Mise-En-Sc(ream)

Examples of Mise En Scene

I chose to watch MTV's T.V. show "Scream" that I've been watching recently. As watching I found some examples of Mise en Scene that I thought represented the show well.

Setting: One of the scenes takes place at the local high school. The psychology teacher, Ms. Lang, is currently there on a day off of school to "grade papers" (she's actually up to something that is a little more worrying). She is recording a voice over of herself, until she hears loud banging noises and decides to go into the hallway to check it out. The hallway is dimly lit and empty, creating a mysterious and creepy mood. Suddenly a black figure moves behind her, making even more tension fill the scene.

Lighting: Because most of the horror-action in the show happens at night, whenever it becomes nighttime, the audience can expect something bad to happen. In the current scene, Emma and her friend are at an "abandoned house", which is really just an unused model home. However, the electricity doesn't work and it's nighttime, so with those two factors combined, making the lighting very scarse, the scene is made very creepy. Soon after, the house sets on fire with the two of them in there, so something bad was bound to happen.

Costume: Most of the characters are high school teenagers, so they wear pretty basic clothing that could be expected of any high schooler. Because the outfits are similar throughout everyone, I chose to compare the outfits of two main characters, Noah and Audrey, whose wardrobe I feel represents their personalities well. Noah is more of a nerd. He is very involved in figuring out all the crimes that have been going on and even has his own podcast of the events. He tends to wear loose shirts, cardigans, sweaters, and regular khakis. The cardigan specifically stands out for him, as not many guys wear them. Audrey is kind of the opposite. She is much more dark and intense than Noah, which can be seen through her short cut hair, black jeans, and usually a dark coloured shirt or jacket. This helps the mood of the storyline too, as Audrey is more dark and mysterious than many other characters.

Staging: In the scene soon after the one described in setting, Ms. Lang continues to wonder the hallways until she runs into the killer who throws her off of a stairwell. She hits her head and starts to bleed, unconscious. Soon after a janitor comes across her body and freaks out, calling an ambulance. Then two students come around the corner and see her body. They quickly rush over to see what happened. The scene shows Ms. Lang on the ground with the janitor and one of the students by her side while the other student stands in the hallway staring. This staging shows the differences in height compared to Ms. Lang on the floor, in desperate need of help, and the student Audrey standing back in the hallway watching.