project 6: Production exercise

This exercise was creating, or looking for locations to create different moods (using the mise-en-scene). I decided to look for the locations because I decided it would be interesting to find the locations, as it would give me a bit more of a challenge. Also it was a good opportunity to get out and about after recent poor weather!

This first image was to show an oppressive cluttered space. These trees really create a claustraphobic sense and a cluttered space. They obscure a lot of the view too so it would be quite easy to create a feeling of something hiding within the scene working well for a scary scene, or just building tension. However the irregularity is a bit annoying in my mind, I think this would work slightly better if the trees were slightly more regular

This is meant to portray an open honest space with one intriguing item. I placed the item in the middle of the frame so it made it a bit more intriguing. Because there is this one item of interest it makes the stark open space appear more friendly, as it is broken up a bit. Above I would have liked the trees on the left not to be there as they detract from the main tree being the point of interest

This is meant to be a stark hostile space. It's essentially the same area as above, removing the trees and it gives the feeling of a far more harsh environment, the sun helps add to this effect, giving the impression of no relief from it's beating rays. It's quite a tense feeling frame, as there is nothing in it to relax the viewer, it feels quite punishing. Again I would like to remove the trees and hedges at the edge of the frame to make it feel a bit more open, they just close the frame off a bit and detract from the overall feeling

This was meant to signify a warm cosy space. My original thought was using a room, but I wanted to stick with the outdoors, and just so happened to spot this scene with the road and buildings. It's not too open or two oppressive, it has a good balance between the two, with a nice range of buildings and natural plants. I feel I could have given it a more friendly look if there were some children playing or similar, but it gives the impression of a friendly, cosy neighbourhood.

Project 6:Mise-en-scene

Well, this was just a little instruction in the course text, before any exercise, asking me to look at the Mise-en-scene in a scene of a film of my choosing. I just so happened to watch the film 'Marley and Me' after reading through this section, not expecting to see much suitable, but I was pleasantly surprised by the amount I could see that this had been thought about in the film.

Now these two are two stills from the scene that I decided to look at. The film, featuring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson, is about the dog that these two bring into their lives just after they marry, and this is a scene towards the end of the film, with just Owen Wilson and the dog.

This is a comfortable, close scene between the man and his dog, and these two stills both help show how the Mise-en-scene helps promote this feeling. In the top image, the man and his dog are the two main objects in the scene, with vast expanse around them. The position of the two, roughly aligned with the rule of thirds within the frame gives an easy feeling, the path acting as a lead in line, and their relative positions to each other compared to the rest of the frame, shows their closeness. The way the majority of the frame is filled with the grass, very similar and unchanging gives the feeling of neutral space, and really is very relaxing the way the whole frame is put together

In the second frame, again their is a comfortable closeness, with the close proximity of the two main characters, based around the rule of thirds, and surrounded by a large amount of negative space, and the edge of the path helps add to the separation between them and the rest of the frame, helping to give the feeling of these two sharing a connection, separate from the rest of the world, all done by the clever use of Mise-en-scene.

I can see that Mise-en-scene is a very subtle way of creating a feeling within a scene. It largely goes unnoticed, but can help set a viewer at ease, create tension, romance, or even a part atmosphere, without the viewer really being aware of where they are getting this feeling from