Mise En Scene

Mine en Scene is about communicating certain messages to the audience using what's in the frame. This could be using setting & props, costume, hair & make-up, character's facial expressions & body language, lighting & colour and the positing of characters within the scene.

The setting and props are important. Setting is where it all takes place, it sets the atmosphere. A lot can be communicated just from the background. For example, a desert for a western is very stereotypical. This is because typically it's looked at as a place where heroes are made and villains tend to rule, until of course the hero rises up against them. In contrast to a city scape where there could be multitude of characters, the way it's communicated would now depend on lighting what part of the city we see. However, a city scape is normally looked as the concrete jungle, it's difficult to get to the higher end of society there and so we are ofter positioned with characters that we see fighting there way up.

The props a character has can also tell us things about the character or even the area or situation they're in. For a upper-class woman, it could be an expensive handbag, using colours such as gold on the zips and things. This would discretely communicate that the character is wealthy and probably wants everyone to know, as they're showing it off with the handbag. Other props could be in the background, a character doesn't have to carry them. A good example of this is in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" in the parlour scene. Marion is sitting behind a large pitcher of milk. Though she doesn't drink any of the milk, we can relate the pitcher to herself. The pitcher is a white colour, which depicts innocence and purity, telling us about Marion's current mental state.  yet the shape is curvy and smooth which we can associate with the body shape of Marion, it's almost planting seeds for what's later to come, when we later see her exposed in the shower.

Costume, hair and make-up can tell us about the character and their personality. Depending on the costume, we can see if they're upper, lower or middle class. We can also see if they're neat or messy depending on the state of their clothes.
The hair can tell us about their mental state and personality. We can see a character decent into insanity just from their state of their hair getting progressively messier into the film. It's not always insanity that messy hair indicates in movies. In Skyfall, Bond is lost in himself and doesn't seem to be in his best state, physically and mentally. His hair is messy and his facial hair is unshaven, before he begins to fix himself and straightens up, and his hair becomes neater as he does so.

Make-up can be used in a variety of ways, from discretely making a character's face pale or light to openly using eye shadow or lipstick. The type of style the make-up is used in will tell the audience about the type of character. If red lipstick is on a female character it can show the flirtatiousness of her. Alternatively is could be luscious or even evil. Maybe all three. Make-up can be used to make a character look tired or bursting with life. Using this can be extremely useful to communicating the character's well being to the audience.

Facial expression & body language are straight forward ways of telling an audience about a character. Though it can be hard getting an actor to play the character exactly how the director wants them. The focus on the facial expressions and body language (as with everything) depends on how the director uses the camera. So emphasis can added or lessened with different angles and shots, such as a close-up.

The lighting and colour and highly important for mise en scene. This is because with different colours, different messages are communicated. E.g. Red=lust or anger, purple=wealth, mystery or frustration, black= Evil or sadness and white=innocence or purity. There are other meaning for those colours also, but those are some of the main ones.
Lighting can completely change a scene. A lot of backlight can create a silhouette, often used in noir films because it's very dark. A lot of key light and filler can create a happier atmosphere, often used in rom-coms.

The positioning of a character is crucial. It can tell the audience how close they are mentally by portraying it physically. If they're mentality far apart they might be on opposite sides of a diner table, like in American Beauty or this scene in the TV series Breaking Bad.
If a character is standing on a step or something that makes that character higher up than others, then the one on the step could be in a higher class or financial or spiritually higher state than the others.

Analysis of 3 Scenes from Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" -Case Study

Shower Scene

The shower scene is by far one of the most famous and iconic scenes in all of cinema. We begin this scene by seeing Marion Crane close the shower curtain and then we view a close-up of her face as she turns the shower on. As it’s a close-up, it’s easy to see the facial expressions of Marion. We quickly see a change in her emotion as it goes from plain and bland to (as she sees the water emerge) hopeful. Then a look of satisfaction is portrayed as she cleanses herself. It’s like baptism. In the prior scene Marion is talking to Norman Bates and has a sudden epiphany when she realises that what she had done was wrong and so decided to go back and apologize for her mistakes. So this shower is like a baptism as she washes away her sins and looks for redemption. In this shot, we could also say that she is exposed, in that she’s naked but also because she’s vulnerable.
As she showers, there are frequent cuts to the showerhead, both head on and side-on. The showerhead, in a way, is watching her. It resembles an eye that is overlooking the situation. There’s even a shot which is almost a point of view from the showerhead. This appears peculiar and ominous, giving the sensation that something is not right. And so, the feeling that something is going to happen becomes potent as we await for that moment where we see the motherly figure behind the transparent but blurring shower curtain.
The second we see the shot change to the shot in which the figure enters through the door, we expect someone to walk in before anyone does. This is because Hitchcock takes advantage of the rule of thirds. The reason we are prone to the idea of another body entering is because the rule of thirds takes advantage of the spacing within the shot and if one character is in one third, there are still two thirds that need filling, thus implying that the space will be filled. When the shot progresses into a zoom, our assumptions are confirmed as the camera zooms on an opening door as a silhouette of the mother enters and the previous bliss of the once joyous scene escalates towards terror. Marion’s space is invaded by this demon figure that then tears the shower curtain open. There’s scream of terror and an extreme close-up of Marion’s mouth as she screams, capturing the shock and distress she feels at that moment.
From now on the shot speed escalates into a stabbing montage, giving us as much chaos and confusion that Marion surely feels. This is likely to be the desired effect that Hitchcock wanted to give viewers. This high speed action combined with multi-angled shots inspires shock due to the sudden increase in pace. The multi-angled shots create the feeling of disorientation. The way the montage was cut (No pun intended) really helps us believe that the actress is being stabbed, when in fact there’s only one shot where the knife pierces the skin. Therefore, the majority of violence we believe is there is actually not, yet our imagination leads us to believe there is. Hitchcock’s skillful cuts, combined with the shots of fake blood (which was actually chocolate sauce!), are taking advantage of what we expect to see.
The screeching music also adds to the terror. It’s piercing, like the knife used to kill poor Marion. This inflicts shock upon hearing it as it comes out of nowhere. Then when the “Mother” leaves and we see a close-up of Marions hand sliding down the wall, the pace changes to match the music (or vice versa) as a much lower pitch with a slightly slower tempo is heard. The lower pitch indicates that something very dark has occurred and the slower tempo, combined with slower cuts gives us time to reflect and see the consequences of what has just happened.
As we see a now dead Marion laying across the floor, the shot then pans to and zooms into a shot of the plug hole, a metaphor perhaps saying that everything has just gone into a downward spiral like the water that flows into it. A bridging shot then happen, fading from the plughole to Marion’s eyeball as the camera pulls back, revealing her face flat on the ground while we hear nothing but the sound of the still running shower.

“She Wouldn’t Even Harm a Fly”

This scene comes right at the end of the movie.It begins as we follow a police officer on his way to deliver a blanket to Norman (Who’s currently the “Mother”). We follow the officer down a hallway to a door, where the camera stops to the side of the door, before we see what’s in the room. As we assume the blanket is given, a “Thank you” in the mother’s voice is heard and see another officer making an angry or unimpressed facial expression and sighs as it happens. The impression is given that what is happening in the room is either bizarre or agitating.
Upon entering the room, a number of things can be taken as denotation. If we think of the room being like his head, to the edge of the shot there is a barred window that represents Norman being trapped in his own mind while the mother is in control. Everything in the room is empty and the focus is on Norman as the mother, indicating that the primary focus of Norman’s mind is the mother. There is also a mug on the floor that. Mugs are a typically an object associated with the home, so in this case it shows the association that Norman has with the mother and his feeling of being “at home” with her, in his safe-zone. A blanket is covering Norman. Building on the idea of a safe-zone, the blanket is like protection which is similar to the way that the “Mother-state” takes over to protect him when feeling threatened, as mentioned by the detective at the end of the film.
The camera zooms from a wide-shot to a medium-close-up of Norman while non-diegetic narration of the mother’s thoughts play. The narration is perfectly timed with the facial expressions of Norman, making the audience totally forget that these spoken thoughts are added in post-production as they fit so perfectly to the scene that’s playing. Even the cut to a point of view shot from Norman, looking at his hand with a fly crawling on it, slips in smoothly.
We then cut back to Norman’s face when he menacingly stares directly into the camera. This alienates the audience from the film and feels like Norman is talking and delivering a messages directly to them, the individual.
Finally, right as there’s a crossfade from Norman’s face to the car being pulled out of the swamp, there’s a discrete image of the mother’s skull-like face that is perfectly laid over Norman’s face, like a mask. Confirming that they’re the same person in one body, also hinting that Norman is just a face that the mother wears now as she has completely taken over. During the crossfade (If paused at the right moment), the chain that’s pulling the car out of the swamp looks to be going through Norman’s heart, as if his heart is now tethered by guilt to the people he’s killed.

“We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes”

This scene is a brilliant example of crosscutting and the 180 degree rule, during the conversation between Marion and Norman. When Norman speaks of his mother saying “I hate what she’s become”, the camera is at a lower angle which is looking up at him. This give him the appearance of dominance because he appears very big and threatening. This feeling of threat is also implemented by the stuffed owl on the left side of the shot. The owl is in a pose that portrays it swooping down on its unsuspecting prey. This is similar to the way that Norman is luring Marion in before he decides to swoop. Seen in the shot also are 2 pictures of exposed women, one trying to cover-up, the other appears being attacked by men. This is very discrete foreshadowing, showing how Marion is going to be exposed and attacked.
Another brilliant shot of Norman is when he challenges the idea of putting his mother in an institution. He leans forward, closer to the camera, like he’s entering our space, making us (and Marion) uncomfortable. We can clearly view the discomfort of Marion from her reaction shot and her surprised look. The feeling of menace arises again as more high pitched and sharp music plays, yet it’s slow which fills us with suspense, waiting for the climax. Norman finally leans back when saying he had a similar idea, which puts us at ease for a second. That ease is short lived when he leans forward and proclaims “We all go a little mad sometimes”. This is another big hint in what is to come.
The lighting and colour of clothing helps us to understand the character’s intentions and frame of mind in the scene. Marion is wearing lighter clothing and her face is reasonably well lit up. This depicts innocence and light heartedness. It’s especially shown when she politely suggests putting Norman’s mother into care to try and make his life easier. Norman appears a binary opposite. He is wearing dark clothing and half of his face is covered with shadow. The shadow shows two different sides to him, or infact revealing the other side of him which we hadn't previously seen and is coming out now. With his dark clothes come the darker side of his personality as he talks of his mother in an unstable and distressing way, at some points also seeming to be speaking from a first-person perspective, like when he talks of a “Mad House”, it’s as though he know how it feels to be in one.