Mise-en-Scene

Mise-en-scene 

Mise-en-Scene is a simple French term which means in the scene or frame

There are 5 main elements to the Mise-en-Scene 

1. Settings and Props
2. Costume, Hair and Make Up
3. Facial expressions and Body language
4. Lighting and Colour
5. Positioning of characters and objects within the frame.

These elements can often tell the audience what kind of personality a certain character has. It can also foreshadow future events. 

For example, in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, this scene here is a use of Mise-en-Scene. From this screenshot, we can see a use of foreshadowing on the character of Norman Bates. From the screenshot below, we can see that behind him, there is stuffed wild birds and pictures of naked women. This is a use of foreshadowing because later in the film we learn that Norman actually attacks Melanie while she is naked in the shower. This is foreshadowed as there is a naked woman in the screenshot below, and the birds on the wall look wild and are predators. This foreshadows and proves that Norman Bates is a sexual predator. The element of Mise-en-Scene that is used most effectively is the, positioning of characters and objects within the frame as the positioning of Norman and the props behind, prove that he is a sexual predator. 

In Mise-en-Scene, colour is split up into two different categories: Denotation and Connotation

Denotation - The literal description of an concept or object
Connotation - The description that we associate with a concept or object.

Colour is used specifically to create a specific mood.

For example, the colour red can be use to create certain moods. It could be used to create a mood of love and romance. People could associate this because a lot of things to do with love are usually red. For example, hearts, roses etc. On the other hand, the colour red could also create the mood of danger and violence. People could associate this because blood is red and people could think that there could be violence about to happen because there is usually blood when violence happens.