Balancing Mise en scène

1) Stills from existing media that demonstrate aspects of Mise en scène

a. Still image from Beef, 2023, showing how contrast is used to guide the viewer’s attention.

The woman sitting in her white vehicle with light hair contrasts with the man with dark hair in his dark-colored vehicle. The red headlight from the car between them creates a red reflection on his car, adding more distinction between this light and dark contrast.

b. Still image from Superman, 1978, showing how color is used to guide the viewer’s attention.

The bright colors associated with Superman; blue, red, and yellow draw the viewer's eyes immediately because of their intensity by one another. The background has neutral, warm tones of beige and grey, while Superman wears a bright red cape and blue bodysuit with hints of yellow across his big "S" symbol on his chest and waistline.

c. Still image from Jurassic World, 2015, showing how size is used to guide the viewer’s attention.

The man being off to the side while the dinosaur is in focus shows the drastic difference in size between them. The dinosaur's mouth appears to be reaching to eat the man as prey, which stretches over the man and the entire frame overall. The claws of the dinosaur are also right by the man's head, making him look small and vulnerable to the dinosaur's very large size.

d. Still image from You, 2018, showing how frontality is used to guide the viewer’s attention.

The character in the image, Joe, is centered and leveled facing the camera with the background blurred so the viewers look at nothing but him as he speaks directly to the audience.

2) Stills I created that demonstrate aspects of Mise en scène

a. A still showing how contrast is used to guide the viewer’s attention.

The green lime contrasts heavily by being surrounded by bright oranges. Green and orange are very distinct and bright colors, so when put next to one another and because there is one lime in the center, this comparison can be seen clearly.

b. A still showing how color is used to guide the viewer’s attention.

The red and orange ombre in the candle positioned in the center guides the viewer's eyes the most. Although there are three other candles present in the image on pedestals, the red and orange candle is a bright pop of warm color in the photo and draws the most attention against the grey, almost dull schemed background details.

c. A still showing how size is used to guide the viewer’s attention.

The girl standing next to the cat appears to be very tall. This low angle is intended to be near the cat's line of sight, to show the vast difference in size between the small cat and the girl, who have to look at each other at entirely different levels in order to make eye contact.

d. A still showing how frontality is used to guide the viewer’s attention.

The girl in the image is up close to the camera making eye contact with it. Although there is a painting in the background, the girl is in focus and because she is smiling at the camera directly, the viewer's attention will stay on her.

3) Reflection

The challenge I experienced in creating my photo experiment was differentiating contrast and color. When taking my contrast photo, it was apparent to me how strong the colors clashed with one another. However, it was the green lime in the center of the white bowl that my eyes were drawn to because it was the only fruit that was not orange. This caused me to question if the guide of the viewer’s attention was directed by color rather than the contrast of the two. A similar doubt formed when taking my color photo. The grey, almost dull background contrasted with the bright, warm tones of the ombre red and orange candle. Ultimately, I concluded that contrast and color often go hand in hand and the images can be seen from either principle as the driving factor of catching the viewer’s attention. But in this instance, color can be more about cold versus warm tones having meaning toward the image, similar to the bright warm-toned candle being the focus of the frame even when other candles/figures are present. While contrast is the immediate difference in overall tone and brightness between things in an image, which can be broader and applied to more things, such as oranges surrounding a lime — primary colors that stand out from one another. Another struggle I experienced at first was conveying frontality in an image. Although the girl in the image I took was facing the camera up close, I questioned if her position to the side caused viewers to focus on the painting behind her. After using portrait mode, which focused on her and blurred the background, I felt that the frontality of the image was expressed better and even incorporated the rule of thirds!