nothing for them to play with that kind of thing.
2) composition, so how is the two dimensional space organized. Is it separated segmented or is it a single, uniform space are there, underlining designs of either people or props that make some kind of geometric figure, you know, is it symmetrical or asymmetrical, is there a large negative space or what's going on there?
3)depth once again how many planes are composed upon, and what that means are there elements in the background, which impact, what we see in the foreground or, for instance, are there elements on the edges of the frames if you're looking into a tunnel, you know how does that impact what's at the end of the tunnel.

 

Mise en Scene
The Fifteen Elements

A formal analysis of mise en scene includes all fifteen elements.
11)Form: Open or closed? Does the image suggest a window that arbitrarily isolates a fragment of the scene = OPEN
   OR CLOSED = Is it as if there is a proscenium arch, in which the visual elements are carefully arranged and held in
    balance?  ASK THIS QUESTION?
12)Framing: Tight or loose? Do characters have little to no room to move = TIGHT
    LOOSE = Can they move freely without impediments?
Notes:  8:50

1)Form: open or closed, so form is one of the hardest things to talk about. It's an idea that comes from 2D art that has been superimposed on 3D moving images and form what I could say, first, is that over of a single film you tend to have a single form, unless, of course, the form follows the dramatic content. So if things become more and more oppressive you might start out in the open form outdoors with you know, with lots happening, the idea that there's more outside of the frame and then by the end of the film you're in some kind of cell and everything that's dramatically important is happening in that space so that's introduction to closed form and then open

closed form is if you're looking at something on stage and everything of visual importance is right there on stage and it's arranged carefully .close form, you can usually tell is very neat and has lines of geometry Where whereas open forum kind of mirrors everyday life, and the fact that, if you look at a street scene it's probably not organized it any other way and there's a larger universe outside the edge of what would be the frame it's a fragment of a larger universe, and as as it's known as here open forum suggests that you're looking through a window into one bit of something larger.
  ASK A QUESTION ABOUT THIS

2)framing: tight or loose. often goes hand in hand with form,
   1) so tightly framed. shot is often a close up it's not always a close up but it's up but often a close up and we use a close
       up as an example, because a character can't move around to the close up if they step one step to the left or the right there probably out of the frame so that's a tightly frame , shot but a tightly framed shot can also be framed by the by the walls of a room the there can be frames within a frame, in other words. ASK A QUESTION ABOUT THIS
2)loosely framed shot is something where the characters can move around it's often a wide shot but, once again, you can have a wide shot, where the characters can't move and we'll see the example of that in mere seconds of

Mise en Scene
The Fifteen Elements

13)Character placement: What part of the framed space do the characters occupy? Center? Top? Bottom? Edges? Why?
14)Staging positions: What way do the characters look vis-à-vis the camera? Why? If there are multiple characters what does their position say about their relationship to each other?
15)Character proxemics: How much space is between the characters? Do the character proxemics indicate a specific
   relationship?
Notes:
1)Character placement: the final bits of the 15 elements are the idea of character and where they're arranged in the frame so character placement is is a body of the top of the frame or is that person on the edge or at the bottom of the frame,
2)Staging Positions: how are they facing and in respect to the camera, and this can be can have many elements, you could have your body face one way and your head face another. What does that mean? Or multiple characters can face in different directions and what does that mean in regards to how we, the audience see them and then how they see each other.
3)character proxemics: is the last element and that's how close or far characters are from each other, and what that indicates in regards to their larger relationship

So now we're going to watch some video and what i'm going to do is. GOOD EXAMPLE FOR TEST

Just fast forward it to this position and stop it.  LOOK AT STILL – WIDE SHOT – TIGHTLY FRAMED SHOT

THE DOMINANT CONTRAST IS USUALLY BASED ON COLOR, SHAPE, SIZE, THE LOCATION IN THE FRAME.  Dense

Closed form… horizontal line separate from each other. Judge horizontal lines.

High key lighting even illumination.

So um when you this video is loaded on the website sorry about that, and you should you should watch the whole
thing, but this video, this is an example of what kind of framing is what I would ask If we were live,

so one could consider it a wide shot, because we have multiple characters.

And yet it's a tightly framed shot because we see a judge and several people at a trial so.

A question I would ask is who is or what is dominant in this frame? * ASK A QUESTION
 and the dominant contrast is often based on we haven't talked about it,
  yet, but color shape, size, the location in the frame.

Answer:
So this frame is fairly dense and the dominant contrast most people agree is the judge,
because the judges wearing black against a lighter colored background the judges highest in the frame
and in the Center of the frame.

And what's interesting is that this frame is definitely a frame within a frame it's very tightly framed.
ASK A QUESTION ABOUT THIS

Very close for everything that we need to know about the story at that moment, is happening right there right, then, so we have horizontal lines that are separating the characters from each other, we know the judges, most important, because he separated from the defendant and lawyers, we have the doors of the room closing in, and then the judge also has vertical and horizontal lines around so it's a pretty interesting frame.

It is from a Hitchcock film so Hitchcock was very, very much into Creating the sets in and That was that helped create the mood of the film and the shot as a whole.

 

LIGHTING
High-key lighting tends to create a warm, happy mood.

HIGH-KEY LIGHTING
1)Provides bright, EVEN illumination with no obvious shadows.
2)The convention is it indicates an upbeat mood.
3) Used in musicals and comedies
Notes

Okay, so.This frame (the above Hitchcock frame) is also, we could say it's an example here let's go back of High key lighting.

Because people are evenly lit so one thing we haven't talked about yet is is but is the idea of high key lighting versus other lighting style so high key lighting is.

Even illumination you could think of it as high fill lighting,

 So if the key light is a major source, the primary source of the light
high key lighting means that the lighting ratio is even or really close to even
so that the fill light is as bright or close to as bright as the key which means they're very little shadows
High Fill light = little shadows

And it tends to indicate an upbeat musical
as far as genre goes and style musicals, romantic comedies that in the daylight,
you know it also High key lighting it's also motivated by time of day.

Are all high key for the most part, and a lot of westerns are actually high key to.

 

Notes:

So this is an example of High key lighting, what we see here is that there are some shadows, you know, and even this is Humphrey Bogart in the background, you know he's still very evenly lit this person has a little bit of shadows but you know, there's no deep shadows anywhere

 

 and, if we look Here

we see this is very much in contrast to a later seen in Casablanca and we'll see Casa Blanca this Semester, that we do have some shadows, but they're not really deep you know it's it's all it's all about the beautiful lighting here, but in general, you know his coat we see all the details of his face nothing falls in deep shadows, so you should watch that one I have to make sure it's on our chapter 5 link. I'm not sure it is, but I will look.

 

Okay, so now, this is another example of high key lighting,

EXAMPLE THX  

I mean this is so high key they're very few shadows and it's neither the background all the lights are all the walls are white, as well as they almost absolutely blend into the walls that's how well everybody is lit and how little contrast there is.

If you look at the right side versus the left side of this character’s face and this character his face, we do not see a lot of shadows

 

LIGHTING
LOW-KEY LIGHTING
1)Creates subtle shadows
2)Provides pools of atmospheric light
3)Works well for mysteries, thrillers and gangster movies  WHY IT IS USED FOR

Notes:
Okay low-key lighting is the opposite basically there's a much greater.A much greater contrast ratio so we're using hard light high key lighting is often created by soft light we're using hard light
 And we're doing it on purpose to create mystery, you know if you think of a horror films, the person hiding in the dark, the pools of atmospheric light are all considered Low key lighting. ASK A QUESTION

EXAMPLE 

In this shot, we see okay than any of this, you know it's motivated by the time day, it's night but it's definitely low key and in fact it's pretty much high contrast too.

This side of Bogart face falls in the shadows, to such an extent that we don't even really see any definition in it,  and Sam here, although he's in motion, he hasn't reached the spotlight that that's the end of his blocking so he's pretty much fallen in the shadows as well, what we see is a little light in the background.

The light for atmosphere over there, but there seems to be someone or something in the foreground here we don't even know what it is. That would be the extreme of low-key lighting high contrast lighting.

 

 

LIGHTING
THE CINEMATOGRAPHER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LIGHTING OF A FILM
NATURAL AND/OR AVAILABLE LIGHTING
1)Favored by realists, especially in outdoor scenes – the sun is the key.
2)Existing exterior light, although commonly supplemented with lamps and reflectors to achieve the desired effect.
3)Available light may also be an example of high-key or low-key light depending on the time and weather conditions.
Notes:
1)Natural or available light is an interesting phenomenon basically natural light is sunlight and natural light. happens outdoors or it can happen inside if there's windows, right.
2)it's often called existing light, but existing light can be practical to, so we won't really talk about that. natural light is often augmented by reflectors of some kind, it appears to be un augmented, but it is often augmented
3)And it can be high key or low key depending on the time of the day, the weather, what we saw the La Haine, is that it seemed to be overcast all the time because there weren't any deep shadows during the day in their neighborhood.
And it can change color you know, depending on the time of day, so golden hour sunset and sunrise are beautiful warm colors at yet what we see daylight is considered blue 56 K And what we see is on a bright sunny day without cloud covers the sky is very blue. ASK A QUESTION ABOUT 56K

EXAMPLE:

Okay, so here's an example and once again i'm not going to play it, but you can see from.

La Haine that he's evenly lit you know this is outside this is natural light.

This is during the day and it's either overcast or they're actually using reflectors, it's probably an overcast day but they're using reflectors, in order to make it absolutely even we don't see any shadows anywhere in the scene, so I would assume it's overcast.

 

LIGHTING
THE BACK LIGHT:
1)Creates a semi-silhouette in an otherwise well lit scene, which can produce romantic halos or ethereal glows
2)As a primary source can throw a figure or face into total shadow to create a mood of mystery or fear with the aid of spotlights in high-contrast setups

Notes:
Back light, we talked about backlight as the third light in a very simple lighting scenario key, fill and back, but backlight as the main source can throw a character and total shadow basically it because the light if you're exposing for the light the near under exposing the individual it creates silhouettes and it it's used in the three point lighting setup to separate the person from the background and also create the illusion the 3D effect, we saw this in our last week's PowerPoint with Marlena Dietrich and the fact that she was often lit with two backlights.

EXAMPLE HERE XXXXX

 

 LIGHTING

HIGH-CONTRAST LIGHTING THE EXTREME OF LOW KEY
1)Creates harsh shafts of light with dramatic streaks of black
   -Perfect for most tragedies and melodrama
2)A standard convention of Film Noir
3)Highly dramatic, with its extreme lights and darks being symbolic of the conflicts between good and evil, security and
    fear, and various other juxtaposing elements.
Notes:
1)Okay high contrast lighting, we talked about a little bit harsh deep shadows dramatic streaks of black and white
2)it's where we see it most frequently is film noir, films horror films also can be that way
3)it's very dramatic what we saw in the little was that clip but the stills we looked at from Casa Blanca is that it can indicate mood or it can create anxiety.

Rick was very conflicted and sad and you know, feeling a whole tidal wave of the notions from seeing Elsa.

Lighting kind of carried over for last week from last week, but I wanted to make sure you have all of the definitions of high key and low key lighting, etc,

Mise en Scene:
Composition and Design

1)What indicates the Dominant within a shot?
Notes:

So now on to the other elements of mise en scene.
1)The dominant in the shot?
    What indicates the dominant?
   (that's what I would ask if you were live in the classroom) you probably know that by now.

Mise en Scene:
Composition and Design

1)Dominant: immediately attracts the eye with its compelling contrast, often the juxtaposition of
a)Lighting lit areas vs shadows
b)Color
c)Size
d)Shape
e)Focus
f)Movement: in an otherwise still scene, an object or person in motion becomes the automatic dominant.

JEOPARDY QUESTION:
12)Question: Movement, focus, color, size, lighting.
What are the elements that make up the dominant contrast.

Notes: Yeah, now movement is the one element that obviously we can’t talk about when looking at the still very easily sometimes things are slightly out of focus, because the character is that movement as a still. But it is important if you see something moving across the frame you’ll look at it.

Because the dominant contrast can change, a subsidiary contrast can change the shot type can even change and the form content within a single shot we look at stills because you know it’s that would just be way too many pages to have to write.

In general as far as mise-en-scene goes,
A film has an overall look and then sometimes it varies from it for really specific reasons that have to do with dramatic content. Or it changes, you know from the beginning of the film to the end because of the dramatic content.

Ida: Should I use the word dominant in the essay or should I use dominant contrast?
Anna: You can use either, dominant contrast is the full terminology.
But you know dominant is often the way the author himself talks about the dominant contrast.

 

Notes:
a)The dominant can be whatever it is that attracts the eye first can be based on the size of the objects in the frame, if
   someone’s closer to the camera they're larger, you might notice them first, if based on what people are wearing,

c) If someone's wearing a light color in the safe dark colors you'll notice them,
b) it can be based on the lighting, so Sam was not lit but Rick was lit and we saw him first.
e)The shape of something if something isn't you know, a square in the middle of a bunch of circles you'll probably
     notice that first  or heart in the middle of a bunch of I don't know what rectangles
 f)focus is something our text doesn't mention but focus really can indicate the dominant and then
 g)in a moving image, what we tend to see first, is the movement itself so if everything else around a scene is still and a
    car zips by you're going to notice the car.

EXAMPLE: 

Notes:

Between the dominant contrast and the subsidiary contrast there are overlapping things that help you judge what
the dominant is.

FOCUS NOTES
So focus here,
Focus depends on the camera proximity,
It depends on the lens type
It depends on the placement in the frame.
If somebody's way in the background
 and you're not using a wide angle lens - you won't have focus,
 but if someone if you're using a telephoto lens.

Whatever your you know, only one of the visual planes it's going to be on focus and so that whatever is in that plane, probably the dominant.

MOVEMENT NOTES:

movement can how you see movement varies based on shot typ,e you know if if you're in a medium shot things look like they're moving faster, and If something is you know, in the center of the frame and it moves you'll probably notice it more you'll be more likely to notice it then on the edges, it depends on what it is and how it moves but placement is important.

SIZE NOTES:
The size of an object can depend on the lens type.
The composition so where that element is in the frame.
And the camera proxemics itself, so how far from the camera it is.

LIGHTING NOTES:

The lighting, you know the key whether you fall in shadow or light, can help determine the dominant

COLOR NOTES:

and then color itself, I mean we've noticed the red here first, or at least I do, among anything else

SUBSIDIARY CONTRAST:

subsidiary contrast is in relationship to the dominant, what do you see next and why?

 

I want to say that the human figure is what we tend to notice.
Movement and the human figure.

And yet, in this shot what's interesting is we can we can talk about color, in a black and white shot and we could talk about that in respect to the dominant you know.
 So here we have very much a black hat, which we see first, but then we immediately look to see the human figure
right, and then in everything else we have this world, world of greys, the sky is rendered grey.

and his shirt is very white, you know doesn't have real specular highlights but it's very white,
and so we have the whole scale here and, within that scale.

How you use that scale, can help create composition and dominant and subsidiary contrast.

 

Mise en Scene:
Composition and Design

1) Intrinsic Interest is important in respect to the dominant.
2) Intrinsic Interest is an object or area within the frame that compels our most immediate attention because of its dramatic or contextual importance.
3)Through the context of the story, an audience member knows that, though a gun, is dramatically important
    – or a character is more important than a salt shaker.

Notes:
1)within a frame also one thing that tends to indicate the dominant is the intrinsic interest of something so is something important in respect to the dominant is it you know if you see a human being, intrinsically we tend to believe that the human being is important, but there are objects that could be more important in regards to the drama and the context of the overall story.

For instance, our text talks about a gun, if you see a gun, you know your eye is drawn to it, and it has great dramatic content, so you might notice that before the person holding the gun. But If you have a salt shaker you know, even if the salt shaker is closer to the front of the frame, you probably will notice the human being first, unless it has dramatically been set up, that the salt shaker has poisonous salts in it and then you'll notice it.

 

Mise en Scene:
Composition and Design

1)Balance: symmetrical compositions suggest harmony, equilibrium or psychological comfortable
2)Imbalance: asymmetrical compositions suggest events in disharmony, neurotic characters, spiritual maladjustment,
    a lack of equilibrium or psychological discomfort.
Notes:
1)Balance OK so moving on to composition, the idea of balance is interesting and important is the frame symmetrical, how is it divided, is it divided for us or not, you know and half is it divided all, or is it
2)Imbalance and asymmetrical and this can affect how we, as an audience understand the psychology of the shot and the psychology of the characters within the shot
So if you think about an oblique angle, an oblique angle is also often imbalanced and it can create anxiety fear, etc.

EXAMPLE:

Here, this definitely has a huge amount of negative space, you know there's this whole part of the frame is empty and it's very unbalanced, but what we see is the character, you know what we notice is the character and it's the composition kind of definitely reflects her mood and her place in the story at that time.

She's in the middle of nowhere.

 

 

Mise en Scene:
Composition and Design

SOME ADDITIONAL ELEMENT TO CONSIDER
1)Weights – symmetry versus asymmetry: compositions that appear evenly weighted throughout the frame are
    probably symmetrical.
2) Compositions more heavily weighted in one area are most likely asymmetrical
Notes:     
In compositions, other things, to consider are the weights, of different elements within the shot, so the importance of the roadside, versus a human figure.

In this case (The Middle of Nowhere Picture above), the human, in this case the human figure is definitely weighting down the side of the frame, you know and This roadside is in the center, which definitely separates her from the rest of the universe over here, not to mention that the background is out of focus.  ASK A QUESTION ABOUT THIS

Negative = empty space

Mise en Scene:      BEST ANSWER ON DEPTH AND DENSITY
Depth and Density

Depth:
1)How the visual planes are utilized
2)Is there information in the background or foreground which helps define the midground?
3)Composition can unite or separate characters from each other or their surroundings.
4)One visual plane may “inform” another.

Notes:
And then the depth and the density,
DEPTH:
1)So the depth as we've talked about several times, is how many planes are what
    planes are in focus and what does it mean?
 2)You know the background is out of focus that previous shot and it really indicates her state of mind, she's not really
    thinking about the background either.
3)let's see what's in the shot, so we hardly notice what's in the shot
    that the plants, the desert, it doesn't look symmetrical you know the road it's actually kind of almost diagonal line not
   quite, but whatever this is, it's not it's not like the rest of the horizon that's fairly horizontal.
4)So does one visual plane inform another ? Does the background, and if we think about the shot
    from Notorious, looking into the courtroom, you had the gate in the foreground which tells you that separated that,
    you the audience are separated from the characters, and then we have the horizontal and vertical lines that both
    indicate enclosure, and separate the judge and the clerk, from the other characters
5)Or is there something that unites the characters in the surrounding so is the table round, are they united in that way?
     are they in a setting a geometric figure, that's you know, like a circle or a triangle?
     and what is it you know, in the background and foreground that that we see, and that actually comments on the
     characters, and what's happening the action.

 

 

 

 

 

 

EXAMPLE OF DENSE OR DENSITY

 

 

WIDE ANGLE SHOT – TIGHT FRAMING CLUTTERED….LOOSE UNCLUTTERED. LOOKS OPEN TEST EXAMPLE

Mise en Scene:
Depth and Density

Density:
1)How is the frame filled and with what? What do the object(s) tell you about the characters and/or their
   emotional/psychological state?
2)Cluttered spaces can proximate anxiety or feelings of entrapment.
3)Sparsely populated spaces may denote austerity, solemnity or cleanliness.
Notes:
 This is a production shot we saw from the texts but it's very, very dense ,right?
 It's very there's a lot going on and if this weren't a production shot
 If all you we saw was the actors, it would look quite different, but here we have you know the light stand and ladder
 and the camera, that's a camera operator who, that is, you have lights up here, we have you know some confusion on
 the ceiling, and light underneath, light over here, the woman is on the couch, and we have all these vertical lines you
 know all these frames within the frame.
 She's framed by this doorways, she’s separated from this part of the room by this doorway, we see bathroom in the
 background he's framed by this doorway, you know he separated by the edge of the couch, then we have a you know it's all cluttered but there's also a color scheme here too - the red, red, red, and the greenish blue greenish blue, cameras are darker, a greenish blue, and then the yellow browns the overall sense of the room is pastel-ish except for you know this red, oh and look, there's another person back there I didn't even realize it, anyway dense. ASK A QUESTION ABOUT THIS

About the picture: this is is interesting because it's a wide angle shot and we have room over here but because of the vertical lines and because it's because of the composition itself in the frames within the frames it's almost I would say it's much closer to tight framing than loose there's areas for them to move around and but it's very cluttered so that's you know loose framing tends to be uncluttered even though this is a longer shot right.

JEOPARDY QUESTION:
18)Question, The stark setting – lack of ____ of the shot visually alludes to their dire situation.

Answer – lack of density.  BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOTHING

Notes: There’s not a lot of density in here. I mean there’s most of its negative space we assume footsteps

 

 

 

Mise en Scene
Loose vs Tight Framing
So is it loose or tight framing?

Loose Framing:
1)If the frame appears to have ample room for characters to move, is uncluttered, and lacks frames within the frame, it
  is most likely a loosely framed shot
2)Loose frames are typically longer shots and tend to suggest psychological freedom of thought or movement (or both)

Notes:

If you think about, the editorial shot - that's very loose for me, and this is a very tight framing sorry, and ASK A QUESTION ABOUT THIS

Mise en Scene
Loose vs Tight Framing

Tight framing.  BEST ANSWER
1)Shot allows little room movement, is visually cluttered, and possibly includes frames within the frame.
2)Frequently uses medium or close-up shots and may suggest entrapment, either physical or psychological OR security – a tightly framed shot thus reflects the emotional content of the scene.
Notes:
Allows very little to move around, and once again it's most frequently close up and what's interesting is a type framing can be a sign of danger, you know if you're in a prison cell or an entrapment you know, therefore, or it can be the opposite, if you think about two people in a close up they can either be about to beat each other up and that's danger and they're trapped within that frame or they can be it can be you know, a father and son, and there can be security and you know warmth in the frame.

So, a tightly framed shot reflects the emotional content of the scene.

Mise en Scene:
Open and Closed Forms
(Open Forms are generally a Realist Convention)
Open Forms
1)Tend to be fairly realistic
2)Suggest informal composition
3)Objects and images may seem found
4)Typically use the frame as a “window” on the action
5)Make the audience aware of a world outside the frame.

So form can be open or closed.

1)Open forms tend to be more realistic and so that what's interesting about this one is as far as the film shoot goes, is it looks open in that it doesn't look very you know the Non props the camera etc do not look at all composed this looks like you know, a day in the life on that film shoot.

But once you get makes it into the movie, whatever frame, is it's probably could be it could be either, it could be an open or closed form
2)So open forms tend to reflect realism, you know, the idea that there's more outside the space, you know that that if you're only seeing that if a human form is cut off, like the guy in the background, and that shot, that that you know

it's because the rest of them is is in a different room, it's not because he's he's acting as the edge of a frame ends

Actually, in closing the frame itself.

Okay, so so it makes you aware, open forum makes you aware of the world outside the frame and that often actually works in tandem with sounds to help you understand there's a world outside.

 

Mise en Scene: FORMALIST
Open and Closed Forms
(Closed Forms tend to be a Formalist Convention) Ask a Question
Closed Forms
1)Appear organizationally controlled
2)Emphasize lighting, photography, and other artistic element
3)Tend to be used more in formalist compositions
4)Typically show everything the audience need to know for the dramatic action of the moment within the frame
Notes:
Closed form is all about the
1)The drama is contained in the frame it tends to be controlled and organized.
    And you can tell and Notorious you know it's very much an organized frame and it's very much a closed form.
    So everything you need to know is happening within the frame dramatically.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW IS HAPPENING IN THE FRAME

JEOPARDY QUESTION:
20)Question: an approach to style that values conspicuously expressive form. We notice the edits, the camerawork etc., because we are supposed to.

What is Formalism:

Robert’s explanations: For me when it’s realist is obvious, but you never think of something formal as this well put together shot, so then I know.
When they say that, that it’s formalist.
Like Hitchcock is very formalist.
Yeah, which is form, I mean so just look at this part of the word form
or the formal elements of a shot.

My example to class of Formalism:

2-14a Macbeth (U.S.A/Britain, 1971) with Francesca Annis and Jon Finch, directed by Roman Polanski.

Movie images are generally scanned in a structured sequence of eye-stops. The eye is first attracted to a dominant contrast that compels our most immediate attention by virtue of its conspicuousness, and then travels to the subsidiary areas of interest within the frame. In this photo, for example, the eye is initially attracted to the face of Lady Macbeth, which is lit in high contrast and is surrounded by darkness. We then scan the brightly lit “empty” space between her and her husband. The third area of interest is Macbeth’s thoughtful face, which is lit in a more subdued manner. The visual interest of this photo corresponds to the dramatic context of the film, for Lady Macbeth is slowly descending into madness and feels spiritually alienated and isolated from her husband. (Caliban/Playboy)

Polanski’s version realist vs Welles version formalist.
Also excellent on dominant contrast and how it is done with lighting. 

 

2-14b Macbeth (U.S.A., 1948) with Peggy Webber, directed by Orson Welles.
Realists and formalists solve problems in different ways, with different visual techniques. Polanski’s presentation of Lady Macbeth’s madness is conveyed in a relatively realistic manner, with emphasis on acting and subtle lighting effects. Here, Orson Welles took a more formalistic approach, using physical correlatives to convey interior states, such as the iron fence’s knifelike blades, which almost seem to pierce Webber’s body. The fence is not particularly realistic or even functional: Welles exploited it primarily as a symbolic analogue of her inner torment.

 

JEOPARDY:
27)Robert’s picture of House of sand…two women far apart in the sand.

Would you say this is open or closed form.

Answer: Open form and yet dramatically, you know it’s pretty closed like she’s on the edge of the frame and we know she exists outside of that frame and we know the desert exits outside of that five minutes very realistic in that manner, but this film kind of really plays with the idea of form a lot because they’re stuck there = you know, they’re trying to the desert and usually entrapment is an example of closed form.

If you were to analyze a frame if you were to say just not having seen the film that it was closed form because they seem trapped and they couldn’t you know she’s you know on the edge of the frame and this space acts as a frame.

If you can say that, if you do say that and it’s just a still – I would accept it because it is just a still and but having seen the film, we know that it’s you know there is wind and sand blowing around them and that it’s definitely an open form.

First, open and close form are slightly based on the perception of the subjective you know, as a still it could appear as if it’s closed form but it’s an open form shot.

 

 

 

Mise en Scene:  CHARACTER POSITIONS
(Character positions are defined in respect to the camera)
The five basic positions for photographing an actor:
1)Full frontal – facing the camera, most intimate
2)Quarter turn – less than full frontal position, but still a high degree of intimacy or identification with character, favored position of most filmmakers
3)Profile – facing off camera either left or right, more remote, involved in his or her own thoughts or intense dialogue.
Then there are two other cameras position horizontally
4. Three-quarter turn away – fairly anonymous, may convey unfriendly or anti-social attitude or alienation
5. Back to camera – most enigmatic, rejection of audience or simply used as a convention to provide closure
(last two are horizontal cameras positions)

Notes:
Okay, as far as people and character position, so there are three different elements character position character placement and character proximity.

So character positions can be quite complicated but we're always talking about how a person is facing in regards to the camera so we, the audience.

You know the camera is our eyes,
1)so a full frontal is is somebody facing the camera directly and it can be very into or it can be very intimidating you
   know if someone's up in your face, you know it.
   So, once again, it can mean opposite things it's either intimate or intimidating.

We see full frontal most frequently in.documentaries, because otherwise you're breaking the fourth wall.

2)A quarter turn, is what we see it's very pleasant that's what we see most frequently where someone's looking just past the camera to the right or the left, you know so even if their body is facing the camera they're still looking off in one direction or the other, and the one of the biggest differences between a quarter turn
 a full frontal and
 a profile is that you see the depth of the person, you see that that's a 3D individual they're not flattened by the fact that they're facing the camera or they're facing and profile

profile usually means that someone is either talking to somebody else In the frame and they're looking at each other and not you the camera or they're looking off the edge of the camera and probably what we'll see next is what they're looking at so here's some examples.

1)What's interesting is that his body is full frontal his face he's looking both down and away,
   I mean this face is a little bit turned this guy's inprofile.

We can talk about proxemics in regards to characters to and what it means that this person is not facing that person, you know this person is running away and there seems to be a person in the car to it's scary.

This is a better shot there's,

 

COMBINATION POSITIONS

So this is a complex shot, because this guy's in profile right he's facing off the edge,
and his shoulders, his whole body is facing off the edge.
This guy's face it, I mean body is full frontal, but his face is a quarter turned - looking off at him right

and this guy has his back basically to the other two characters and he's more or less in profile, but his face is facing the camera but he's out of focus, so you know we don't really notice him very much.

Then there are two other cameras position horizontally

Mise en Scene:
(Character positions are defined in respect to the camera)
The five basic positions for photographing an actor:

4. Three-quarter turn away – fairly anonymous, may convey unfriendly or anti-social attitude or alienation
5. Back to camera – most enigmatic, rejection of audience or simply used as a convention to provide closure

Notes:
1)You can be a three quarter turn away( from the camera) so basically only one side of your face is visible which is fairly antisocial or unfriendly.

2)or your Back can be to the camera which can mean several things that can mean you're leaving the room and it’s the end of the scene, or It sooner or later, you will be revealed and we don't know who you are as the audience and it can lead to suspense.

JEOPARDY QUESTION

J)This character position is understood as fairly anonymous, and may convey an unfriendly or anti-social attitude or alienation.
me: three quarter turn - away from the camera (back to the camera).

Note: when you’re talking about character position it’s always in respect to the camera, and you can
talk about character positions in respect to each other, because of people have their back to each other it’s also you know, important.

Me: feet position?
Anna: What’s interesting is that the most interesting shots are when the body is facing in one direction, and the head is facing, in another. So I think it’s important to go there. It’s a profile shot but they’re facing three quarter toward the camera.

 

Mise en Scene: The Frame     PLACEMENT AND WHAT THEY MEAN
Psychological Associations within the Frame especially in respect to a character’s Placement
1)Center – reserved for the most important visual elements, center of interest or dominant
2)Right – stronger side of the frame, associated with the hero or powerful character
3)Left – weaker side of the frame, reserved for villains, powerless or insignificant characters
4)Top – area associated with power, authority, aspiration
5)Bottom – in opposition to the top, submissive, weak, vulnerable or powerless.

QUIZ:
Question 4

0.5 / 1 pts

The left and right edges of the frame tend to suggest insignificance, why?

This is a short answer question. Please use complete sentences and give an example if you find it helpful.

As Giannetti notes, "The left and right edges of the frame tend to suggest insignificance, because these are the areas farthest removed from the center of the screen. Objects and figures placed near the edges are literally close to the darkness outside the frame. " (pg 55)

Yes the center is more important, but what makes the edges insignificant?

 

FROM JEOPARDY:

Maria’s mother is:
3)Pictures of Maria’s mom. Close-up, a full frontal, an eye=level shot.

 

Notes:

So then, as far as a placement of people in the frame.

1)Many people in the In the discussion talked about how the Center of the frame is the most important visually, but it
   can also be kind of the least interesting because we've seen it so much basically.

2)The right side of the frame is considered in the West stronger, we tend to read left to right, we tend to be very right centric so the the hero is often or the more powerful character tends to be on the right side of the frame

3)the Left psychologically in the West is considered less powerful so villains tend to be on the left, and if you if people are about to face off the villains come from the left and the good guys the heroes come from the right
4)the top of the frame what we saw on the notorious shot was that the judge was not only in the Center but, at the top and so he would definitely an authority figure, you know he's the most powerful person in the frame.

5)And then the bottom of the frame can be powerless submissive vulnerable, I mean if you think about someone in the bottom in the frame they're probably lying down or if it's if people if there's more than one person, the frame somebody is standing and then maybe the person the bottom of the frame is seated.

Mise en Scene                                 PROXEMIC PATTERNS THE DISTANCES BETWEEN PEOPLE
Proxemic Patterns
(Proxemic patterns describe the relationships between the subjects within a given space)
The four major proxemic patterns:
1)Intimate – physical contact to approximately 18” – usually shot in clos up or extreme close up
2)Personal – 18” to about 4’ – generally a medium to full shot
3)Social – 4’ to 12’ – usually a medium to full/long shot
4)Public – 12’ or more someone at a podium.

JEOPARDY QUESTION:
23)Our characters stand 4’ to 12’ from each other and are represented in full shot.

Answer: What is a social proxemic pattern? This is greater than arms length and greater.

Joe: friend – touch hands zone?– Robert – that would be personal.
Anna: Personal is Arm’s length to 18 inches
Notes: character proximity can really be used to say a lot about what’s going on, I mean if you think about a crowed Bart, especially now, not that I ride Bart anymore.
If someone’s a personal distance away from you – you’re probably know sweating bullets at this point.
wondering if they’re vaccinated or not and hoping that their mask is properly affixed.

 

Notes:

And then finally character proxemics
 so character they're basically four different patterns are called proximics patterns.
1)The first is intimate so if you're 18 inches or less away from someone or close to someone it's probably a close up or an extreme close up not necessarily but if you're that close to someone you better know them really well and love them, or else you're facing off physically, you know it's either a good thing or a bad thing.

2)Personal distance is considered friends and family, so you know what we see on the bus is that we want to be a teen inches to four feet away from people You know pre coven but we start to get uncomfortable if we're 18 inches or less and we ignore the person sitting in the seat next to us in general, because we don't know them.

3)Social distances four to 12 feet which is usually a medium or medium long shot and it can mean that your work, you know, colleagues, or if if a couple that supposed to be in love is four to 12 feet away either they're coming to meet each other and they're about to be closer, or else, maybe they're an argument.

So the distance between different people, especially if there's multiple people in the frame, what does it mean who, who has a closer relationship than the other people.

4)Public what we see in public is 12 feet or more so that's usually someone that podium talking to a crowd that's usually an authority figure.

And here's an example i'm just going to go okay so here's a person at the podium I went too far, oh see.

If you can't tell from this course, but he's 12 feet away

 and he's he's above two.

And he is a person of authority he's the mayor see we're looking up at him.

These people, you know, are in his entourage.

They know each other and they're important but not as important, because they're lower in the frame right.

Okay, so now she's and let's see if we get out so here's here's the crowd so I was looking at it's the reverse shot, these people are 12 feet away

hese are definitely the authority figures.

 

 

 

Mise en Scene
(Mise en scene encompasses four distinct formal elements)

1)Manner in which they are photographed
2)Manner in which these materials are framed
3)Staging of the action
4)Physical setting and decor

To recap one last time mise en scene incorporates four different elements:
The manner in which something is photographed and framed.

How it's placed in the frame the staging itself.

And then.

How the setting and the decor are.

What they look like what color they are how they're arranged etc

A Sample TEST question:
Is a dramatic moment in your script you have selected a tightly framed shot to represent your leads in an embrace because a tightly framed shot always:
1) Is a close-up
2) heightens the emotional intensity apparent in the shot
3) creates a feeling of entrapment
4) Indicates a closed form
5)All of the above.

 

 so here's.

A Possible a sample quiz question And i'll let you answer it but it's a dramatic moment in your script you have selected a tightly frame shot to represent your lead.

leads in an embrace because a tightly frame shot always which is, it is a close up heightened emotional intensity apparent in the shop creates a feeling of entrapment.

indicates a closed form or all of the above, think about it

okay i'm hitting escape i'm hitting and share so that's it today, hopefully this wasn't too long and hopefully added some clarity to the PowerPoint as a whole i'm going to hit stop now and then subtitle it or.

Post a link I don't know it so have a good night.

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