1 Staging or Mise-en-Scene: "putting into scene“ Décor (including setting, costumes, make-up, props (short for property) Acting (including blocking [where actors are positioned]) Lighting

2 Directors arrange the scene based upon aesthetic principles such as color, line, balance, space and contrast

3 Costumes, lighting, setting, and blocking create three dimensional expectations, depth cues and deep space.

4 Décor: Furniture, props, costumes and colors used to design a set. How does the décor in this scene establish story and reinforce characterization?

5 Acting Terms Method-acting: an actor learns a part from the inside out. Attempts to draw upon memories of prior emotions to match the emotions of their character Blocking: an actor's movement around a set or the notations regarding movement in an actor's script. Motivation: the emotion an actor is directed to use to form a character’s demeanor. Monologue : an extended speech by one person Double-take: a character looks twice to show disbelief Casting: choosing the actor for the role

6 One element of acting that directors manipulate is frontality (subjects facing forward) because we instinctively want to see the faces of actors. When we can't see the faces, it is called denying frontality.

7 What is good acting?

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9 Acting Styles Concepts of realistic acting have changed over film history. What was once seen as realistic is now seen as stylized. Instead of assuming that acting must be realistic, we should try to understand what kind of acting style the film is aiming at.

10 Realistic? Good or Bad? Steve Martin's Performance in All of MeAll of Me

11 Lighting: A director’s lighting choices are made to create dramatic value

12 Lighting from above makes characters look dignified and noble. From below makes them look sinister and menacing. Lighting from behind gives a mysterious outline

13 Three Point Light Setup is used to achieve a pleasant, natural look

14 Symbolic Lighting: Fight Club Much of the film was set in dark, gritty environments, and the use of back lights helped the characters "pop" out of the backgrounds, without requiring bright frontal lighting levels

15 Symbolic Lighting: Apocalypse Now

16 Symbolic Lighting: Fatal Attraction

17 Blocking: Directors manipulate staging and directional movement for dramatic value, to ensure sight lines, to work with the lighting design and to accommodate the movement of the camera

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19 Evaluate the effects of the blocking choices in this opening sequence from Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train Strangers on a Train

20 Evaluate the use of lighting, wardrobe & blocking choices in this scene from The Natural The Natural