ABSTRACT
PURPOSE The French expression mise en scène (literally, putting into the scene) is a usefully holistic term for those aspects of directing that take place during shooting. Mise en scène has to be decided globally and in broad outline for the whole script, and then each scene can be designed within the intentions of the larger structure. Globally or locally, mise en scène includes:
• Blocking, which includes planning positions of: Actors in relation to each other Action in relation to set or location Camera placement in relation to actors and set
• Camera Filmstock and processing, or color settings (video) Choice of lens Composition Movements Coverage for editing
• Image design Use of color Depth, perspective, and treatment of space Lighting mood, and treatment of time of day and place Frame design in terms of the scene’s dramatic functions
• Dramatic content Rhythms (action rhythms and visual rhythms) Point of view (whose consciousness the audience should identify with) Motifs or leitmotifs Visual or aural metaphors Foreshadowing
• Sound Design Whether sound is diegetic or non-diegetic What part sound plays as a narrative device Whether it relays a subjective or objective point of view Whose point of view it is
All this must eventually be planned in practical rather than intellectual terms. The director must know what options exist and how to eventually discuss them with the DP, who is undoubtedly the most important collaborator during the shoot. This is also a time when directors can fall completely under the spell of strong-minded DPs. And that would be another invitation to abdicate the director’s role.
