Oliver Turner AS MEDIA: Film Language

Mise-en scene

This is the French definition of what the audience can see on screen. The actual translation of the word is "Visual theme" which refers to the design aspect of theatre or film.

Setting

Task: Imagine a room. How would you decorate it and what would you put in it to suggest to
the following inhabitants:
1. A poor and destitute couple in the 17th Century
2. A middle-class couple in the 1940s
3. A spy in the year 2015
4. A businessman in 2015
5. A business woman in 2015
6. A group of students

 My Answers:
1. I would decorate the room with very little furniture. I imagine lots of wax candles placed around a black fireplace. The fire would be alight with rags draped over a fireguard placed before it . The room consists of  dark oak wood and no windows are seen. A few dusty books are placed neatly on a shelf to illustrate the very little possessions people had of this age. They are placed neatly to show they are of particular importance to the couple as means of education. The walls are painted black to keep the heat in. On the floor a small discoloured rug is seen with holes and dust covering it. It is kept because of the cold tiled floor that surrounds the small, boxed in room. Placed in the centre of the room is an oak table that folds down either side to make room for both of them. On the table is burn marks where candles have fallen over.

2. Similarly, the room would be furnished with dark oak wood. This is seen throughout the room, from the chairs and table to the grandfather clock. The walls are white washed to make the room appear bigger. This also allows light in (making it easier to film) which is complimented well with a large bay window overlooking a small and well looked after garden. In one of the chest of drawers is a chest filled with ration booklets and the like. On top of the drawer is an electrical lamp that provides most of the light in the room.There is also a small basket containing ration booklets and job advertisements along with a few day to day objects.

3. The spy's room is located at the very top of a hotel in the centre of London. The vast windowed panels surround the room and overlook the cityscape. To hide the room is a black-out blind that comes down to disguise the outside appearance. Looking inside, the floor is white tiled and the futuristic kitchen is seen slightly behind the large open planned sitting room. A grey sofa dominates the room, it is placed looking directly at a large TV which is mounted on one of the walls. The sofa has no form of decoration which makes the atmosphere all the more serious. Bright blue LED lights surround and everything is kept neatly organised. The rest of the room is surrounded by black filing cabinets, some left open revealing files of particular importance.

4. The room would be furnished with very odd items. Everything here is placed with no intension of design or homeliness to show that the home is of little priority to the businessman. In the corner of the room is a desk and black swivel chair. On top of the desk would be stacks of files and folders and a computer hiding underneath. This area of the room would be the most noticeable on camera to tell the audience that "work" is the base of this persons life. On one side of the room is a bookshelf that covers a vast majority of the wall. Each book alphabetically organised perhaps to suggest the intellect of this person.

5. Similarly to the businessman, the businesswomen's apartment room is filled with files, folders and pens. Clearly the person has a busy lifestyle because of the apparent mess that dominates the floor. This includes mainly discarded business clothes and shoes. A full length mirror is situated leaning against one wall which is decorated with a colourful wallpaper. This wallpaper could show the audience that the woman desperately wants a normal lifestyle but prioritises her job rather than her actual home or social life.

6.The students room would be rather colourful. The walls are painted a bright green and noticeboards are hung up to remind students of homework and events. Lights hang down from the centre of the room, shining on a big desk that takes up most of the space. Found on the desk is various books and sheets from each student. On the left side of the room is a mini fridge, sofa, and TV. This area is separate from the desk area as a way of separating the two lifestyles of the students. We can see the sofa is slightly worn and the TV is left on.