The Shot:

1. The Shot: Mise-en-Scene

2. Film’s Stylistic System • Mise-en-Scene (“putting in the scene”) • Cinematography (“writing in motion”) • Editing (compiling shots) • Sound (all auditory elements)

3. Verisimilitude • Film, like all art forms, is a lie. That is, it is not the literal truth. It is not real. • Mise-en-Scene is the element of stylistic form that seeks to create verisimilitude, or the appearance or semblance of reality, plausibility, or believability.

4. Elements of Mise-en-Scene • Setting • Figures • Props & Costumes • Light & Shadow • Color • Perspective Relations • Performance

5. 1. Film Setting • Landscape • Environment • Spectacle • Minute detail • Directed attention

6. Landscape/Environment

7. Spectacle

8. Minute Detail/Directed Attention

9. 2. Figures in Film • Figures in film have behavior and motivation. Examples: • Characters (people) • Animals • Machines • Some objects

10. Figures in Film

11. 3. Props & Costumes • Objects & clothing aren’t necessarily props & costumes. • An object becomes a prop when a figure interacts with it. • An article of clothing becomes a costume when a figure wears it. • A prop (or costume, for that matter) becomes a figure when it has behavior and motivation.

12. Objects vs. Props

13. Clothing vs. Costume

14. 4. Lighting: Type/Source • Hard vs. soft light • Key vs. fill light • Light source • Natural • Artificial diegetic • Artificial nondiegetic

15. Hard Key vs. Soft Fill

16. Natural Light

17. Artificial Diegetic Light

18. Artificial Nondiegetic Light

19. 4. Lighting: Direction • Frontal (flattens features) • Sidelight (sculpts features) • Backlight (creates silhouettes) • Underlight (horror effect) • Toplight (halo effect) • Hairlight (specific toplight) • Eyelight (tiny light for eye sparkle)

20. Frontlighting

21. Sidelighting

22. Backlighting

23. Underlighting

24. Toplighting

25. Hairlight

26. Eyelight

27. 4. Shadows • Attached shadows (aka shading) – object/figure creates shadow on itself • Cast shadows – object/figure casts shadow on something else • Chiaroscuro – areas of extreme light and dark in a single shot • Film noir – “Dark Film”

28. Attached Shadows

29. Cast Shadow

30. Chiaroscuro

31. Film Noir

32. 5. Color • Descriptive – it looks like what it is • Emotional – creates a feeling • Symbolic – represents an idea • Formal/structural – lines, areas of composition

33. Descriptive Color

34. Emotional Color

35. Symbolic Color

36. Structural Color

37. 6. Perspective Relations • Size & Balance – create depth cues and emphasis • Depth cues – clues as to distance • Planes (overlapping) – a depth cue • Size diminution – smaller = further away • Linear perspective – parallel lines converge • Aerial perspective – hazing of distant planes • Shallow vs. deep-space composition – few planes vs. many planes in the shot

38. Overlapping Planes/Size Diminution

39. Linear Perspective

40. Aerial Perspective

41. Shallow-Space Composition

42. Deep-Space Composition

43. 7. Performance • Blocking – general movement and placement of figures • Choreography – specific/detailed movement of figures (dance, fights) • Acting

44. 7. Performance: Acting • Two aspects of an actor’s performance: • Visual elements (body, gesture) • Auditory elements (voice) • Film acting vs. stage acting – largely a question of scale and spontaneity • Acting Styles: • Realistic (aims for verisimilitude) • Stylized (stagey, fantastical)