Mise en scène is a French term that literally means “putting on stage.”

In film, theater, and photography, it refers to everything that appears in the frame or on the stage and how it’s arranged to create meaning or mood.

Specifically, mise en scène includes:

• Production Design — Where the scene takes place and how it looks
• Lighting — The type, intensity, and direction of light, which can set the tone or highlight emotion
• Costume and Makeup — What characters wear and how they appear, revealing personality, status, or time period
• Actors’ Performance — How actors move, speak, and interact with each other and the environment
• Props — Objects used in the scene that can carry symbolic meaning or enhance realism
• Framing and Composition — How elements are arranged in the shot, including camera angles, depth, and balance

Essentially, mise en scène is how a director controls the visual storytelling — what the audience sees and how that visual design influences our understanding of the story, characters, or mood.

Below, we’ll go through each element of mise en scène, how they affect a piece of film, and how you can achieve this in your projects.

One of the fundamentals of mise en scène is the framing of a shot and it can be determined during the storyboarding phase of a film¹.

A storyboard artist will work closely with a director and sometimes the writer of a film to visually draw, illustrate, or graphically design storyboards of each scene in a screenplay. It is during this phase of pre-production that the framing, compositions, and camera movements can be determined before shooting.

Some directors like to work in very steady and traditional wide shots, medium shots, single shots, and close-ups. They want story to take the lead over style and don’t want the compositions to interfere with the acting and dialogue.

However, some directors prefer more kinetic and even frenetic shots and choose to shoot hand-held, Steadicam, or on jib and dolly. Perhaps shots with more movement are desired for a more fluid and active tale where style and story are equally expressed.

Regardless of the style of the mise en scène, it can be determined during the storyboarding stage and then created on set with camera angles and moves.

Learn exactly how to craft shot composition and why this element is so integral in the making of a movie.

Here are some techniques for film composition:

• Rule of Thirds: Divide the frame into a 3×3 grid and place key subjects along those lines or at the intersections to create balance and focus
• Leading Lines: Use roads, hallways, shadows, or architecture to draw the viewer’s eye toward a subject or into the scene
• Depth: Use foreground, middle ground, and background layers to make your shots feel three-dimensional and dynamic
• Framing Within the Frame: Use windows, doorways, mirrors, or objects to frame characters—adds visual interest and focus
• Symmetry and Balance: Balanced or symmetrical compositions feel orderly, while asymmetrical ones can feel tense or dynamic, depending on the story needs
• Negative Space: The empty space around the subject can create a mood — like isolation, freedom, or tension
• Color and Lighting: Composition isn’t just about placement — it’s also about how color contrast, brightness, and shadows guide the eye and evoke emotion
• Camera Angle and Movement: Where the camera is placed (high, low, eye-level) affects how we perceive characters and story. Movement can shift composition mid-shot for dramatic effect.

Think about the movies you’ve seen. Each one has its own visual merits partly created by the setting you see captured within the frame of each shot. If you’re watching a period piece like Gladiator, then the story can’t stand on the costuming, props, and lighting alone.

It must also exist in the time period that showcases a believable backdrop — in this case, Ancient Rome, filled with gladiatorial training camps, the Colosseum, rural fields of grain, and ancient Roman architecture. It’s the art direction, scenery, and backdrops that give Gladiator its sense of realism and three-dimensional quality².

What are your favorite production designs in film? This video explores some of the very best over the course of cinematic history.

When creating your own film, it’s important to ask yourself, where will my story take place? Does the setting, created by the art direction, strengthen the mise en scène? It’s important to producing a believable story that connects with viewers and you can do that with the proper locations and production design.

Here are some techniques you can use when it comes to production design…

Production designers often choose a limited, intentional set of colors to evoke mood, support the theme, or reflect character emotions. A film like Amélie uses warm reds and greens to create a whimsical, nostalgic atmosphere. Colors can also track a character’s journey, like shifting from bright tones to dark as their personality changes.

Filling the frame with purposeful objects, textures, and background details gives the environment authenticity. A lived-in space feels more believable when it includes everyday clutter, personal items, or signs of wear. These choices can subtly communicate who lives there and what kind of life they lead.

A unified visual language across sets, props, and costumes helps the audience believe in the story’s world. Sci-fi and fantasy films rely on strong world-building to ground the viewer in a fictional universe. Everything from furniture design to background signage should feel like it belongs to the same reality.

Objects and design elements can carry deeper meaning. A cracked mirror might symbolize a fractured identity, or a recurring object might link key moments across the story. These choices add layers of subtext and emotional depth.

For period films, attention to historical detail is essential. Accurate costumes, architecture, signage, and even color schemes help ground the story in its time and place. Designers often do extensive research to avoid anachronisms.

Production design should reflect the psychology and lifestyle of the characters. A minimalist, spotless apartment suggests something very different than a cluttered, chaotic one. Characters influence their environments, and designers use that to tell the story visually.

Placing different characters or ideas side by side through their environments can emphasize contrast. For example, a wealthy character’s pristine home might be juxtaposed with a lower-class character’s cramped apartment to highlight social or emotional divides.

Real-world locations can be transformed with design elements — props, paint, signage, or architectural details — to become part of the film’s visual world. This is often more practical than building full sets from scratch and still allows for creativity and storytelling through space.

These classic filmmaking tricks allow designers to manipulate space and scale. Miniatures can be used to create large structures or worlds, while forced perspective can make a small space look vast. These techniques are especially useful in fantasy or historical epics.

The materials used in set pieces, furniture, and costumes affect the tone of the scene. Industrial metal, rough wood, soft fabrics, and shiny plastic each create different emotional reactions and thematic suggestions. Texture is part of how a space feels, not just how it looks.

Once your setting is determined, locations are locked in, and production design is constructed, all of that needs to be lit in a way that elevates your intended mise en scène³. Let’s cite the aesthetic of the feature film Drive, lit by Newton Thomas Sigel.

Hear from Sigel himself on his highly successful work on Drive.

The night scenes are lit in what I like to think of as “Neon-Noir” (not to be confused with “Neo-Noir”). The night scenes feel like the dark and lonely inner world of Ryan Gosling’s portrayal of the Driver. That is the true depiction of smart Mise En Scène.

The rich contrast and bleeding colors of Sigel’s cinematography represent not just the tone of the world in which the characters reside, but also the inner workings of the main character. He is somewhat of a lost soul trying to find peace and love in a chaotic Los Angeles. In this way, mise en scène represents the inside and outside of that world.

Here are some different types of lighting you can use on set…

This is the main light source in a scene. It defines the subject and creates the primary shadows. The position and intensity of the key light shape how dramatic or natural the scene looks.

Used to soften or eliminate shadows created by the key light. It’s usually placed on the opposite side of the subject and is less intense. Reducing fill creates more contrast and drama.

Placed behind the subject, this light helps separate them from the background. It adds depth and creates a glowing edge around the subject, especially effective in silhouette shots.

Produces bright, even illumination with very little shadow. It’s often used in comedies, romantic films, or commercials where the mood is light, clean, or upbeat.

Creates strong contrasts and deep shadows. It’s often used in thrillers, horror, noir, and dramas to create tension, mystery, or emotional intensity.

Relies on sunlight or existing practical lights (like lamps in the scene). It can make a film feel grounded and realistic, especially in indie or documentary-style projects.

Uses visible sources within the scene — lamps, candles, neon signs. Practical lights are part of the set design and can be used creatively to add realism or mood.

Lighting that mimics a believable source in the scene, like sunlight from a window or moonlight. It adds realism while still giving the cinematographer control over exposure and mood.

By lighting from behind and leaving the front of the subject dark, silhouettes can create striking images, emphasize shape, or convey emotional distance.

Reflecting light off a surface like a wall, ceiling, or bounce board to create softer illumination. Often used to avoid harsh shadows or simulate natural light.

A technique borrowed from painting, this involves using bold contrasts between light and dark areas to create dramatic, moody compositions — common in noir and gothic films.

Adding colored gels to lights can shift the emotional tone of a scene — cool blues for melancholy, warm reds and oranges for intensity or passion, green for unease.

Soft lighting creates gentle shadows and smooth skin tones, often flattering for actors. Hard lighting produces sharp shadows and is more dramatic or stylized.

Can you imagine how little sense the world of The Dark Knight would make if not for the elaborate, artistic, and comic-book-inspired costumes worn by Batman and the Joker? Or how silly would Star Wars be if not for the original and historically inspired costumes of the Empire and the Jedi.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory would not have the same visual impact if Gene Wilder were dressed in jeans and a T-shirt instead of his classic and recognizable purple velvet long coat, patterned silk vest, and his Bell Topper hat. These costume choices are all about adding to the value and mood of mise en scène⁴.

This video captures beautifully how costumes help to define the characters who wear them.

Now, that’s not to say that the costuming for your film has to be as elaborate and theatrical. In fact, many straightforward stories that are less fantastic and more rooted in everyday reality still make sure that their characters are wearing costumes that strengthen the tone and quality of the film.

In a film like Back to The Future, Marty still wears “character” costuming and his signature puffy red-orange vest, denim jacket, and patterned button-down shirt are now an iconic Halloween costume. His character starts in everyday clothes that became part of pop-culture zeitgeist.

Regardless of the costuming you choose for your characters, just make sure that they make sense within the mise en scène of the world you’re creating on screen.

Hair and Makeup are essential in a movie and when you think of a film like Grease, the hair and makeup echoes the look and feel of the 1950s. Pomade-greased hair for the men and hyperbolic rouge and eye makeup for the women were part and parcel to bringing those characters’ looks to life and showcasing them in the hair and makeup styles of the era⁵.

The same goes for the fictional, politically charged world of a film like The Hunger Games. Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) has a look that can be considered gaudy, filled with bravado and flare. Her character dons the look of cotton candy hair and burlesque-style makeup. Her look is ironic in a world where children are forced to fight to the death.

This video provides a fascinating visual breakdown of how movie hair and makeup have evolved over the last century.

In contrast, Katniss Everdeen’s hair and makeup are often subdued, basic, and rural. Her look represents the life she leads: that of a country girl who hunts and lives off the land.

However, when she is put on display by the totalitarian Capitol of Panem, she is made to look theatric and warrior-like. Her hair and make-up transform with her character development through different phases of her arc in the film. That is a pure personification of mise en scène.

Movies can have any number of final looks that can start with the type of film stock or video camera selected and end with the post-production effects and filters used before a final movie is screened⁶.

Traditional Directors of Photography who may still shoot on film will select different film stocks that offer fine, contrasty, or grainy textures. In the world of video, it’s best to shoot the best quality video you can afford and then choose a fine or grainy look in post-production. Take, for example, a movie like filmmaker Michael Mann’s Collateral starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx.

Mise en scène is comprised of multiple elements that come together to create a believable world that hopefully convinces and enthralls audiences.

Cinematographers Dion Beebe and Paul Cameron shot that feature on the CineAlta HDW-F900. According to a quote by Cameron from an article written by Jay Holben called “Hell on Wheels” for The American Society of Cinematographers, “Using HD was something Michael (Mann) had already settled on by the time I came aboard,” recalls Director of Photography Paul Cameron, who prepped Collateral and shot the first three weeks of principal photography.

“He wanted to use the format to create a kind of glowing urban environment; the goal was to make the LA night as much of a character in the story as Vincent and Max were.” Often, the latitude (or the array of sensitivity of film stocks or HD cameras) is taken into consideration when shooting a film or video. How film or video reacts to light is important and should be considered before shooting.

The point of understanding all of this is to note that mise en scène embodies almost everything that appears before the camera. It includes all of the ingredients necessary to help audiences willfully suspend their disbelief so they can enjoy a film.

It doesn’t matter if a movie is some grandiose, science fiction blockbuster or some small, independent character piece that takes place in genuine locations – it’s about using compositions, production design, lighting, costuming, hair and makeup, and film and video textures to envelop the audience into a world that is believable, captivating, and fluid.