Mise-en-Scene

Mise-en-scene refers to the arrangement f the contents in a film frame i.e. lighting, setting and props, positioning of characters and objects, facial expressions and body language, costume, hair and make-up etc. everything you see in a film is there for a reason.

Mise-en-scene can be considered, at a deeper level, a way of considering complex meanings which are open to different readings for example in Apocalypto some of the tribe members (in the scene where the head rolls down the stairs) are covered in coloured paint and wear jade stone earrings. This is to show that they are a higher class of people compared to the rest of the tribe.

As a director you have control over this, some bits maybe written in the script already but it is up to the director for the overall look of the film. When it comes to directing your own film what deeper level meanings can you show to an audience?

Working with Actors

Depending on your budget you might be working with known actors, up and coming actors or students trying to make it in the industry. Whatever you end up with you’ve got to remember at the end of the day they are still people and to get them to work to their full potential you have to treat them the way you would like to be treated. If you was an actor, at the end of a scene you wouldn’t want to be told how poor you portrayed the character in that scene, it would just destroy your confidence, you need to be told something like “yeah that was good but why don’t we try it like this... and see how it goes.”

I worked with an actor who mainly worked in theatre so when it came to him being in front of the camera to him it felt like he was standing centre stage and to me his acting felt a bit too false. I pulled him to the side and said to him “what would you do in this situation if it happened to you in real life, how would you feel?” he said to me what he would do and I said “use that emotion but portray it through the mind of your character, your character isn’t very confident so maybe stutter a bit as he tries to explain the situation he’s in.”

We done the take a few times and I got what I was looking for but now he was able to use the advice I gave him in other scenes as we shot the rest of the film. As long as you respect your actors, your actors will respect you and will give 110% to fulfil your vision.

Direction is an Art

You could give two directors the same script and both films would turn out different by the choices of their camera positions, lighting, locations and emotion from the actors. As a director you have your own style so it's down to you to view other directors artwork.

Watching films is like being in a lesson in school there are so many things you can pick up on and learn by analysing but by doing this you will never watch a film the same way agian when you go to the cinema, somtimes it can make the expirence worse (anyone seen Naked Lunch) or you apreciate the directors work, the writers story and the overal look of the production.

DVD Extras is obviously another way of learning the process but try work out how they shot that scene before it comes out on DVD, did they use green screen, was it a stunt man, where those jokes in the script and did they shoot that on a 1000fmp? (frames per second)

Vision & Passion

As a director you are ultimately responsible for the look and feel of the film, without vision and knowledge of the codes and conventions of genres, then it's really hard to amuse an audience with what they see on screen. Without passion you will loose the motivation and respect from your crew causing the production of your vision to collapse. I find these two words very crucial to a director because directors have to know what they want and love what they are doing.

There are two specific types of directors. Those who take on screenplays using their vision to interpret how it should look and those who write and direct their own stories. Writer-directors are really the auteur's of the film world in the way that the story starts in their head and ends up on the big screen, showing how they feel "their" story should be told.

All you have to do is find out which one suits you, not everyone can write an original screenplay but not everyone can guide a film crew. People like Steven Spielberg started of like us, he was just given the chance and his work improved over time. Check out the other Topics to find ways of improving your skills.