Media Language: Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene is a vital aspect of Media Language and builds nicely on our work on denotation and connotation.

Mise-en-scène is a French term meaning ‘Putting on Stage’. It refers to the Media language used by the producer in their media product to communicate with their audience so…everything we see on screen. We can remember what this includes using the acronym CLAMPS:

• Costume
• Lighting
• Actor placement and movement
• Make-up
• Props
• Setting

When we look at a clip, image or advert in Media Studies we need to be able to identify aspects of mise-en-scene and explain the effect it has on the audience.

This video explains the power of mise-en-scene in film analysis: 

Mise-en-scene: Blog task

Watch the opening of television drama ‘Stranger Things’, a science fiction story set in the 1980s when four friends get wrapped up in a dangerous alternate universe.



Create a new blogpost called 'Mise-en-scene: Stranger Things analysis'. 

1) Choose THREE aspects of mise-en-scene (e.g. costume, lighting and setting) and write a short paragraph for each about the denotation and connotation and what is communicated to the audience.

For example: 

Costume: The character at the start is wearing a white lab coat. This suggests to the audience...

Lighting: 

Setting: 

Props: 

Actor placement/movement/expression: 

Extension tasks

Watch the extract again. Try and write an analysis of the other aspects of mise-en-scene. Work through all the aspects of CLAMPS (the mnemonic we use to remember mise-en-scene).

Now think about the clip more generally. What does this opening sequence suggest the series will be about in terms of narrative, character and genre? What is it that tells you this? 

Read this excellent article on the 1980s references in Stranger Things. Which of these links specifically to mise-en-scene? 

Finish this for homework: due date on Google Classroom.