Media Language

Check your knowledge of terms with the on-line dictionary below:

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/education/glossary.html

Don't just use the general term in your analysis, make sure you go into detail. For example, you might mention mise en scene, but if you look at the outline below, you will see that mise en scene includes a number of different elements:

Mise-en Scene

Mise-en scene is a French term which literally means “putting into the scene”. Imagine that you have freeze-framed a film. All of the elements in that freeze-frame which have been placed infront of the camera can be discussed as elements of mise-en-scene. Mise-en-scene includes:

* settings

* decor

* props

* lighting

* costume

* make-up

* colour

* character body language and movement

The use of mise-en-scene elements by a filmmaker helps to encourage the viewer to ‘read’ a scene in a particular way. Mise-en-scene can offer the viewer information and meanings connected to character, genre, atmosphere, mood, place, space and time. Elements of mise-en-scene may be repeated within a film and they may also change. You should carefully identify the elements which are constant and those which change and consider why this difference occurs.

Settings

Settings within a film have the ability to evoke many kinds of responses in the audience. They can mirror the emotions of a character, establish place and time, and offer information about themes within a film. Consider the snowbound, bleak landscape of the Coen Brothers’ film Fargo, for example. From the opening shots which are almost completely filled with snow, we have a sense of a place which is isolating and isolated. The monotony of the snowy landscape and its monotone colour palette act as a counterpoint to the dramatic and violent events which unfold in the film. The white picket fences, perfect lawns and houses of the setting for Sam Mendes’ American Beauty, for example, are too perfect and provide a picture-box surface for the the dissatisfaction which exists within the characters.

Decor

The rooms in which the action of a scene occurs can add meaning to add meaning to the event shown. The decor of a room ( wallpaper, furniture and layout ) can also mirror a character’s psychological state. Norman Bates’s study in Hitchcock’s Psycho, is full of old furniture and and stuffed birds. This is a room in which the decor has no vitality. The room is almost mummified and the stuffed birds are devoid of life. The rooms on different decks in James Cameron’s Titanic, present the class differences between the passengers. The upper decks are opulent and expensively furnished. The rooms of the lower class passengers are simple and without luxury.

Props

The objects included in a scene are also essential in the generation of meaning. They could give information about genre or historical period or character. One of the ways in which we can identify the genre of a film such as The Matrix ( Wachowski Brothers ), would be through the props it uses. Space ships, futuristic weaponry and advanced computer systems all indicate that the genre of the film is Science Fiction. The puppets used by the central character in Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich, indicate a man whose dissatisfaction with his own life leads him to play out his fantasies through these wooden characters. Think about which props are evident in the scene you have chosen and analyse what information you can deduce from them.

Lighting

Lighting is essential in conveying the mood or atmosphere of a scene. The viewer can be drawn to objects or characters which are brightly lit or can be made nervous by shadows and obscured parts of the film frame. The three main types of light used in film are:

1. The key light. This is usually the brightest light.

2. The back light. This is often used behind characters to make them seem more rounded and less one dimensional.

3. The filler light. This helps to soften harsh shadows which might be thrown because of the key light or back light.

These three types of light can be directed from different angles in order to produce different effects. ‘Underlighting’ describes and effect where the main source of light within a scene comes from below. This often has a distorting effect on the object or character being lit and can be used to make make the character or object seem threatening. Horror films often use underlighting in order to make the audience feel scared of a character or fearful of an object. ‘Top lighting’ describes light which comes from above. This is often used to highlight the features of a character and make them appear more glamorous. ‘Back lighting’ is when the light source comes from behind a character. If the only lighting in a scene is backlighting, then silhouettes can be created. This could be used to create mystery around a character and tension in the audience.

Some genres of film use specific types of lighting to create effects. Scenes in examples of Film Noir often use pools of light rather than full lighting. This is to generate the mystery and suspense which is at the heart of all Film Noir examples. Identify what the dominant type of lighting is in the sequence you have chosen and then consider what meanings it is helping to generate.

Costume

The costumes used in a film are important in the creation of historical time, character state of mind and status, and in the generation of place. The differing clothes worn in each of the three time periods within Stephen Daldry’s The Hours, for example, define the time periods very clearly as the 1920s, the 1940s and the 1990s. Changes in costume for a particular character during a film can indicate anything from a change in fortunes to a shift in political affiliations. Julia Roberts’s costume shift in Pretty Woman, for example, carries particular meaning and signals the movement of her character from street hustling prostitute to girlfriend of a tycoon. Within this kind of Cinderella story the shedding of one set of clothes and the adoption of another signals a change in social status.

Make-up

Make-up is obviously an essential tool for all actors within a film, but can also be used to generate particular meanings. Tom Hanks’ make-up in the film Philadelphia, allows us to see the physical ravages of AIDS and adds to our identification with, and empathy for, his plight. The make-up and prosthetics worn by Willem Dafoe in Sam Raimi’s Spiderman, are grotesque and frightening. We are left in no doubt that the Green Goblin is the villain within this narrative. Subtle differences in the use of make-up can also indicate historical period. The 1960s scenes in the Austin Powers films, for example, are given more realism by the heavy eye-liner and bright lipstick shaded from that period.

Colour

Colours which appear dominant in scenes or those attached to people and objects can be used to great effect within films. The sequence you have chosen may seem bled of colour, featuring only dull or neutral colours and this may have been used to indicate a depressed situation or character. On the other hand, your scene may be brimming with colours and this may indicate a positive atmosphere and state of mind of the characters. Consider the startling colour change when Dorothy enters the land of Oz, in The Wizard of Oz. Her ‘real’ life is depicted in black and white, but her fantasy world is technicoloured. The escapism and dream quality of Oz is clear to see. The colour red, for example, becomes significant in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, as the red of a young girls coat is highlighted against the black and white of the rest of the scene. When we see a flash of red within a mound of bodies, the plight of the girl under the Nazi regime is horribly evoked.

Character body language and movement

The way a character moves, sits or stands can transmit much information concerning their feelings and attitudes. The aimless wandering through the streets of New York, of Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, for example, is symptomatic of his state of mind. He feels alienated and isolated and this is translated into his purposeless walking. ‘Blocking’ is a term which you will need to be aware of in your discussions concerning character. If a character is partially hidden from view by a wall or a tree or another character, then they are ‘blocked’. If the viewer is not able to see what a character is doing, this this may create a response of concern or fear. Imagine if you watching a horror film and the actions of the killer are obscured from view. Your imagination will create the worst reading of that character’ actions.