BASIC CRITICISM THE EXPRESSIVE POTENTIAL OF MISE- EN-SCENE

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1 BASIC CRITICISM THE EXPRESSIVE POTENTIAL OF MISE- EN-SCENE

2 Defining our term According to Butler, mise-en-scene is: The staging of the action for the camera. All of the physical objects in front of the camera and the arrangement of those objects by the director. The organization of setting, costuming, lighting, and actor movement.

3 What mise-en-scene does The visual composition in film, TV, videogames often is as much a part of the storytelling as the dialogue and may be more (Wall-E) Visual details provide the audience with an understanding of the characters, setting, pretty much all the action, and may well reveal crucial parts of the plot Relationships among characters, etc. are often revealed visually

4 Connotation in mise-en-scene We re looking at ways in which meaning is constructed in narrative film making by focusing on the expressive potential of mise-en-scene and in particular on the active role of the camera. In this respect we re looking at the connotative power of the camera. Connotation: film goes beyond the pure diegesis (denotation). Superficial meaning vs subtext

5 Connotation in Cinema: semiotic approach Paradigmatic (cinematography), how we shoot it (angle, position, lighting, décor) Syntagmatic: (editing), how to present it (what is the role of that shot within the film as a whole?) Both approaches structure what is called Visual Storytelling in Cinema, the only language that cinema adopts.

6 Film vs Literature. In literature the question of how to say is paramount, while the question of how to present what is said is secondary. Semiotics in cinema has primarily focused on the how to present what is said, that is on the syntagmatic aspect of film, which makes this medium differ from other arts.

7 Is there ay way we can further differentiate the modes of denotation and connotation in film? Peter Wollen in his Signs and Meaning in Cinema identifies three cinematic signs that shape the ontology of connotation: 1) The Icon: signifier and signified coincide 2) The Index: which measures the quality of the shot 3)The Symbol the signifier represents by convention what is signified.

8 Composition Determination of the elements within a scene, within a shot Position of elements within the setting Spatial relations among characters, props Balanced v. unbalanced composition Unbalanced tends to be edgier, give a feeling of unease

9 What is the purpose of film composition? The primal objective of film composition is to accentuate the focal elements of a scene: to drive the audience s attention toward something ( what should the spectator look at )?

10 Composition aesthetic types: Framing Static Framing: relying on Camera Angles, position, lens choice Mobile Framing: camera movement (simple or complex)

11 Lenses Wide Angle Lenses Long Lenses Telephoto lenses

12 Wide Angle Lenses Technically we refer to the lenses on the lower millimiter range as wide angle lenses (9mm, 14mm, 18mm, 27mm, 35mm, up to 75mm) A 35mm lens will take in a significant larger area than a 75mm, resulting in more space, more context more design around the subject Lenses have different characteristics. No lens reproduces exactly what the human eye can see. However the lenses that come clser to that potential repreentation are the midrange lenses 28-40mm The wider the lens the stronger the distortion.distortions are spatial.

13 COMPOSITION OF THE FRAME Camera Angles High angle Psycho (Hitchcock)

14 Long lenses From 50mm onwards. Compress the space. Objects that are lined up from background to foreground, come closer. The longer the lens the closer the object seems. The cut out most of the background. The are used primarily in close-ups. The background, unlike a wide angle lens, is much out of focus. If you want more depth of field and more visible bcground with a long lens, use more light in the lens.

15 COMPOSITION OF THE FRAME Camera Angles Straight angle; Straight on Rebecca (Alfred Hitchcock, 1940)

16 COMPOSITION OF THE FRAME Camera Angles Low angle

17 COMPOSITION OF THE FRAME Canted framing (a.k.a. Dutch angle) Man with a Movie Camera (Vertov) one of the first films to use Canted angles Canted framing Camera not level / not horizontal Often suggests tension, trouble, distress, etc.

18 Did you know? The term Dutch angle originates from the term Deutsch which means German. German expressionism used canted angled in many films to denote madness and uneasiness. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) Dir. Robert Wiene

19 Framing can become a director s signature There are other examples of framing, which include using the natural framing occurring in objects. Tarantino s low angle trunk shot.

20 CAMERA DISTANCE Camera/Shot Distance or Type of Shot 1. extreme long (ELS) 2. long (LS) 3. medium long shot (MLS) 4. medium (MS) 5. medium close-up (MCU) 6. close-up (CU) 7. extreme close-up (ECU)

21 Extreme long shot (ELS)

22 Long shot (LS)

23 Medium long shot (knees or shins to head; a.k.a. American shot or knee shot)

24 Medium shot (MS) Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau) Modern Times (Chaplin)

25 Medium close-up (MCU)

26 Close-up (CU)

27 Extreme close-up (ECU)

28 Other "shots" that aren t named for their shot distance: Establishing shot Master shot Two and three shot Reverse shot or reverse-angle shot Point-of-view (POV) shot (a.k.a. subjective shot)

29 COMPOSITION OF THE FRAME: Aspect Ratios (ratio of width to height) Rules of the Game, Jean Renoir, :1 (4 to 3) actually 1.37:1 Aliens, James Cameron, :1 Rebel Without A Cause, Nicholas Ray, :1 (Cinemascope)

30 Framing: aspect ratios Academy ratio = 1.37:1, but often said to be 1.33:1 Note how framing affects balance, visual information, & relationship of on- & off-screen space 2.2 to 1 Pan & Scan; 1.33 to 1

31 Aspect Ratios (when shooting digital) A. 4:3 - composition well suited for a close-up B. 16:9 - loss of focus - i.e., frame includes extraneous information C. 16:9 - letter boxed - face is smaller D. 16:9 - to command attention - i.e., fill-up the frame - face is cropped

32 CONNOTATION/DENOTATION IN STATIC FRAMING AND LENS CHOICES Shame Opening Shot: what is the purpose of the shot, what does in signify? Textual Analysis Silence of the Lambs Opening: first shot, staic, textual analysis House of Cards: confrontation scene. How is meaning conveyed through the choice of lenses?

33 Connotation/Denotation in camera movement (simple and complex)

34 Mobile Framing 1. Actual Movements of Camera 2. Zooms, where Camera doesn t move, but the frame changes as the lens focal length is changed: Zoom In or Zoom Out. (Magnifies) 3. Computer-generated shots: for ex: flybys, rotations. Computers, like traditional animation, can potentially generate any movement.

35 Mobile Framing: Camera Movements Pans = rotates horizontally, side to side ( camera rotates on vertical axis ) Tilts = vertical pivot/rotation, up and down In pans & tilts, camera does not change position, it pivots or rotates. Usually tripod mounted. Dolly/tracking/traveling shots Crane (and boom or jib) shots Hand-held and steadycam shots

36 Mobile Framing: Camera Movements Dolly, Tracking, Traveling shots: all basically the same. Sometimes people use tracking shot to mean a following shot But name tracking shot came from the tracks that dollies moved on. So, dolly and tracking interchangeable terms. Traveling shot is generally reserved for more expansive movements, taken from a vehicle. Dolly shots usually lead to LONG TAKES.

37 Dolly Shot, on Tracks

38 Mobile Framing: Camera Movements Crane and Boom/Jib shots: Boom/jib shots: Camera mounted on counterweighted boom (similar to booms for microphones); some booms can also telescope in or out. Can use for combinations of pans & tilts, horizontal (tracking), vertical or diagonal moves. Crane shots: Shots look the same as boom shot, but often motorized or with hydraulics for movement. Usually cranes have seat for operator, wheels. Some can be driven. Motion-control techniques: computer programs to direct elaborate camera movements.

39 Mobile Framing: Camera Movements Hand-held and Steadicam Shots: Hand-held & Steadicam shots can pan or tilt or track. Hand-held movement is obviously unsteady -- which is how we know it s a hand-held shot. Steadicam: a patented device wh/ dampens unsteadiness, producing a relatively smooth movement, even when walking or running. Operators must be trained to use. Steadicam first used in Rocky (1976). Early prominent use in Kubrick s The Shining (1980).

40 Tracking Shot Children of Men (2006) Alfonso Cuaron; Steadicam example

41 Mobile Framing When viewing a film, mobile framing can be hard to spot, because we often follow what is being photographed, rather than how. And often, multiple combinations of camera movements: Ex: Tracking shots often include some panning. And combinations of camera movements can become quite complicated, as in some Crane Shots. Also, can combine camera movements with zooms.

42 Mobile Framing Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock, 1958 Dolly Zoom

43 Mobile Framing Famous shot from Jaws (1975), which uses both forward tracking and a zoom out. Reverse of Hitchcock s Vertigo shot, which zoomed in while tracking out. Both forms are often called dolly zoom shots.

44 Left: Right: Tracking Vs. Zooming move the camera (track in) short focal length lens Note: Relation of back/foreground, changed angles distortion at edges Camera stationary Change of focal length (i.e., zoom in) Relation of back/foreground closer (telephoto effect of flattening) No distortion at edges Zooming is unnatural to the human eye

45 Emotional Framing Like the Dutch angle, using mobile framing can denote a particular psychological effect. In Vertigo, the motion represents a sudden rush of adrenalin much like what you feel when you re bungee jumping. These types of framing are cinematic depictions of a highly psychological feelings.

46 Cinematography and Perspective M (1931; Fritz Lang) Black Swan (2010; D. Aronofsky) Who is the audience looking at, and from who s perspective? What perspective does the camera put the audience in?

47 Subjective shot (or point-of-view shot) Subjective Shot/Camera: from the position/point of view of a character--as if seeing through character eyes. Also called POV shot. Cinema equivalent of First Person in writing. Some people make distinction between subjective shots & POV shots: use POV shots to include overthe-shoulder shots--which give a sense of POV without actually being from the position of the character. But easier & better: treat POV and Subjective as the same; over-the-shoulder as different.

48 Subjective shot (or point-of-view shot) Subjectivity/POV is crucial to Classical Hollywood style: shot/reverse shots & eyeline matching are based on the idea of seeing from character s POV. But, shot/reverse shot shows both "subjective" and "objective" views: Hollywood (most cinema) mixes both together. What happens if subjectivity is taken to extreme? If we see only subjective shots?

49 Rule Of Thirds Compositional rule of thumb in visual arts (painting, design) where an image is split into 9 equal parts, horizontal and vertical and the framing follows that. Textual analysis of the scene from Once Upon A Time In the West: Jill s Arrival

50 Quadrants Compositional Balance and smart framing devices: Drive

51 Each section of the frame tells a particular story

53 Mobile Framing: staging ensemble Where to place the actors and use the camera accordingly: Glengarry Glenn Ross (James Foley); 27mm 35mm, 200mm, deep focus Keeping it clear, minimal and effective: House of Cards (David Fincher), 27 mm Context and space: how important are they?

54 Compositional Influencers Rudolph Arnheim in his Arts and Visual Pleasure suggests 10 areas of importance in the study of framing: 1)Balance 2)Shape 3) Form 4) Growth 5) Space 6) Light 7) Colour 8) Movement 9) Tension 10 Expression

55 Subtext and Composition

56 Lines of Perspective According to Arnheim: we tend to follow direction and imaginary lines within the frame, especially if they share the same point of convergence, hence controlling the scopic agency of the spectator

58 Power Control in Framing In terms of subtextual dynamics, what s composition is best at is to show power dynamics in an image, that is the degree of control exhibited (diegetically and extradiegetically). Control can be of two kinds: Artificial Primal

59 Artificial vs Primal Control

60 Golden Rule of Film Composition To find ways to create scenes/shots that imply more than the scene itself (to move from a denotative scenario to a connotative one).

62 Artificial and Primal Control

63 Position of Characters in the Frame

64 Balanced Framing Power control in a balanced framing: control and power dynamics are distributed evenly

66 Unbalanced

67 Camera Movement: case study Case of complex camera movement: long take. Psychological implications Case Study: Tenebre vs Bonfire of Vanities. Framing objective action vs framing character s behaviour over time

68 Composition Influencer: Colour In the early days up to the 30s, Colour was used as a metaphorical storytelling device Broken Blossoms (1916) by D.W. Griffith showed how colour could separate different moments inside the film

69 Broken Blossoms

70 Hero (Ymou)

71 Psychological Reaction

72 Colour as a Psychological trigger point Human beings will always have a particular innate reaction to colour In the film making however there is no a set guideline to structure this reaction. Case study: RED

73 Use of Red 1

74 Use of Red 2

75 Key Elements To Colour Hue: actual colour Saturation: intensity (vibrant or faded pale) Value: low value (dark), high value (bright) Changing colours will change the tone of the film and hence the viewer s reaction to it. Chance in colour will elicit different moods.

76 Aesthetic Implications The arrangement of colour in relation to the cognitive aspects of fruition and response of the spectator responds to two different principles: 1) Balance 2) Discordance

77 Colour Armonies

78 Armonies Monochromatic Analagous Complementary Triadic

79 Armony

80 Balanced Image Using the armonies in a correct mode will result into a balanced image. Wes Anderson is someone who uses colour in such a fashion.

81 Moonrise Kingdom Greens, Yellow, Whites

82 Moonrise Kingdom 90 per cent of the film is characterized by complementary colours so that the image is pleasing to look at. Directors who stick to this fashion: Spike Jonze, Wong Kar Way, Zhang Ymou, Tim Burton

83 Balanced Image

84 DISCORDANCE When you throw in one colour that does not fit the scheme, you create discordance.

85 Sixth Sense

86 Use of Colour Associative: most of the time helps the spectator identify a character or certain character traits Transitional: change of colours show transitions, hence shifts in location, time or mood.

87 We need to talk about Kevin

88 Blue is The Warmest Colour

89 Blue is The Warmest Colour

90 Case Study: Vertigo Vertigo heavily relies upon red and green to help identify the two protagonists character traits Scottie s obsession is represented by the colour red Madeleine s character wears green in every sense.

91 Madeleine s from Scottie s POV

92 Vertigo Scene Analysys: Judy becomes Madeleine

93 Lighting in Film Technical and Expressive Potential of Lighting

94 Three-point lighting This is the most basic lighting setup. It consists of a KEY LIGHT, a FILL LIGHT, and a BACKLIGHT. The KEY LIGHT aims directly at the subject most likely the main character or object in the shot and is the brightest light source for the shot. The FILL LIGHT is a softer light, and is usually placed opposite the key light; the fill light cuts down on shadows created by the bright key light. The BACKLIGHT shines behind the subject or object, separating him, her, or it from the background in other words, enhancing the sense of depth in the shot. BACKLIGHTING sometimes creates a halo effect around a character s head, particularly at the edge of the hair.

95 THREe-point lighting

96 FILL LIGHT In television, film, stage, or photographic lighting, a FILL LIGHT (often simply called a FILL) may be used to reduce the contrast of a scene to match the dynamic range of the recording media and record the same amount of detail typically seen by eye in average lighting and considered normal. From that baseline of normality using more or less FILL will make shadows seem lighter or darker than normal, which will cause the viewer to react differently, by inferring both environmental and mood clues from the tone of the shadows. Basically, a FILL is a light used to eliminate or soften shadows caused by the main source of illumination. The positioning of the FILL affects the overall appearance of the lighting pattern.

97 KEY LIGHT The term KEY LIGHT is the source of two commonly used adjectives: LOW KEY and HIGH KEY. To call something HIGH KEY is to say that it s intense.

HIGH-KEY LIGHTING When cinematographers, also known as directors of photography, use a high proportion of FILL LIGHT to KEY LIGHT it s called HIGH-KEY LIGHTING; the effect is both brighter and more

98 HIGH-KEY LIGHTING When cinematographers, also known as directors of photography, use a high proportion of FILL LIGHT to KEY LIGHT it s called HIGH-KEY LIGHTING; the effect is both brighter and more even than when they use a low proportion of FILL LIGHT to KEY LIGHT, which is called LOW-KEY LIGHTING. Bright HIGH-KEY LIGHTING is often used in comedies and musicals to enhance a sense of liveliness or in particularly dramatatic scenes in dramas to emphasize the intensity of the situation.

99 Low-key lighting The lower the KEY LIGHT, the more shadowy the effect. The shadows created by LOW-KEY LIGHTING work well in mysteries and horror films; such lighting has become a convention of those genres.

100 HIGH AND LOW KEY COMBINATION Many films use a combination of HIGH-KEY and LOW-KEY LIGHTING set-ups, depending on the nature of the scene. Imagine a western outlaw, for instance, walking from a brilliantly lit, HIGH-KEY exterior into a darker, more LOW-KEY saloon. The director might be contrasting the external world of bright nature with the confining, dark, interior world of civilization.

101 BACKLIGHTING BACKLIGHTING is the process of illuminating the subject from the back. It lights foreground elements from behind. In other words, the lighting instrument and the viewer face each other, with the subject in between. This creates a glowing effect on the edges of the subject, while other areas are darker. The BACKLIGHT can be a natural or artificial light.

102 BACKLIGHTING/HALO EFFECT

103 Backlighting for mystery

104 Backlighting for intensity

105 Four-point lighting setup

106 Background light The FOUR-POINT LIGHTING SETUP is the same as a THREE-POINT LIGHTING SETUP with the addition of a BACKGROUND LIGHT. The BACKGROUND LIGHT is used to illuminate the background area of a set. The background light will also add distance between the subject and the background. In a FOUR-POINT LIGHTING setup, the BACKGROUND LIGHT is usually placed last and is typically placed directly behind the subject and pointed at the background. By adding a background light to a set, filmmakers can add a sense of depth to shots.

107 Top lighting TOP LIGHTING is another common lighting technique. TOP LIGHTING is when the upper areas of a subject are lit (outlined) by a source generating from above it.

108 Under lighting UNDER LIGHTING is the approach of lighting a subject from a point below the subjects in the scene. Every kid has practiced UNDER LIGHTING by placing a flashlight under his/her face to create a spooky effect.

109 Discussing lighting When talking about lighting, an easy focal point is on the softness and/or harshness of the image on the screen. For example, in the shot from Schindler s List below, the cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski, used a HOT BACKLIGHT, and SOFT FILL to create shadows and darkness around the subject. The effect is to portray the subject as a man in the midst of intense conflict, a man making a serious decision, a man in turmoil.

110 Soft light

111 Harsh light

112 contrast

113 contrast

114 Discussing lighting When commenting on the lighting in a film, here are a few questions to consider: How sharp is the shadow? What is the angle of the light? What is the distance of the light? How does it add depth? How bright is the light? What color is the light? How many lights are there and how do they contrast? Is there soft or harsh lighting overall? How/Where does the lighting change?

Cinematography Film Study 1 Ms. Jones. From Looking at Movies by Barsam and Monahan

Cinematography Film Study 1 Ms. Jones From Looking at Movies by Barsam and Monahan What is cinematography? Cinematography is the process of capturing moving images on film or a digital storage device.