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Reading Journal in Critical Film Analysis: "Mise-en-Scéne: A Universal Framework"


Mise-en-Scéne: A Universal Framework
(October 23, 2017)

Film critique incorporates different techniques to analyse various films, one of which is through Mise-en-Scéne, and it makes sense, for this technique originates from the theatrical plays where every part– from details, stage, to actors and stage directions– is intentional in provoking and creating a different experience. The same can be derived from cinema, even if the visual experience it provides is originally flat (that is to say, the audience looks on to the screen), it is through Mise-en-Scéne that one can examine the detail and the artistry that composes it. Thompson and Bordwell elucidates this by citing the components of which Mise-en-Scéne can be applied, such as Setting, Costumes and Makeup, Lighting and Shadows, and Staging (115-140, 2010). From the categories alone, one can see that these are the technicalities throughout production, but to limit the understanding by isolating their features as mere “technicalities” undermines the importance and creativity of which Mise-en-Scéne plays in the final product of the film and its reception. Here, Thompson and Bordwell further explains that it is through this technique that directors materialise their visions. In the same vein, Astruc refers to this as the “making of the spectacle as one’s own” (268, 1985) which connotes that it is beyond the physical placements, that it encompasses rather than isolates figures and objects, that to some certain extent, it must involve an innovative way of presenting what can be realistic but also exploratory. Only then could it move beyond the “pretentious” and become a genuine work of art.

Going back to the visual experience of looking onto a flat screen of moving pictures, it is Mise-en-Scéne that creates depth, vibrant and dynamic compositions, as well as movement, attraction and repulsion that is felt by the audience. And this is probably why a lot of critics would engage in discourse using Mise-en-Scéne as a framework. Though while there is a fundamental design working within Mise-en-Scéne as discussed by both Astruc, and Thompson and Bordwell, we should also consider that as a framework for production and critique, it is only but one of the different options out there. For the visually inclined and production-savvy, Mise-en-Scéne becomes the gateway to dissecting and analising works in order to understand both content and form, with special emphasis on the latter. And if we take this as a framework of understanding and producing, we may also see its significance, not only on the recorded experience of the art (such as films), but even in the design of contemporary events– may they be political or not– for then, it returns to its original function as a device used in theatre, which then connotes that the world is in fact a large stage waiting to be directed and experience.

Word Count: 474

Works Cited:
1. Astruc, Alexandre. “What is Mise-en-Scène”, Cahier du Cinema--the 1950s: Neorealism, Hollywood, New Wave. Eds. Jim Hiller. Harvard University Press, 1985. 266-269
2. Bordwell, David & Thompson, Kristin. 2010. “the Shot: Mise-en-Scène”, Film Art: and Introduction (10th Edition), University Of Wisconsin Press, 112-159

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