Coursework: Mise-en-scene planning

Now that we have developed a script for our TV advert, we need to plan the mise-en-scene.

Remember, mise-en-scene is a French term meaning, ‘what is in the scene’ or, literally, 'putting on stage'. It refers to everything you see within the frame in film and television. 

The mise-en-scene sets the mood of the advert. 

We use the mnemonic CLAMPS to remember mise-en-scene:

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

This video goes into A Level or Film School depth but is well worth 10 minutes to understand the power of mise-en-scene:

This behind-the-scenes video into how a low-budget perfume advert was produced may give you some great ideas for creative use of mise-en-scene:




Blog task: Mise-en-scene planning

Create a blogpost planning everything that will appear in front of the camera in your TV advert. Remember CLAMPS: Costume, Lighting, Actors (cast, placement and movement), Make-up, Props, Setting. 

The following suggestions should help you:

Costume
What will your characters wear? What is the costume supposed to communicate to the audience? (E.g. a school uniform quickly and easily tells the audience that the character is high-school age etc.)

Lighting
How will you light your scene? Is it day or night? Interior or exterior? If outside, can you use streetlights, shadows, reflected sunlight or other creative techniques to achieve the lighting style you want? If inside, experiment with blinds up and down, room lights on and off etc. The lighting is vital to create the right atmosphere for your advert and brand.

Actors
The first thing you need to plan is your cast - who will be in your production and which character will they play? Try and cast people who are reasonably similar to the character they are playing (both in age and personality). Next, plan their placement and movement in key scenes from your script. Have you planned plenty of close-ups so the audience can 'get to know' the character in the short running time of the advert?

Make-up
Plan any make-up you require - this may be very important in creating the right aspirational lifestyle for your chosen brand.

Props
What props will you require? Think about your narrative, brand and target audience. 

Setting
This should already be largely planned using your script. However, now is the time to specify exact locations. Try and take pictures of locations or use Google Maps and Google Earth if you're using locations outside of school (this is strongly recommended - AQA don't seem like productions that are shot in school).

Here's an example of planning locations for a music video using images and notes:



Your mise-en-scene planning should all be on ONE blogpost and is due next lesson.

Complete for homework: due next lesson.