Mise en Scene Review Pages 48-87

Definition The placing on the stage frame. Page 51 Aspect ratio John Singleton Sonnet comparison Aspect ratio Standard TV (1.33:1) Widescreen (2.35:1)

Mise en Scene CENTER – focal point/ dominant expected TOP – power, authority, aspiration BOTTOM – subservience, vulnerability, powerlessness SIDES – insignificance (farthest away) OFF FRAME – space behind set & space in front of camera vacuums filled in with vivid imagination

Territorial Space Visual Planes (creating 3D in 2D): Foreground – comments on a figure in some way Midground – figure often placed here Background – these objects yield dominance to first two levels

Design Dominant – often contrast, color, or movement Subsidiary contrasts – counterbalancing devices, never accidental Symmetry or parallelism – order Page 66 Underbalanced or visual confusion – disorder Page 72

Actor’s 5 Basic Positions (pg. 77-80) Full front – facing the camera Quarter turn – favored position Profile – looking off frame left or right 3-Quarter turn – virtual rejection of the camera Back to camera – reject audience outright The more we see of an actor’s face, the greater our sense of privileged intimacy The less we see, the more mysterious and inaccessible the actor will seem

Framing & Proxemic Patterns Tightly framed – figures appear more confined Loosely framed – suggests freedom Intimate (contact – 18 in.) – love, comfort, tenderness Extreme close-up and Close-up Personal (18 in. – 4 ft.) – friends & acquaintances Medium shot Social (4 ft. – 12 ft.) – friendly & more formal than personal Medium to Long shot Public (12 ft. – 25 ft.) – formal & detached Long shot to Extreme long shot Emotional Connection Emotionally Neutral

Narratology & Voiceover Narratology: The study of how stories work and different narrative structures or genres Voiceover: Nonsynchronous spoken commentary, often also a character in the story invested in “helping” us interpret events