Surveying Mise en Scene
Mise en scene is one of the best known and oft-used terms in cinema studies and on the surface it would appear to be remarkably simple - even obvious; meaning to 'put on the stage' or 'place into the scene'. And yet dig a little deeper into Mise en scene concepts and it quickly becomes a highly complex and nuanced construct. Moreover, it is one that has been exploited repeatedly serve particular niche demands often in opposition of its original intention.
A re-evaluation of Mise en scene is at the heart of my current PhD research and Ive been publishing ongoing extracts to my (other) website www.mikejones.net. For those interested in taking the theoretical stroll with me read on....
- Defining the frame
"if, to a composition which is already interesting through the
choice of subject, you add a disposition of lines which augments the
impression, if you add chiaroscuro which seizes the imagination, add
colour adapted to the characters, you have solved a more difficult
problem ? you have entered a realm of superior ideas? (Delacroix, E. cited in Eisenstein, S 1947. p156)
-
The assertion above paints a constructive and articulate launch
point for defining and understanding the hydra-headed beast that is
Mise en scene. In large part this is due to its particular focus on the
additions to the frame beyond the subject itself ? the tangible and
semi-tangible elements that make up the compositional whole much larger
than the initial subject. This simple idea paints the director?s Mise
en scene as that which is beyond the ?real? and the ?actual? which
occurs of its own accord in front of the lens. It implies rather
directly that cinema (and specifically camera-derived cinematic
composition) is a ?construction?, a set of specific a deliberate
choices made on the part of artists with specific intent.
The passage also implies a distinct sense of the Mise en scene as
being the director?s mechanism for solving problems ? problems which
presumably may be narrative, aesthetic, conceptual or technical. By way
of example - a carefully placed light to illuminate a particular object
in the frame may be engaged for Narrative reasons, ie. to ensure the
audience sees it if it has plot relevance; Aesthetic reasons such as to
create shadows for mood; for Conceptual reasons like making commentary
on the character by highlighting or shadowing specific features; or for
technical reasons such as to ensure that a certain element can be seen
when the ?real world? would have rendered it lost in shadow. All the
same above could similarly be as readily expressed with a choice of
colour or camera angle or any other directorial choice that might be
seen as a contributor to the composition.
And yet, the above quotation does not satisfy all incarnations of
Mise en scene, nor does it meet with approval from all who would
champion the virtues of Mise en scene. Whilst it is tempting to
correlate Mise en scene directly and interchangeably with Composition
this belies the simultaneously both broader and more specific contexts
in which the term Mise en scene can, and has been, employed.
Read the rest of this HERE.
Posted at 12:00AM Jan 20, 2009
by Mike Jones in moving image theory |
