1. Mise en Scene Review
Pages 48-87

2. 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)

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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