CCS 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Set Decorator, Script Supervisor, Chiaroscuro
11 Jun 2018
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CCS 101
Chapter 5: Mise-en-Scène
• mise-en-scène - refers to the overall look and feel of a movie
o the sum of everything the audience sees, hears, and experiences while viewing the movie
o literally means "staging or putting on an action or scene"
o sometimes called "staging"
• design - the process by which the look of the settings, props, lighting, and actors is determined
• composition - the organization, distribution, balance, and general relationship of actors and
objects within the space of each shot
• production designer - works closely with the director as well as the director of photography in
visualizing the movie that will appear on the screen
o the production designer is both an artist and an executive, responsible for the overall design
concept, for the look of the movie - its individual sets, locations, furnishings, props, and
costumes - and for supervising the heads of the many departments involved in creating that
look
• art director - the executive who is head of the art department and, in addition to creating and
maintaining the studio's distinctive visual style, took full screen credit and any awards the film
received for art direction (back in 1930s Hollywood)
• the title production designer began to replace the title art director by the 1960s
• elements of design - the most important include (1) setting, decor, and properties; (2) lighting; and
(3) costume, makeup, and hairstyle
• the spatial and temporal setting of a film is the environment in which the narrative takes place
o in addition to its physical significance, the setting creates a mood that has a social,
psychological, emotional, economic, and cultural significance
• set decorator - is in charge of all the countless details that go into furnishing and decorating a set;
also supervises a variety of specialists
• perhaps the most important decision that a filmmaker must make about setting is to determine
when to shoot on location and when to shoot on a set
• decor - the color and textures of the interior decoration, furniture, draperies, and curtains
• properties (or props) - objects such as paintings, vases, flowers, silver tea sets, guns, and fishing
rods that help us understand the characters by showing us their preferences in such things
• soundstage - a windowless, soundproofed, professional shooting environment that is usually
several stories high and can cover an acre or more of floor space
• chiaroscuro - the use of deep gradations and subtle variations of lights and darks within an image
• cameo role
• costumes - the clothing, sometimes known as wardrobe, worn by an actor in a movie
• makeup artist - must be experienced in using the traditional materials just outlined as well as able
to work closely with the specialists involved in creating digital makeup, the production designer
and art director, and the cinematographer
• script supervisor - in the past, kept a meticulous log of each day's shooting; today, script
supervisors use a tiny video assist camera, which is mounted in the viewing system of the film
character and provides instant visual feedback so they can view a scene before sending the film to
the laboratory for processing
• intertitles - insert titles
• composition - part of the process of visualizing and planning the design of a movie
o the organization, distribution, balance, and general relationship of stationary objects and
figures, as well as of light, shade, line, and color within the frame
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