Mis en Scene

Mis en scene refers to what is put into a scene.
There are 5 elements, each of which are vital in producing an effective mis en scene:

• Settings and props
• costume, hair and makeup
• facial expressions and body language
• lighting and colour
• positioning of characters/ objects in the frame

Settings and props can contribute to a character- they can hint towards a characters personality, their thoughts and the position they are in. The way they are positioned can also show this. Costume, hair and makeup also demonstrates this. They can display aspects of their personality etc, but also show what time period they may be in.
Facial expressions and body language is also crucial, even though it is mostly reliant on the actor. The director must direct the actors into providing the correct facial expressions to make the scene effective. The perfect reaction shots can really add to a scene, and it is the job of the director the ensure this is done. The positioning of the characters also helps, as it can reflect the characters thoughts and personality, and add effect to the scene itself.
Controlling the lighting and colour can reflect the overall feel of the scene. A brightly lit scene can imply a light hearted story- usually displayed in comedies and rom coms, it gives and overall sense of realism to the scene. Whereas, and dimly lit set can imply a darker story line, displayed in genres such as horrors or dramas.

Above is an example of how mis en scene works. This still of Norman Bates from Hitchcocks 'Psycho', uses mis en scene to demonstrate the complicated mind of the character. The birds of prey fall into the settings and props category, and the way they are positioned above his head with their wings spread out could suggest two things. One, that they are preying on him: he is engulfed by his mothers personality, and the open wings could show this. Also, that Marion is his next victim. The lighting also cleverly forms shadows on the birds, which makes them appear bigger and more dominant.

Teletubbies

Our task was, using After Effects, to recreate the famous Teletubbies opening sequence featuring the baby in the sun. My animation was only 30 seconds long as opposed to the 4 minute intro shown below. We based out animation on the original sequence which was aired from 1997-2002:

 

 

Here is my animation:



 

 

By doing this exercise I learnt how to use different effects such as blur (which I used on the sun) and masks to improve the quality of my work. I also learnt how to make the background fade from dark to light over a period of time. 

'Man with the Golden Arm'

We looked at the opening sequence for a film titled 'The Man With The Golden Arm' (Otto Preminger) and constructed a recreation of the straight arm becoming a crooked one. I experimented with different effects to make it different to the original and to further my understanding of after effects.

(movie poster)

 

This is the sequence itself, produced by Saull Bass:

 

For my piece, I made the arm become crooked whilst becoming in focus. Here is my animation:

Anatomy Of A Murder Animation

In our first lesson of using After Effects, we copied the animation of the Anatomy of a Murder (Otto Preminger)  title sequence, produced by Saul Bass, of a mans body parts coming together. Here is the original title sequence.

 

We did a recreation of the first 10 seconds of the opening- instead of just making the bopdy parts appear I made them slowly glide in to fit together in their correct place. The image we based out body parts on was the picture shown below: 

We used the same colour background to make it look authentic. Considering it was my first time ever using After Effects, I think my work is fairly good and I can learn from it. If I could improve this particular piece of work I would like to add text to make it more of a film opening sequence than just an animation. Here is my piece: 

 

Genre- Film ideas

We have been looking at different genre's in film and studying how they have an affect on the audience. Genre is very important in film because it gives the sudience a pre concieved idea of the structure and story line of the film, and they know what to expect. If a film is labelled a comedy, the audience will expect to laugh. If the film is labelled a horror, they would expect to be scared in certain points of the film, and so on and so forth.
The genre I have decided to use for my piece is 'Psychological Thriller'. I chose this genre because its not the type of film I would usually watch and this will give me experience working with different types of shot and different effects they might have on the audience.

To further my knowledge on thrillers and gain some ideas for my own filom opening, I have been looking into some well known psychological thrillers.

One Film I looked at is 'Silence of the Lambs'- perhaps one of the most well known psychological thrillers. Clarice Starling, a young intelligent FBI trainee, has been sent to the Batlimore state hospital for the Criminally insane to interview an inmate Dr. Hannibal – the cannibal – Lecter. A brilliant and renowned psychiatrist turned serial killer. She must match wits with Lecter to gain clues in the search for “Buffalo Bill” – an unknown psychopathic serial killer. Not only is it clearly the best of the genre, it introduced to the world one of the most scary, intelligent, and vile characters in film history: Dr Hannibal Lecter.

Another film I looked at was David Fincher's famous film- 'Se7en'. This thriller portrays the exploits of a deranged serial-killer. His twisted agenda involves choosing seven victims who represent egregious examples of transgressions of each of the Seven Deadly Sins. He then views himself as akin to the Sword of God, handing out horrific punishment to these sinners. Two cops, an experienced veteran of the streets who is about to retire and the ambitious young homicide detective hired to replace him, team up to capture the perpetrator of these gruesome killings. Unfortunately, they too become ensnared in his diabolical plan. Anyone who has seen this film can not deny the psychological thrill of waiting to see what nasty thing the serial killer has lined up for the next sin!

Hitchcocks 'Rear Window' is another excellent example of a psychological thriller- and this one dates back to 1954. Professional photographer L.B. “Jeff” Jeffries breaks his leg while getting an action shot at an auto race. Confined to his New York apartment, he spends his time looking out of the rear window observing the neighbours. He begins to suspect that the man opposite may have murdered his wife. Jeff enlists the help of his society model girlfriend Lisa Freemont and his nurse Stella to investigate.