Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene means 'put in the scene' this means that in the terms of film it involves, the set design, Lighting, costume, props and even the actors/actresses that have been cast.

I am going to conduct some analysis on two different trailers and the mise-en-scene in particular that have been used. I am going to research the trailers;  'Titanic' and 'This is England'.

Trailer 1 - Titanic


Lighting
I have noticed that the lighting at the start is natural and bright, this is to emphasise the happiness and hype at the start this then has a stark contrast to when everything goes wrong and the lights go off and night hits. This  helps to show the opposite contrast of the happiness to the chaos.

Another form of lighting is that of the synthetic lighting coming form the torches when they are exploring the wreck, the use of torches gives me the idea that the wreck has just been found and that they are going into the unknown.

Costume
The costumes that have been chosen clearly the divide between first and second class people. The first class people are wearing suits, dresses and expensive hats compared to the lower class people wearing tatty clothes and flat caps. I have also noticed that there is modern clothing used at the start, This then changes to the older clothing which shows the audience that the on-screen action is going back in time.

Props

One of the props that stands out for me is the machine that is used to explore the wreck, I chose this because it is an important prop to show that they are in modern times and exploring into the past.

Another prop that is used is the silver tea set on the table. This helps to show wealth and authority which highlight that fact that there is a clear division of classes on this ship.

Trailer 2 - This is England



Lighting
The lighting used at the start is very light and happy even though Shaun isn't, this makes the audience think that everything is going right for Shaun even though their are underlining problems that they don't know about.


There is synthetic lighting used in the forms of lamps, they are used in the tunnel when they are spray painting. It is dark outside the tunnel so the lights highlight the fact that they are doing something wrong and also make the scene look sinister.

Costume
The costumes used are very important as they show all of the different stereotypes. At first because Shaun is dressed differently from everyone else it shows the audience that he doesn't fit in. It helps show Shaun's situation to the audience and gives them an idea of what it used to be like.

Shaun wears a woolly jumper with animal print, This gives the audience the idea that he is young and vulnerable whilst giving the character a sense on innocence.

One of the main groups are the people from Pakistan, Their costumes are very different form the others and shows that they don't fit in either, it also makes them look vulnerable as there are so few with the same costume. It also gives the audience an insight into their culture.

The main costume that is used is the costumes worn by the 'Skinheads' they wear a 'Ben Sherman shirt' 'rolled up jeans' 'doc martin boots' and have shaved heads. Once Shaun has adapted to this new costume it emphasises the fact that he is now part of a group and a culture.

Props

one of the props that stood out for me was the knife that the 'skinhead' pulls out on the shopkeeper. This prop is very important as it shows how violent the skinhead culture can be, also the use of this weapon is very powerful as the image also shows Shaun who is very innocent seeing this as funny, this shows how a young guy has been taught that the wrong way is the right way.

Another prop that I find very significant is the shaver that is used to cut of all of Shaun's hair, I find this a very important prop as it symbolises Shaun entering the skinhead culture and this is where things start to go wrong for Shaun without him realising so.

Set design
The set has had to be designed from the early 70's. this is because they are telling the story of this era so the set has to match. We can tell that the set is based in the era because of the design of Shaun's house, the furniture looks as though it is from the 60's as it is very old fashioned.

I also noticed a poster on the wall of the house, this poster said 'The harder they come'; this was a crime film from 1972 so this fits in and backs up the idea of the 70's era.

Conclusion
I have noticed that Mise-en-scene is a very important part of films. I have also realised that having the perfect Lighting, costume and setting helps to make the film successful. If the costume isn't effective then this can give a mixed idea of what the film is about for example.

I would like to make sure that we...

• Think though the costumes so that we can get the effect that we desire
• Choose the right setting by doing some location research as if we choose the first one we find it may ruin the trailer
• We also need to think about when to film as if we want natural lighting we need a time that will give us this.
• We also need to think about the props we are going to use, Not just the ones that the characters will interact with but the props that decorate the scene