Mise en Scene

Mise en Scene (placing on stage) is a French term. It means the use of setting and location, decor, body language and movement, props and objects and costume and makeup in a scene. All of these things can communicate different things to an audience, from the genre of the film to character information.

In this clip, which is from ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’, the scene is set in a western America setting. We can see this because of the rural looking sandy terrain, with a few patches of grass and wooden buildings. This tells the audience that the film is set in around the 1800’s as the buildings are wooden and aren’t modern, which is what you expect in a western type of film.

The décor in this clip is plain, simple and wooden. This suggest to the audience that the genre of the film is a western as this is décor that is expected to be seen in a western film because it was what was used to build buildings in the time period of when the film was set. It also suggests that the atmosphere of the film is quite quiet and simple like the buildings, however it can also change quickly when there is some action in the film.

Body language in this clip suggests how characters feel towards one another. In this case, all of the characters body language is quite distant from one another. The two characters walking together suggest that they might be on the same side, however they are walking with space in between them which suggests that they aren’t really friends. The other character walking towards these characters suggests that he either could be enemies with them, as in typical western films before a fight scene the two characters which are about to fight walk towards each other at a slow pace which is demonstrated in this clip. This character however could also be on the two characters side as he is wearing similar costume to them which is typical of a team who are about to fight against another team.

The prop in this clip is the gun. This suggests to the audience that the film is a western/action film, as guns suggest shootings. The guns also suggest to the audience that the characters are brave, powerful and intimidating as they are carrying guns around on their belts. The guns also suggest that the narrative of the film will involve death and fighting as guns are used to fight and to kill.

Objects in this scene are waggons and horses outside of the saloon. This also adds to the genre suggestion, which is that the film is a western film as stereotypical western films include all of these objects. There is also a wanted poster on the wall which expected in a western film. These objects also suggest that the genre of the film is action/western as the mode of transport in all western films is horse, as cars weren’t invented then. The horses also suggest that the characters are strong and talented, as it is suggested that they will be able to ride the horses with ease as they appear to be comfortable around the horses.

The clip also shows the audience the characters costume and makeup. The costume of the characters is old fashioned brown outfits with cowboy hats. These are all typical features of a stereotypical western film. These costumes show to the audience that the film is set in around the time of the civil war in America, which was in the 1800’s as this was a typical time era for western films to be set. It also tells the audience that the characters are cowboys which suggest that the characters are brave as most cowboys would fight each other. The character at the end however, is wearing a pale blue outfit without a hat, which is the opposite of what the other characters are wearing. This suggests that this character is a lot different to the other characters and is enemies with them, as he is different to them.

The makeup which is used in this clip is used to make the characters faces look more dirty. This suggests to the audience that the characters have travelled a long way, as it must of taken a bit of time to get that much dirt on the characters faces if this was a real life situation. The characters also having dirty faces suggests to the audience that the film is set in the 1800’s as it is clear that the characters don’t have frequent baths as showers hadn’t been invented.