Mise-en-scène

What is Mise-en-scène?

Click to learn how to pronounce and the definition of Mise-en-scène.

To understand the idea of “mis-en-scène”, watch a scene from the movie “Ghost World” by Terry Zwigoff. The movie stars Thora Birch as the teenage girl Enid. This clip is about two minutes and there is no talking. As you watch the scene, think about what the director is able to tell you about Enid without any words. Remember, everything you see in the scene was chosen by someone and “placed on stage”.

Ghost World from Global Action Project Activity on Vimeo.

So what can you tell about Enid? What kind of person is she?

What in the scene led you to this opinion? Be as specific as possible.

To recap, some things to look at films in terms of “mis-en-secene” are the:

- props
- lighting/color
- clothing/costumes
- background/setting
- hair/make-up
- a character’s movements and actions

Although an audience's attention may be focused on characters in the foreground, they will also be looking at the background for additional clues to meaning. For example, two characters having an argument in a softly lit bedroom, with many pillows, pastel colours, throw rugs, and Martha Stewart style room accessories are not seen to be as dangerously conflicting as two characters arguing in a deserted warehouse, under a naked lightbulb, surrounded by the jagged angles of torn-apart packing crates, with concrete, not deep-pile carpet under their feet.

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