Mise-en-Scene

Terms to Learn

Production Design, Connote, Suggest, Implies…

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 put in the frame 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 ideas about characters, events or places which tells the story of the film.

A Presentation on Mise-en-Scene:

TASK (In Pairs)

Complete a mise-en-scene analysis, using C.L.A.M.P.S on the stills in the slides below.

Here is a link to a video of the sequence – there are no subtitles, but this is fine.

Remember…

Show, don’t tell.

…so you are reading the design in the sequence and trying to think about what is being implied or suggested.

Independent Study

Embed your slide show in a new blog post.

Write one paragraph on the mise-en-scene in The Captain’s feast & the meaning that it communicates.

  1. You should write about at least three specific & names examples of the mise-en-scene in the scene.
  2. These example should be described precisely and in detail.
  3. You should then analyse each example.
    • You are unpicking the ideas communicated about the the characters or feast. 
Writing Your Paragraph

Use this as a starter to introduce your paragraph…

The Captain’s Feast establishes the nature of the fascist ruling class in rural Spain and the attitudes and values of Captain Vidal, the villain in the film. The feast is a scene of indulgence, greed and power. Vidal is a fascist brute, he is proud of his reputation and dominates the scene. The guests are hypocrites and prove to be arrogant, patronising and snobbish. Carmen, seems out of place and is represented as fragile, elegant and intimidated by the other guests, we also get the impression that Vidal does not care for her.

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