MIS-EN-SCENEPutting into

Scene

Movie sets

Recreate locations in more realistic detail.

Sets are constructed on a soundstage – where everything can be controlled for optimal film and sound.

Location shooting – set and filming takes place on a real site outside of a production studio.

From Drawing Board to Screen

Sets are sketched by hand, visualized on computer programs or modeled

As the sets evolve the director work out the visual language of the film.

The sketches can be very detailed so that the director and producers can visualize the scene more and the film becomes more of a reality.

Methods of shooting

Metonymy – in the film Grand Hotel part of a scene was narrowly viewed to make it seem like the space was larger.

Sets on Location – Real locations – both interior and exterior - lend a feeling of realism to the film. Best way – shoot the real exteriors and then

you cut to interior shots on the soundstage or a different location.

Sets on Location

Example – Pulp Fiction – The scene where they are at the restaurant – “Jack, Rabbit, Slims,” is actually the exterior and interior of a real diner in Hollywood known as “Mel’s.”

For the Interior – the owner’s changed half of their restaurant for the filmmakers.

Pulp Fiction Mel’s scene

Pulp Fiction

Mel’s diner

Sets establish place and time

Milieu – sets establish place and time of a film. This could be a historical scene, an environment, and geography.

Period Pieces – A film set in the past, often characterized by lavish set design and costuming.

Sets need to create a sense of realism.

Example – The Age of Innocence

The Beauford family home is decked out in lavish furnishings. This illustrated the wealth that was central to the film.

The home was actually the National Arts Club dressed to look like the family home as it once was.

The Bridge

Just an example – There is a scene of the newsroom at the Pilot. The film crews did actually shoot in the newsroom, but the workers there were extras. They simply used the space.

Sets and Special Effects

CGI – or Computer Generated Imagery: Set designs are enhanced or wholly created through digital design.

This is done through the use of a green screen. Technically speaking the actor performs in

front of a single color screen. Separate images are fabricated onto the

screen to fill the space occupied by the green screen background.

The use of Props

Carpenters, electricians and painters create the sets. Then set dressers come in and “dress” it up with objects such as paintings and photographs. These objects are “props”.

Some props provide key elements to a story. Just like a lot can be said with one look – a prop can do the same.

Costume, makeup and hair

Makeup and costumes including hair style will set the scene and create additional realism to a film.

Kirsten Dunst as French Queen in Marie Antoinette.

Performance and Camera work is key

Blocking - the positioning of actors and cameras. This is carefully worked out before the cameras roll.

Actors must embody the character through posture, gesture, facial expression and voice.

If we can’t believe the actor then all the scenic work in the world can’t help the film.

Homework

Read Chapter 3 in textbook.

Today we discuss

The choreography that goes into scene setting, acting and camera work.

Visual Design Screen Acting The importance of setting the right

lighting.

Blocking and Narrative

Blocking There is a use of stripped cues on the

floor that tells them where to stand. Where to walk/run to.

Blocking is meant to make the actor appear natural. But in reality those moves have been practiced over and over.

Certain stances/body language can reveal a lot about a character or the circumstances of a scene.

Visual Design

Something to note – every aspect of a scene, of a character of a location may be considered to bring out the character or the importance of a scene.

But in other instances the visual design and end result of a scene is all a happy accident.

How does the picture flow?

Playing with Scale

Having a focal point

Screen Acting Styles

Acting is dependent on the scene setting and the scene itself is dependent on actors.

Silent Films – Mirrored the acting seen at the theater. The gestures and facial expressions were exaggerated.

When Sound came about…

It allowed actors to be more natural – A Naturalistic style of acting came into

being. Their gestures and facial expressions became subtler because through sound they didn’t have to use melodramatic gestures to show how their character felt.

They could do it with a look or with the tone in their voice.

Act from Experience

When actors act, they have to find a psychological truth within themselves to be true to the character they are playing.

They are asked to draw from “their own experience,” when playing emotional roles.

Lighting

The position of lights, or sources as they are known in the industry, can be used to highlight or eliminate shadows.

It can illuminate a shot, and direct our eyes to a certain portion of the frame, shape our impression of a character or a place.

Three-Point Lighting.

This is when you have three sources of light on an actor.

Key – this is the primary light source, typically placed in the front. It is the brightest light in the frame. Points our eyes toward a direction or object.

Backlights – create a halo effect Fill lights – using a less intense wattage they

fill in the areas that are not lit. Low Key Lighting – When there is a sharp

contrast between the illuminated area and dark areas.

3-Point Lighting

Used to illustrate glamour, especially if it is balanced correctly.

Lights can also be used to illustrate how a character feels about the world around him.

Example – “Social Network”

Low Key Contrasts in The Godfather

Other Lighting schemes

Chiaroscuro – meaning dramatic high contrast lighting that exploits gradations and variations of light and dark in an image. In which the subject/actor is “half lit” (Two-Faced effect).

Under lighting – a scheme in which the key light is placed below the subject. This is used to create a unsettling or horrific effect.

Top Lighting

Done for dramatic effect and can sometimes be used to create a flattering and natural feel.

Tinted light

Filters can create an effect. Cool colors (blues and purples) can give a dramatic effect for drama.

This is created through the use of a filter – or a think sheet of polycarbonate or polyester (colored gel) in front of the lighting fixture or window. They direct us to “read’ or interpret a certain

scene a certain way. Clubs use this as well.

“Mean Streets” Martin Scorsese

Natural and Artificial Light

Many times filmmakers rely on the use of artificial light. (It is more controlled than natural light).

But there is a movement – Neorealism – This is a post WWII film movement that began in Italy. Directors adapted the documentary style in their fiction films.

Roberto Rossellini; Luchino Visconti; and Vittorio De Sica

Movements

Neorealism – Filmmakers use unfiltered light and only use natural light. (Heavily used in the 1940s and 1950s).

Dogme 95- movement from Scandinavian filmmakers who signed an agreement that they would abandon all aspects of Hollywood methodology. They use only digital cameras, shoot in natural light and don’t add music.