Task 4

Moving image language

Mis-en-scene – a French term meaning what is put into a scene or frame.

·         Visual information in front of the camera.

·         Analyse anything you see on the screen.

The 5 elements of mis en scene

·         Settings

·         Props

·         Costume, hair and make up

·         Facial expression and body language

·         Lighting and colour (lighting technician)

·         Positioning

Each aspect of mis en scene has hidden meanings within a film and sends signals to the audience about how we are supposed to feel at a certain point.

·         Iconography

Props can give the audience a first impression of the time of the film and when it was made. Modern or old fashioned.

Actions films would include – guns, big cars, explosions

Horror films – clown masks, knives

Science fiction films – different planet, rockets etc.

·         Costume and make up can indicate a characters personality, status and job (It tells us whether the film is set in present and what society/or culture it will centre around.)

·         Facial expressions provide a clear indicator of how someone is feeling (If someone is smiling broadly, we will assume that they are happy but we may get a different feeling if this accompanied by scary music)

·         Positioning of characters and objects within a frame. (A film maker can use positioning to indicate relationships between people.)

·         Colour carries certain connotations which may add meaning to a scene i.e red=danger/blood.

Lighting and colour – to highlight important characters or objects within frame.

To make characters look mysterious by shading sections of the face and body.

To reflect a characters mental state/hidden emotion i.e. bright = happy , dark=disturbed.

Low-key lighting is created by using only the key and back lights, it produces sharp contracts of light and dark areas.

High-key lighting uses more filler lights, lighting is natural and realistic to our eyes.

Reason to have hair light is to separate things from the background, so that the spotlight is on you.

The key light is the most important and brightest.

Hair light could be called a backlight.

Sound:

Diegetic sound: any voice, music passage or sound effect presenting and originating from a source within the film’s world.

Non diegetic – if it originates outside the film (as most background music).

A voiceover would be non-diegetic.

Sound bridges can lead in and out of a scene. They can occur at the beginning of one scene when the sound from the previous scenes carry over briefly.

Pleonastic sound is exaggerated sound is usually exaggerated through the use of Foley sound

Foley is the process of putting together film and video games, gunshots, handling guns etc.

Contrapuntal sound- sound that doesn’t easily match the images they are accompanying, or even run against them. This can have a quite disorientating effect upon the audience and make them question what they are seeing. – American beauty – dinner scene.

Silence – even when there is no sound this can create an impact

Dialogue – the tone, pitch and volume of actor’s voices can all contribute to the meaning of a scene

Dialogue without sound creates a tensed and powerful feeling. – No country for old men.

·         Cinematography- the way in which the camera is used to communicate meaning

·         Composition of visual elements.

Made up of shots angles and movements lighting can also be included.

The framing of a shot simply indicates where the cinematographer has placed the borders of an image.

Close up to show facial expressions and sympathy. A close up can make the audience feel closer to the character or repulse.

An extreme close up identify details that you wouldn’t notice in a normal shot. It calls attention to the subjects, making them more memorable visually.

Two shot allows you to see two characters together to sense what relationship they have together.

The two shot can show harmony or disharmony depending on the issue.

Over the shoulder shot allows you to understand the relation between the character and what they are looking at. The physical information can be used to convey information about the relationship.

Point of view – puts you in the characters footsteps, making it look like you are in the scenes.

High angle – a high angle shot makes the subject appear small and vulnerable.

Low angle – this shot makes subject appear larger than life. It transfers power to the subject, making it appear to dominate objects beneath it.

Pan – a pan shot is a horizontal movement of the camera from left to right.

Tilt shot – the tilt shot is a vertical movement of the camera from top to bottom.

Tilt and pan movements are on an axis

Editing

·         Montage - a montage is created through an assembly of quick cuts. It helps to communicate a larger idea and it can compress time. (citizen kane)

·         Parallel Editing- this occurs when two scenes are shot in sequence but presented by cutting back and forth between them. This creates a sense of two actions occurring in two different scenes.

·         Split screen – runs two shots side by side within a single frame. a split screen creates an idea of action.

·         Dissolves – a form of transition, this allows you to get from one scene to another.

·         Elliptical editing- the use of transitions such as cuts or dissolves to compress time eg. In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne has an onscreen time of 1min 38 seconds of which he climbs a mountain.

·         Graphic match – graphic matching is when a scene links to another scene using the same scene or colour, this can occur with the use of a cut or dissolve.

·         Rhythm and Pace -  editing sets the rhythm or pace of a scene, this could be detected by either the scene or the music used to create the type of mood that is trying to be created. To build up tension in a scene you might cut one shot to another very quickly.

·         Long take- a long take of film with no cuts or editing done to the scene.

·         Jump cuts- quick jerky cuts, travel quicker or create disorientation.

·         Match cut – is used to follow the movement over a person or object.

Examples-

Mis en Scene and Lighting-  mis-en-scene is used in this film poster to give a an image of all the characters in the film. For example Noel Clarke (Sam in the film) is holding a baseball bat, this automatically puts an image in the audiences mind that he is a violent character in the film. They have a mixture of dark lighting and daylight in the poster, as you can see that Sam is holding the baseball bat and the lighting is quite dark on his side where as ‘Trevor’ on the left hand side plays a very calm and innocent role in the film which could be why the lighting is more brighter on that side.

Split Screen – split screen is used in one of the scenes in the film Pillow Talk (Michael Gordon). They have used this to show two couples on the phone to each other but are in different locations doing the same thing, they have used this to indicate ‘Romance’.

Point of View – this shot is used to put the audience in the characters footsteps. The image below has used the shot to let the audience have the same view as the character cycling along the countryside.

Foley Sound – this sound effect is used when putting a film or video game together using the sound of handling guns or heavy footsteps. They have used Foley sound in the Gladiator(Ridley Scott) trailer to make the audience feel the tension by hearing the heavy footsteps of the horse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP8Gky7JIyc