State 5 things you would expect to see in a horror film:
-
A series of murders/unfortunate events
-
Darkness, most of film set at night or in a dark
room
-
Blood or injuries
-
Adrenaline rush
-
Ominous music
Every different media product has its own conventions such
as those seen above, this comes alongside the genre of its content.
Mise-en-Scene – everything featured in a shot
All audio visual media products are
encoded to create a preferred reading (Stuart Hall 1980) to the audience.
The means
that media products are purposefully put together using micro elements
(denotation) to create a representation (connotation) for the audience to
understand. One micro element that is encoded to create meaning/representation
in music videos/film trailers, films, TV programmes, video games is
Mise-en-scene.
1.
Location 2. Costume/make up
3. Props
4. Colours/ lighting
5. Gestures
C: content and D: Meaning
MISE EN SCENE
This means ‘everything within the frame’.
Genre dictates what the Mise-en-scene will be within any film
This is England is a social realist text/drama
ENCODED MEANS SPECIFICALLY PUT IN FOR EFFECT
Location are encoded to create verisimilitude/be aspirational to the audience
VERISIMILITUDE MEANS REALISM
1.
WHAT
IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COSTUME AND CLOTHES?
Costume is something that you wear for effect and has encoded meaning
that is specific to a genre, clothes are something that everybody wears in day
to day life that is a reflection of personality.
2.
WHAT
IS THE WORD PROP SHORT FOR/MEAN?
Prop is short for properties; this is
what the characters/actors use in a media text.
ICONOGRAPHY
MEANS THE KEY ELEMENTS OF LOCATION THAT IDENTIFY A PARTICULAR TIME PERIOD OR
PLACE.
Iconography or ‘icons’ are items that create stereotypical representations that become well known and recognised. This can create ideologies.
What iconography do you expect to see in horror and sci-fi films?
Horror films sci-fi
-
Isolated place/town
- other worldly things
-
Woods
- outer space
-
Old interior
- silver
DYSTOPIA-
a bad place
UTOPIA –
an ideal place
Ideology – a value
or belief system (way of life), the way things should be.
Colours are encoded to connote moods/ emotions. What are the stereotypical colours used in:?
1. Rom coms – red, white, black, silver, blue (sunny or dimly lit rooms)
2. Hip hop videos – black, gold, bright colours
3. Social realism films – grey, tan, yellow, brown
Protagonist – good main character
Antagonist – enemy or bad character portrayed in a bad light
MISE EN SCENE: COLOURS AND LIGHTING
There are two types of lighting that are used to reinforce genre styles/ emotions/ verisimilitude for the audience:
1.
Low key lighting (social realist films, horror)
2.
High key/ natural lighting (rom com)
The connotations of low key lighting are mystery and danger for example in horror films there are often antagonist characters that hide in the shadows or low lighting causing problems or harm. The darkness signifies that someone is going to harm that character.
High key lighting is encoded when the scene/location is bright and well lit.
What are the connotations/ representations that are created using this type of lighting?
Connotations of this music video would suggest that California girls are happy and that they are living in utopia. There is also the stereotypical suggestion that all girls are sweet and are sexual objects.
This process is deconstructing media texts.
MISE EN SCENE: GESTURES
Gestures refer to body movements of a character. They are used to connote:
1. Gender stereotypes
For example, in the Batman films, Christian Bale strides around with a suave dominant lifestyle. This would be an ideal male lifestyle.
Within this Mise-en-scene the main character is being portrayed as wise due to the connotations of the props that are being used, for example the raft denotes that Piscine is a wise man who has a vast skills set. The scene features high key lighting which is juxtaposed by the expression on the face of the protagonist, however knowing the storyline of the film lets us say that the high key lighting is used for the idea that this is utopia unbeknownst to him. The tiger in the boat being the only form of Antagonist in the film is effectively representing this due to the way it is looking at piscine as a threat, the fact that the depth of field puts Richard Parker out of focus elaborates on the fact that this is a surreal scene. In this particular scene Richard Parker seems to be the more dominant character, which is further elaborated in the colours piscine is wearing as they are quite neutral.
MISE EN SCENE: GENDER REPRESENTATIONS
John Berger (1972) in the ‘Ways of Seeing’ documentary states:
“Men act and women appear”.
Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. Women are aware of being seen by a male spectator.” WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Women appear in the media as sex objects more than men do, there is also a sense that women are objectified and their sole purpose in the film is to solidify a man’s role and make him more successful.
MISE EN SCENE: GENDER
REPRESENTATIONS
Women are often seen as sexual objects in media texts but men appear strong. Laura Mulvey (1975) suggested that women are objectified in media texts, which she calls the male gaze.
CAN YOU THINK OF ANY EXAMPLES?
On the video game GTA women are portrayed as sex object or prostitutes. On the loading screen of the game a woman is featured in a bikini with a lollipop in her mouth which would imply she is there solely to please the male audience.
