YEAR 2 Mise en Scene: Setting the Stage, Elevating the View
There's no denying the importance of mise en scéne in filmmaking. Truly, it elevates film from just a record of movements and dialogue set to a sweeping score to an art form with depth, greater meaning, and purpose. In a translation from French to English, Mise en scéne means (quite literally):
As you are designing your mise en scéne for your own collaborative films, and as you are viewing your film of study this month, please complete the following for this blog discussion and exploration:
1. Read the Studio Binder article on mise en scéne.
Click HERE to access the link.
2. Choose one of the following elements: Setting, Decor(Production Design), Lighting, Depth of Space, Costumes & Makeup. Then, comment on what you noticed with regards to that element in film for your assigned film in the screening schedule this month (Sam Mendes' 1917).
3. Finally, share your thoughts on the importance of "setting the stage" and being intentional in every frame of film. What scene in YOUR film do you think you will capture for your film poster? How will you set the stage to hint at your story? How will you be intentional? Sketch or photograph some ideas and create an idea board (HINT: Pinterest is a GREAT resource for this!)
The film 1917 is a 2019 naturalistic war film that relies on aspects of realism to represent a pivotal race against time. Mise-en-scene, or the placement in a scene, involves aspects that can be seen in a film, including the style it is shot. 1917 sets itself apart from others with its use of a single shot with minimal cuts. This shot style keeps the viewer immersed in the film and remains in the story, without being torn from experiencing the story alongside the characters. Also relating to camera techniques is the depth of field. Depth of field refers to the size that an image is being shown in and the visibility of them, whether that is blurred or sharp in quality. Viewers who watch films following a specific depth of focus, often view the film with width (X), height (Y), and depth (Z). 1917 often utilizes deep focus, which keeps the point of focus with the foreground also in focus. The film allows the viewers to understand what is happening in the foreground, middle ground, and background. The reason for this is for the viewer to gain a better understanding of the story as all aspects of the mise-en-scene in the shots are intentional and important to the director, Sam Mendes. In the scene where Lance Corporal Blake and Lance Corporal William are watching the dogfight in the sky between the Germans and the British, all aspects of the scene are shown in deep focus, with the three planes in the sky firing at one another while the men watch. The deep focus becomes crucial in this scene when the German plane is shot and starts over the hill where it will crash right into both men, which is visual information the viewer requires to understand the film’s story. The deep focus allows the viewer to have time to understand the scene and permits dynamic action to take place on any plane. The audience takes in the suspense of the plane quickly approaching the men, while clearly being able to see the men running from the advancing plane. To measure the depth of space, the z-space is used, or the distance between the two marking points in a scene to render depth of field. Referring back to the dogfight scene, the depth of field would be measured with the barn that surrounds the shot, and one side of the barn towards another. The effect of surrounding the scene with the barn contributes to the mise-en-scene and makes the viewer feel trapped and as if the plane will crash into them as it approaches Blake and William.
ReplyDeleteThere are times when the film decides to shift from deep focus to shallow focus. In the early moments of dawn, William is trying to stay hidden from the German soldiers, with a drunk German soldier behind him. William is in deep focus in the foreground and the viewer can understand his emotions and actions easily. However, the German soldier is placed in shallow focus in the background, and the background is left soft where the German soldier dramatizes his movements as he throws up and is incapable of standing up straight. The story is still clearly told to the audience as both actors deliver a dramatized performance, the German soldier more than William, yet in a different depth of field. However, in a few moments, this scene transitions to rack focus, where William was the point to focus, to where the German soldier now is. A rack focus switches between different points of focus and is a purposeful technique to direct the viewer’s attention to a specific aspect of the scene. The rack focus is successful as it provides more information to the viewer about the situation and how each character is behaving. In closure, depth of field can determine how a story is told by the points it decides to focus on for the viewer. It commands the viewer’s attention to important details in a scene that will contribute to the overall story of the film.
Movie Poster
ReplyDeleteSam Mendes’ film 1917 proves the importance of being intentional with every shot and frame in the film. This allows me to reflect on my film in the making, One’s Time. For this film, the scene I plan to capture for my film poster is not a specific scene from my film, yet a referred-to shot. For this, I want to capture an image of the brown paper bags that the meals are included in for the individuals in the film. I want to write on the bag, “What would you do if you found out your life was a lie?”. I used this phrase in the pitching of this film and feel it is thought-provoking enough to where it will draw the attention of people to view the poster. The stage is set here to hint at my story as the whole concept around the film is teenagers living a false life and the question of morals if it is right to live the life you want, or make the hard decision and do what is best for everyone else. By presenting this question on a brown paper bag, the intentional use of this shot will be to represent the aspect the characters’ lives revolve around, mealtime. The question presented leaves something for the viewer to consider, without giving away the main twists of the film. I feel that an overhead light would be best for this poster, as it represents that ominous feeling the film gives and help the viewer of the broad poster to understand what genre the film is reaching for. This is a base idea for my poster and will be further developed as the date for the creation of our posters approaches.
I LOVE that idea!! It's symbolic, and truly a teaser that makes your viewer think! It is also intriguing. I liked your color palette!
DeleteFor the film 1917, depth of focus, and in turn how it moves between settings and scenes, was especially noticeable as it created the surrounding for the audience that Sam Mendes intended. Throughout the film, Sam Mendes creates the feel of a one-shot, seamlessly tying the clips together to move the audience along with the action as we go between settings and action throughout the film put mainly into pov shots to create that feel. As the 2 main privates move along the journey, their surroundings become smaller and smaller from the soldiers to their natural surroundings slowly moving behind them. With this technique, we are able to follow them through grassy settings, trenches, and muddy terrain as they make it to Colonel Mackenzie.
ReplyDeleteI believe that “setting the stage” and being intentional in every frame is very important to be able to capture the feel and style you want to convey for your audience, like Mendes when creating his one-shot in order to make his audience feel like they’re part of the action. By being intentional in every frame and “setting the stage” you are able to give insight to your characters and setting that they will be living in, with colors- or lack thereof- that represent their society, personality, or evoke an emotion or sense of nostalgia from the audience depending on the film, engaging them throughout the film while being able to visually share your story. While I will not be producing a film at this time, my setting would be more naturalistic as my main character, while scholarly, is more interested in the natural and simple, while this aspect would also be needed for the conflict as the antagonists would be out in the middle of nowhere waiting for their moment in her story, so they would need to lie low. If I were to make a poster, I would likely utilize the scene where she walks into the house right before she meets the antagonists to show where she’s ended up because of her story.
In 1917 by Sam Mendes, is a war story of two young men during the First World War. 1917 stands out for many reasons, one being the continuous film and passage of time. Mendes is a director that has mastered the aspects of mise en scene. Depth of field stood out the most to me and is a key aspect of mise-en-scene. The scene that I found very impactful in 1917 was the scene of Blake’s death. There is a deep depth of field as both Blake and Schofield are watching three planes in a dogfight. Through the usage of the deep depth of field, the audience is able to see the planes dogfight and when the German plane is shot down. The deep depth of field impacts the audience much more as the audience far away crashes very close to the camera. The drastic difference makes the audience feel anxious and builds a sense of fear. After both men are able to save the German pilot, Schofield leaves to fetch water for the pilot, Mendes uses a shallow depth of field to focus on retrieving the water while a gunshot is fired. While Schofield takes out his gun, Mendes returns to a deep depth of field. The audience sees from a distance that Blake is presumably shot, which comes as a shock to the audience and Schofield kills the German pilot. Using the deep depth of field makes the audience feel far from the action until Schofield comes closer to Blake and the audience is en media res. The drastic changes of the depth of field to create mise-en-scene is impactful in the film and for the audience.
ReplyDeleteMise en scene is incredibly important for every scene of the film because the audience, whether ware or not, are noticing details and each element of art and principles and design are meant to create a specific emotion. If I had to make a movie poster I would focus on the use of depth of field because it can be used to create a sense of closeness or distance emotionally between characters and objects. As cinematographer of a piece I would want to discuss with the director and determine what aspects of the film are meant to be the most important to the audience.
While watching 1917 by Sam Mendes, I particularly noticed the way he utilized lighting to set the scene. My favorite scenes from the film came in the town that had been destroyed. The entire scene was dark and the only light source was the flames of the burning buildings. The shots were also very wide shots which captured the set and made Schofield look very small. This was likely intentional because it made the viewer feel as small as Schofield did with the weight of his situation and his surroundings. This film really showed the importance of setting the scene because for Sam Mendes, every scene has a specific purpose. I will need to apply this to my film by ensuring that actors and the sets are consistent between the shots. I have also thought about what I would like to use for my film poster. As of today, I plan on using a shot I already have for my poster, which is the shot of the director holding the camera up to her own face. The shot captures the comedic elements of the film while also telling the viewer more about the protagonist. The poor angling of the shot tells the viewer that the director is incompetent and draws them further into the film curious as to what odd situations the director puts the crew into.
ReplyDeleteI think the burning buildings scene is one of my favorites, as well. It's so beautiful and haunting at the same time.
DeleteThe way a film is visually displayed for an audience is significant in the portrayal of the story and the purpose it fulfills. Many directors use the mise-en-scene of the film to capture the attention of an audience and engage them in the narrative, but war films must utilize this to capture the feelings of the soldiers and the importance of the historical moment. Mendes utilizes various aspects of mise-en-scene techniques within 1917, however, the element of setting is the most prominent as it impacts the execution of other elements. Set in Northern France in the midst of World War I, 1917 highlights the various terrain that was separated and fought in as the characters, Lance Corporal Schofield and Lance Corporal Blake, progress through the journey. An important aspect to consider in all aspects of the film’s mise-en-scene is that it is filmed in continuous shots: one shot for the first half, one for the second half. With this, the camera follows the characters as they walk along and converse, making the viewer feel like they are being thrown directly into the action as their own character. This also makes the environment consistently visible to the audience as they are thrown directly into the action. When walking through the canyon of abandoned weaponry, the camera follows behind the weapons to establish what was left behind and the desert terrain. Similarly, the camera follows behind the trees while they are walking to show the transition from desert to a forest before panning behind them to show the environment that is to come. By using shots that establish the differences in terrain being faced, the audience is able to depict the difficulty and uncertainty of the mission Schofield and Blake are enduring. The change in setting is represented further through the use of other elements such as sound. For instance, when they are walking through the empty, wide scale land beginning their journey there is little dialogue, only heavy breathing with natural diegetic sound. Furthermore, the music matches the setting and moments of importance. An example of this is when they are walking in desolation, the music almost echoes and has a haunting effect, but when the pressure on the characters or the action increases, so does the intensity and volume of the music. Not only does the music change with more amounts of pressure, but the setting also becomes darker with dim lights. This can be seen prominently when the characters enter a set of underground tunnels and bunkers. In the tunnels, the only light is a small hand-held flashlight, creating suspense of what could be hidden in the darkness. This also creates a feeling of claustrophobia in the viewer. This is one instance in which dark settings within the film are visually magnified through the use of lighting. Another is when Schofield is caught in a set of seemingly abandoned ruins. In the ruins, the lighting of the bombs creates harsh shadows that make the scene solely black, white, and orange (from the light coming from the fires), creating tension as the audience doesn’t where William is going and he has little to no visibility. This also makes the sudden gunshots more suspenseful as there is no warning of a gun or weapon in the distance. Furthermore, the walls of rubble create a maze-like structure and a similar feeling of entrapment as he is chased. To contrast the chaotic visuals in each of these moments, it is silent when looking in seemingly abandoned locations to create suspense. No matter what environment Schofield or Blake were found in, the film distinctly relied on muted, earthy colors in the entire film such as white, black, gray, brown, blue, and green. Overall, the combined elements within the mise-en-scene of the film fulfill the purpose of conveying the emotions of the mission and creating a lasting impression on the audience.
ReplyDeleteMovie Poster:
ReplyDeleteThe mise-en-scene of a film is reflected in the poster that draws the audience in. Without a poster that reflects the essence of the film and its message, the audience will not understand the vision being achieved. For my film, The Lucky One, I would like to do something that reflects the emotion of the main character, Dorothea. There are a few ideas I currently have including a half-and-half split of Dorothea with one side being glam and the other natural, a phone lying down with the light facing upwards, and Dorothea being lit up by the phone in her hand. Any of these posters would represent the story of how Dorothea is caught between two worlds and the message of the impact of technology. I will collaborate with my cinematographer to determine which portrays the most effective, authentic representation of the film as a whole.