Film making or video production, no matter animation or live-action, is a process of narration or communicating a story, idea, or concept using audio and visual mediums. film or videos can evoke multiple feelings like happiness, sorrow, pity, and fear in their audience.
The Greek philosopher Aristotle first explained this phenomenon in his book Poetics. He called it 'Catharsis.' It is primarily a purification or purgation of emotions through the use of art. The word is derived from the Greek medical term katharsis, which means purification.
There are a lot of visual elements that go unnoticed and silently communicate to the viewer. So, a few questions remain and needs to be attended to while video editing is done. What are the elements or bread and butter that make this happen? To become a compelling storyteller, what are the key elements to consider?
There are a lot of elements that help in making a good video such as good script, acting, animation, music, dialogues, etc., but what goes unnoticed are the visual aspects such as the setting of shot, framing, composition, art direction, etc.
It's not easy to tell a story effectively without carefully designing your frame, one should be very careful about what should be there in one’s frame and what should not be. How every element in the frame is placed, its spacing, its size, its color, and light, etc., matters, be it that you are using video editing software, video editing app or any other means.
Even if your video has the best story to tell, the best cast, and top-class shooting equipment, if visual communication is weak, the audience is not going to like the video.
Video producers must understand how ideas and emotions are expressed visually. A lot of directors use the phrase ‘visual language’ as a way to describe how they plan out their videos that make sense; videos grow out of photography. The wrong placement of the camera can kill a story.
The true strength of a shot and its unique qualities come through what's called the “Mise-en-scene.”This is a French term meaning placing on stage. It is a broad term that describes the overall look of a film/video and how you place things in a frame.
Let us explore more into this.
What is Mise-en-scene?
Mise-en-scene was initially utilized in theater and it included components of a set plan, lighting, outfit, figure articulation, and development. Movie researchers stretched out the term to movie bearing; they utilize the term to imply the chief's command over what shows up in the film/video outline.
In controlling the mise-en-scene, a movie maker stages the occasion for the camera. In film/video examination, mise-en-scene is one of the most much of the time utilized yet differently deciphered terms.
Mise-en-scene analysis, a settled way to deal with film/video investigation, centers around what can be found 'in the image.' By and large, mise-en-scene study incorporates examining these components: color, lighting, framing & composition & editing.
Components of Mis-en-scene analysis
Color
Color is a huge factor in the settings, props, and outfits of a film/video. The sort of lighting utilized influences the color found in a film/video. At the point when cinematographers choose colors for their film/videos, it's about more than style and looks. Picking the correct palette for your film/video can be a major assistance in recounting your story.
Making use of hues can make significant impact. Take a look at what hues can do:
- Set the overall look of your video
- Speak to character attributes
- Show progression or advancement in your story
- Cause viewer to feel a specific feeling
- Cause people to notice particular details
Lighting
The right lighting can decide the state of mind of the scene. It is a strategy that goes past the standard three-direct lighting arrangement toward drama, depth, and environment of the story.
- Lighting directs the viewer where to look. The lighting arrangement directs the eye to a particular character, prop, or part of a scene.
- Lighting mirrors the brain science of characters. The color, amount, and sharpness of light encompassing a character can be changed in accordance with their feelings.
- Lighting characterizes and underpins the genre of the film. Lighting is the instrument that passes on the state of mind most unmistakably. A common type of film that stands out for its lighting style is film noir, which features a unique combination of light and shadow, as well as unique surroundings and arrangement.
Compositions
Once you understand the importance and application of various shots you must know how to shoot great compositions. How to set up your frame? Arrangement chooses and underlines components, for example, size, shape, order, dominance, hierarchy, pattern, and resonance, in manners that offer significance to the things being captured that go past the straightforward.
The rule of thirds
The rule of thirds starts by dividing the frame into thirds. The rule of thirds proposes that a useful approximate starting point for any compositional grouping is to place major points of interest in the scene on any of the four intersections of the interior lines. It is a simple but effective rough guideline for any frame composition. The rule of thirds has been used by artists for centuries.
Headroom
Certain standards apply especially to shooting individuals, especially in a medium shot or close-up. First is headroom — the measure of room over the head. An excessive amount of headroom causes the figure to appear to be lost in the casing.
Headroom is likewise squandered compositionally as it is frequently simply a sky or void divider. It adds no data to the shot and may draw the eye away from the focal subject.
Nose Room
On the off chance that a character is gone aside, maybe the look has a specific visual weight. Subsequently, we once in a while position the head in the specific center of the edge, aside from when the on-screen character is looking pretty much straight toward or away from the camera. By and large, the more the head is gone aside, the more nose room is permitted. Consider it this way: the look has visual weight, which must be adjusted.
Check out this video on how directors like Kubrick master the elements of visual storytelling to understand more about Mise-en-scene.
Wrapping up
I hope you got an idea on what is Mise-en-scene and its components that can help you enhance your video quality. If you are wondering how to take your video production to next level, taking care of the things above can make significant difference.
There are many things you can do for your video marketing strategy. Making heavy films can be quite a task, but getting animators to do the work for you has a lot of advantages. To know more about animated videos, motion graphics, etc., check out our blogs on www.webdew.com. If you are looking for video editing services, or more, feel free to contact us!
Editor: Amrutha