Chapter 4: Mise-en-Scene

Question 1

Mise-en-scene

Answer 1

all of the elements placed in front of the camera to be photographed: the settings and props, lighting, costumes and makeup, and figure behavior

Question 2

Prop

Answer 2

an object in the setting that has a function within the ongoing action

Question 3

What are the functions of a prop?

Answer 3

1. can convey character psychology
2. may become a motif- color may help props become motifs

Question 4

Setting in mise-en-scene

Answer 4

1. can dynamically enter the narrative action
2. natural vs constructed settings
3. the overall design of a setting can shape how we understand story action
4. color can create parallels among settings

Question 5

Costume and makeup in mise-en-scene

Answer 5

1. can become motifs, enhancing characterization and tracing changes in attitude
2. can be used for their purely graphic qualities
3. can help pick out characters
4. color coordinating or contrasting with or against the setting
5. costumes may reinforce narrative and thematic patterns when combined with the setting

Question 6

Lighting in mise-en-scene

Answer 6

1. lighter and darker areas within the frame help to create the overall composition of each shot and guide our attention to certain objects and actions
2. articulates textures
3. creates overall shape
4. joins with the setting in controlling our sense of a scene’s space
5. shapes a shot’s overall composition

Question 7

Highlight

Answer 7

a patch of relative brightness on a surface

provides important cues to the texture of a surface

Question 8

Shadows

Answer 8

allow objects to have portions of darkness (shading) or to cast their shadows onto something else

Question 9

Lighting Quality

Answer 9

refers to the relative intensity of illumination

Question 10

Hard Lighting

Answer 10

creates clearly defined shadows, crisp textures, and sharp edges

Question 11

Soft Lighting

Answer 11

creates a diffused illumination

Question 12

Lighting Direction

Answer 12

refers to the path of light from its source to the object lit

Question 13

Front Lighting (effect)

Answer 13

tendency to eliminate shadows

Question 14

Sidelight (effect)

Answer 14

sculpts the character’s features

Question 15

Backlighting

Answer 15

comes from behind the subject

creates silhouettes and edge or rim lighting

Question 16

Underlighting

Answer 16

comes from below the subject

distorts features or acts as a realistic light source

Question 17

Top Lighting

Answer 17

spotlight shines down from almost directly above- used for glamour or realism

Question 18

Key Light

Answer 18

the primary source- brightest illumination and strongest shadows

most directional and usually suggested by a light source in the setting

Question 19

Fill Light

Answer 19

a less intense illumination that “fills in,” softening or eliminating shadows cast by the key light (including background, eye, and set lighting)

Question 20

Three-Point Lighting

Answer 20

backlight, key light, fill light

Question 21

High-Key Lighting

Answer 21

refers to an overall lighting design that uses fill light and backlight to create relatively low contrast between brighter and darker areas

the light quality is usually soft, making shadow areas fairly transparent

Question 22

Function of high-key lighting

Answer 22

can suggest different lighting conditions or times of day

Question 23

Low-Key Lighting

Answer 23

creates stronger contrasts and sharper, darker shadows

lighting is often hard and fill light is lessened or eliminated altogether

Question 24

Movement and performance in mise-en-scene

Answer 24

1. mise-en-scene allows the figures we see onscreen to express feelings and thoughts; it can also dynamize them to create kinetic patterns
2. an actor’s performance consists of visual elements and sound elements
3. a performance should be examined according to its function in the film’s overall formal design
4. stylized performances can be created through extroversion and exaggeration

Question 25

Typecasting

Answer 25

actors are selected and directed to conform to what audiences expect

Question 26

Motion Capture

Answer 26

the whole body is filmed

Question 27

Performance Capture

Answer 27

concentrates on the face

Question 28

Bilateral Symmetry

Answer 28

extreme type of balance between the right and left halves

Question 29

Monochromatic Color Design

Answer 29

the filmmaker emphasizes a single color, varying it only in purity or lightness

Question 30

Depth Cues

Answer 30

the elements of the image that create a 3-D impression provided by lighting, setting, costumes, and staging- all the aspects of mise-en-scene suggest that a space has both volume and several distinct planes

Question 31

Planes

Answer 31

the layers of space occupied by persons or objects described according to how close or far away from the camera they are (foreground, middle ground, background)

Question 32

Overlap

Answer 32

one of the most basic depth cues- can define many planes color differences also create overlapping

Question 33

Movement

Answer 33

one of the most important depth cues because it strongly suggests both planes and volumes

Question 34

Aerial Perspective

Answer 34

another depth cue- the hazing of more distant planes

Question 35

Size Diminution

Answer 35

figures and objects farther away from us are seen to get proportionally smaller reinforces our sense of seeing a deep space with considerable distances between the planes

Question 36

Monocular

Answer 36

the illusion of depth requires input from only one eye

Question 37

Stereopsis

Answer 37

a binocular depth cue that results from the fact that our two eyes see the world from slightly different angles

Question 38

Shallow-Space Composition

Answer 38

in such shots, the mise-en-scene suggests comparatively little depth, and the closest and most distant planes seem only slightly separated

Question 39

Deep-Space Composition

Answer 39

a significant distance seems to separate planes will often use background events to create expectations about what is about to happen in the foreground

Question 40

Frontality

Answer 40

the positioning of figures so that they face the viewer can change over time to guide our attention to various parts of the shot