Mise-En-Scène Analysis

Natalia Muñiz Blasco
Jan 12, 2022
4 min read

Hi everyone!

I am now going to start posting about my personal project for "False Confidence". The analysis of the mise-en-scène needs to be very detailed in order for the music video to present the intended mood and message. I will be analysing here the use of costume, props, lighting, colour, location and make-up.

Hope you enjoy this post!

xx Natalia

What I want to achieve through my Mise-en-Scène

The song is very upbeat and I would like that to be reflected in my music video. I want to create an overly bright and colourful dystopia where the main character is trying to live a life that seems brighter than it actually is. I think the beat and message of the song suits this idea well.

Every part of the mise-en-scène has to scream "colour" and "balance", because I don't want to create an image of chaos, only of overwhelming perfection that cannot be attainable.

In the end, this perfectly artificial world will crumble along with the character's fake personalities and a natural, more realistic, but still beautiful setting will appear at sunrise.

Settings and Times of the Day (with Moodboards):

In order to achieve that colourful dystopia, I will film most of my footage in plain sunlight (hoping that this will be possible). The bright, natural light will give the bedroom that "perfectly orderly" feel and reflect the upbeat nature of the song.

However, the times of the day will follow the same path as the character's emotional journey, with the denouement taking place at dusk along with the "golden hour", and the beginning of a new day (sunrise) reflecting the beginning of a new mindset of the character.

In terms of the settings, I will mainly use...

My bedroom:

(we will have to remove my sister's bed and put a carpet to have more room)
Here, I will film important scenes, mainly emphasising the routine of dressing up with a "false" personality
I would like this to be very bright and filled with light. The walls are light beige and we have colourful bedcovers that can be light blue to not draw too much attention to themselves and still be light.
We have some white, clean-cut shelves; a white desk that can be cleared out and a brown cupboard. I would have to clear everything out and choose appropriate props to create that bright and clean-cut colour palette.

My bathroom:

With special LED-fluorescent lights to have another type of dystopian feel in the dénoument
Here, I will film the turning point in the song, when the beat stops before the final chorus.
To create a more dramatic feel, I will use bright pink and blue lighting. The bathroom has a big mirror that will be the centrepiece of the shot and everything else will be blended in with the background (and tidied up).

An empty street in Colmenar Viejo (my town)

Here, I will film the chorus where my character walks down with her chosen outfit and personality, ready to face the day.
I will be focused on an urban setting that looks clean-cut, to match the rest of the theme. Natural elements such as trees might create a softer ambience, but the landscape will not be the focus until the final shot as I want to keep the theme of an artificial world to some extent.

A fourth setting, in a basement or empty room of some sort. This will be used depending on whether I decide to include small clips of my artist performing the song with his guitar or not.
- If this were the case, I would use a plain background or maybe play with some colour that matches the colour palette and can change to avoid monotony.

Colour Palette & Lighting:

I used Coolors to put together this colour palette. I want to keep it natural and bright, to create that clean-cut feel. Here are the different colour mood boards for each of the three main sets- (created with Canva).

Natural Bedroom Lighting:

To create the natural lighting, I will film during the day and on a sunny day. I want to film with soft morning light, and not the hard light at noon. I will also use my roller blind as a diffuser and maybe use some cardboard with holes to add texture to the lighting.

If there is no sun that day I might have to postpone the filming or use another spotlight and flash it through the roller blind.

Outdoor Lighting:

This is something that I will need to test out, as I might need a diffuser (like the one used in one of the research videos from a previous post) or a bouncer. For the bouncer, I can use a very big cardboard, angled so that the light is more balanced; and for the diffuser maybe I can hire some equipment for the filming day.

Bathroom Lighting:

For the bathroom lighting, I will use my LED ring light with a pink hue, and a blue water bottle from Solan De Cabras (typical Spanish one) with a phone's flashlight underneath to create that dual light tone. The biggest issue with filming at night is the lack of light that might lead to excessively dark footage. Therefore, I am planning on including hidden sources of white light that do not interfere with the dual hue tones but add brightness to the scene.