In this week’s session, we have touched on some basic domains of mise-en-scene. Generally, mise-en-scene means things that are included on the screen but also related to sound, camera, and editing skills.
Here is my notes from the class:
From my opinion of views, we not only see mise-en-scene from the animation and films but also other media such as posters and music videos, they help audiences to received the meanings behind characters through several elements:
- Setting
- Props
- Costumes, hair, make-up
- Facial expressions, body language
- Lighting, colours
- Positions of characters/objects within the screen.
The poster below is from the film Brave (2012) by Pixar Animation Studio, it follows the general trend of showing the main characters with their featured mise-en-scene in the film: costumes, facial expressions, positions and props made from computer graphics.
Here I have done a small analysis based on its main elements:
The castles and trees in the background of this poster point out that the main set is remote from the centre of the country, which makes the audience feel expectant about the construction inside the building. However, the glaucous green mist builds an odd atmosphere, which connotes the unknown danger and the mystery in the story. The regional identity which corresponds to the medieval costume and weapons these characters are wearing conveys their masculine characteristics are used to resist danger and guard the family in the place,
Two feminine characters in this poster are wearing blue and green skirts respectively, the girl in the front shows a head of messy orange hair which represents her energy and passion but the woman behind her looks more gentle and mature with her tied black hair at the back, the binary opposite of them connotes a contradiction might be presented between them in the story. The leather coats worn by masculine characters are much stronger and more supportive in their life. Three young characters who wear identical clothes connote that they are of the same age and gender. Their make-up is not obviously shown because of the distance and the lack of straight light.
Within the frame, two separated parts of characters they have connote a break between them. The character in the front is more likely to show her weapon and facial expression to the audience, by contrast, the people behind her are showing a less powerful status with their smaller figures, which makes the audience more likely to trust the story is mainly about the girl in front of the camera. Although the construction of this poster shows these six characters are positioned in the same environment the distance between the main character Merida and 5 characters behind her connotes that Merida needs to face her own destiny and the test of her life.
In the progression of my essay this week, it’s also easy to find that orthodox animation concentrates more on the mise-en-scene and how the camera or sound applied to display them:
The above is a short textual analysis of the camera and characters’ poses from a performance scene in Snow White (1983):
Also, the hyper-realistic poses have been applied to creatures in the Disney film Bambi (1942), in the snowy set their characteristics have been amplified with their movements and soundtrack:
Here is a short textual analysis based on the scene which I added onto my essay this week:
There are different camera angles, movements or compositions related to things in the frame. It’s important to understand them either for structuring my film or writing my essay:
The photo below shows the main camera angles we can see from animation or films, a few of them can structure the opposite binary of characters such as low angle and high angle shots.
The photo below visually explains different camera movements, from my opinion, I think panning and tilting are mostly been used in structuring the narrative of a film or animation.
The photo below shows some compositions that can be applied to a shot, they have mainly been structured or drafted through shapes and lines.
When we build up camera movements in a scene, it’s also important to know there should be an invisible line to prevent the camera from crossing 180 degrees, otherwise, audiences won’t be able to identify two exactly the same objects/characters in the shot.