Term: Mise-en-Scène

Literally translated as “staging in action,” mise-en-scène originated in the theater and is used in film to refer to everything that goes into the composition of a shot–framing, movement of the camera and characters, lighting, set design and the visual environment, and sound.

Early Cinema

Early cinema’s finished products were often closer to stage dramas, with a static camera stringing together a series of narrative sections. Georges Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon (1902) is an example of this tendency toward the theatrical as opposed to the cinematic. The beginnings of cinematic mise-en-scène are still apparent.

The term “mise-en-scène” is often used in film criticism to refer to the director’s control over what appears in the film frame–ranging from real locations to the studio soundstage. In Robert Weine’s 1919 film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, we see a dramatic example of a world that is completely artificial. Furthermore, Conrad Veidt’s portrayal of the character Cesare shows the importance that acting plays in mise-en-scène.

Hollywood Styles

In Hollywood during the 1930s and ‘40s, the style and look of a film could easily be associated with a particular studio. Vincente Minnelli’s film Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) is an excellent example of the MGM style: elaborate sets, lit using full, high-key lighting, taking advantage of the biggest costume, property, and art departments in Hollywood.

Similarly, film noir in the postwar period developed its own mise-en-scène. In this sequence from Mildred Pierce (1945), the mise-en-scène emphasizes familiar themes in noir, like the idea of no escape and the state of being on the run.

International Styles

There are numerous interesting examples of mise-en-scène throughout world cinema. Here, in a scene from Youssef Chahine’s 1958 film Cairo Station, we see a sophisticated mise-en-scène that used onscreen space, camera movement, sound, and symbolism.

Similarly, in Zhang Yimou’s Raise the Red Lantern (1991), we see an intricate use of mise-en-scène that brings together an elaborate (almost theater-like) set design, music, sound, and costume.

Mise-en-scène and Realism

Because mise-en-scène is often focused on the composition of the individual frame, scenes that rely less on editing are often cited as the best examples to study. The film critic and theoretician André Bazin has written about cinema’s unique ability to capture “reality,” through emphasizing what was in the frame, invisible cutting, and the use of the long take and deep focus. Some have countered Bazin’s argument, saying that the effort necessary to compose an individual frame can in fact create an image that is just as artificial as one that has extensive cutting. At the very least, good mise-en-scène depends on cinematic craftsmanship and can produce complicated and powerful scenes, as we see here in an example from Do the Right Thing (1986).

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