Mise En Scene in Drama Films

Mise en scene is a phrase that describes the design aspects of a film production which virtually means ''telling a story''. It is important in referencing the arrangment if everything that is on the screen. The main features of mise en scene are props, actors, lighting, decor and costumes.



Props in Drama films-

Props play a huge part in a set for the expression of deeper meaning and creating a significant emphasis on themes, as well as provoking thoughts of the audience.





Actors and body language in Drama films-

-Delivery of lines by the actor has to be understandable and meaningful as to portray the raw emotion that is being inferred in the short film
-Gestures and body language need to suit what is happening in the plot at a specific time, in order to convey what the character is feeling
-Movements of the actor in a scene can really create a mood and atmosphere as it will help convey a believable character and transfer clear feelings and emotions to the audience watching
-Facial expressions are key in acting in drama films, as the emotions that the character is feeling is stereo-typically pain and suffering therefor their facial expression can really pottray to the audience the pain the character is feeling
-Appearance if the character can really show the audience what type of person the character is, further causing the audience to create opinions and feelings towards the character, being either sympathising  or empathising with the character. This can be shown through the use of costume and make up

Lighting 


There is three types of lighting that can be used in a drama film in order to create mood and atmosphere. These three types are called, Low-key lighting, high-key lighting and three-point lighting.

Low-key Lighting:

Low-key lighting is when the fill light is at a very low level, causing the frame to be full of large dark shadows of the characters in the film. This then causing contrast between the dark parts of the frame and the light parts of the framed image. This then causing most of the characters in the framed image to sometimes be hidden behind shadows. This type of lighting is very effective, as it causes a very dark, mysterious atmosphere, by using an obscuring light.







High key lighting:

High-key lighting involves the fill lighting to be increased near enough the same as the key lighting. This then causes the scene to become very bright and soft with very little shadows in the frame.

Three-point lighting:

This type of lighting is the most commonly used type of lighting in drama films, and it is the arrangement of key lighting, fill lighting and backlight lighting. With all of these types put together it provides the illumination of the scene. Thsi type of lighting comes from three different directions to provide the subject with a sense of depth in the scene, but not too much that causes dark shadows or anything too light.





Decor

Decor is the main decoration in the framed image within a scene. The decor of a film mainly includes props and the set of the drama film. Props include furniture around the room, Pictures on the wall, and colour palette of the walls. The colour palette of the scene itself creates a mood and atmosphere for the audience as if it was a bright and colourful set, the mood would be happy and uplifting, and if the colour palette was dark or greyish, the mood would be sad or gloomy. Therefore the decor of the room or scene can play a big part of setting a mood for the audience to understand.