Film is a visual art and a key bit of advice to all screenwriters and directors is…
‘Show don’t tell’
MISE-EN-SCENE
Mise-en-scene refers to anything that the director chooses to film and is a key way in which they can ‘show’ the story. Every element of mise-en-scene is carefully selected to communicate meaning, and mise-en-scene work along with other micro elements of film language to communicate an overall idea (representation) which helps tell the story of the film.
Here is a presentation on Mise-en-Scene:
Please complete a mise-en-scene analysis, using C.L.A.M.P.S on the still in the slides below. What ideas is Guillermo Del Torro communicating through the selection of mise-en-scene?
Here is a link to a video of the sequence – there are no subtitles, but this is fine. Remember…
Show, don’t tell.
