DPHU1006 Chap.8 Mise-en-scène and Film Style
Mise-en-scène and Film Style
Mise-en-scène and film style are the Week 8 lecture and the Week 9 tutorial. Mise-en-scène names everything arranged in front of the camera: setting, costume and make-up, lighting, staging and props. Film style is the pattern those choices make when they repeat across a film.
The Video Project rubric gives a full criterion of five marks to aspects of film style, naming set design, staging, costume, props, lighting, framing and editing, and at the top band these choices play a significant role in communicating the story. Its attention-to-detail criterion counts inappropriate costume and setting choices among the goofs that lose marks.
On the crew, the production designer carries most of this work, from visual references and the location scout to sourcing costumes and props and watching continuity. This chapter defines the elements, then diagnoses a planned scene whose choices contradict its story and repairs it. Film style is also something you describe before you shoot.
The story outline rubric rewards references to film style that help a reader imagine the finished film, and the pitch must show a proposed visual style. Students who decide two or three style rules early, such as a palette, a lighting mood and a camera approach, find that the outline, the pitch slides and the final film reinforce each other instead of pulling apart.
What this chapter covers
- 01
The five elements of mise-en-scène
- 02
Film style as a deliberate, repeated pattern
- 03
How the Video Project rubric judges film style
- 04
Costume and setting choices that count as goofs
- 05
The production designer's continuity photographs
- 06
Colour palettes and costume choices that support the story
Worked example · free
Choosing props that carry the story
- +1A phone mounted on the handlebars with an order timer counting down: the deadline is always visible.
- +1A worn insulated delivery bag patched with tape: he has done this job for a long time on little money.
- +1A dog collar with a small engraved tag: it gives him an address and sets the goal of the story.
Key terms
- Staging
- The planned placement, movement and performance of actors within a scene.
- Production design
- The planning of sets, costumes, props and colours that gives a film its visual world.
- Film style
- The patterned use of techniques such as lighting, framing and editing across a whole film.
- Blocking
- The planned positions and moves of actors in a scene, set so the camera can follow them.
- Continuity
- Consistency of costume, props and positions between shots of the same moment.
Mise-en-scène and Film Style FAQ
What are the elements of mise-en-scène?
Setting, costume and make-up, lighting, staging, meaning the placement and performance of actors, and props. Together they cover everything placed in front of the camera.
How is film style assessed in the video project?
One rubric criterion judges aspects of film style, including set design, staging, costume, props, lighting, framing and editing, by how much they help to communicate the film's story or concept.
Who is responsible for continuity on set?
The course checklist gives the production designer the job of watching for continuity issues and taking photos on the shoot day, which the team matches on later days.
When are props and costumes due in the production schedule?
The team's production schedule must have its props, costumes and gear sections completed and uploaded before the end of the Week 9 tutorial, with the team number in the saved file name.
What is continuity in filmmaking?
Continuity means keeping details consistent across shots of the same moment, such as costume, props, hair and the position of objects, so separate takes cut together as one unbroken action.
What does a production designer do on a student film?
On the course checklist the production designer dresses the set and is responsible for costumes, props and colours, gathers visual references, joins the location scout, sources costumes and props, and photographs the shoot day to protect continuity.
Assessment move
Pause a film from class on any frame and list one example of each of the five elements. Then write one sentence on what each tells you about the character. Do the same with your own storyboard before the shoot, and change any element that says nothing.
For your own film, write a one-page look book: three reference images for tone, a colour palette, a costume note for each character and a list of props with what each tells the audience. Share it with the whole crew before the first shoot day.
