MISE-EN-SCENE TERMINOLOGY
Lighting (general):
Can be used to highlight important characters.
High Key Lighting:
A bright and well lit scene with very few shadow. Often used to make a location or character seem friendly, happy, safe.
Low key Lighting:
A dimly lit scene with lots of shadows. Often used to make a location or character seem shady, untrustworthy, dangerous, unsafe.
Chiaroscuro Lighting:
A scene lit with extreme lighting, lots of shadows, some very bright parts. See the effects of low key lighting. Also used to make a location or character seem very dramatic and unusual.
Body Shape and Language :
The way a character's body looks and the way they hold their body eg confident, slumping down, cowering from someone etc. It tells us what type of person they are and how they feel about others.
Facial Features and Expression:
The way a character's face looks and shows emotion. For example a shocked expression, sadness, a look of love. You can also comment on the way they look such as a interesting features such as bad teeth, small, squinty eyes etc. It tells us what type of person they are and how they feel about others.
Props:
Items a character possesses or picks up eg a gun or a bunch of flowers etc. They can tell us lots about what type of person someone is.
Costumes:
Clothes a character is wearing. You could comment on the style, shape, choice of item, color, etc. They can tell us lots about a character, what of person they are, how they are feeling etc. For example a floaty dress might represent someone as traditionally girly. A policeman's uniform might represent someone as having authority and power. Baggy, shapeless clothes might suggest someone is an introvert, where as tight clothing might suggest they are confident and flirtatious.
Hair and makeup:
The appearance or the hair of a character and the cosmetics, a character might be wearing such as lipstick, a skin head etc. They tell us more about the character in general. For example making a subject dress up in baggy clothes and giving them a pale a complexion through make up might be seen as they are a drug addict.
Voice/ Tone :
The way a character speaks tells us about their class etc. For example someone who stutters might be nervous. Someone who talks in slang or are loud is from a lower class in society and someone who speaks in a elegant tone is from a higher class in society
Color:
Colors in a scene often represent emotions or feelings. Red can represent anger, passion, love. Blue can seem calm, peaceful and sometimes sad. Picking the most appropriate color according to the scene can greatly effect the mood of the audience.
Location:
A place where the scene is set. A location can ell us lots about the people in it. For example a dirty, bloodstained basement could signify that a character is a villain or doing something fishy. A messy room could signify that the character is disorganized and irresponsible.
Breaking The Fourth Wall :
Describes a time where a character may look directly at the camera and speak to the audience. This is highly unusual but can be seen in films or shows like Rick and Morty, Deadpool, The Wolf of Wall Street etc. This is designed to emphasize that character as someone important, someone we should be siding with. When speaking to the audience it creates a sense of trust in the audience as they feel as if that the character is personally talking to them.