SETTING
Setting
What is setting?
Setting is the place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where something is going to take place. It includes the time or geographical location in which the story takes place, it gives the story the main backdrop and mood for the storyline. The elements of setting may include the following things; culture, historical period, geography, hour, plot, character, theme and style. There are two types of setting which are backdrop setting and integral setting. Backdrop is very vague and basic but integral is fully describing the setting including both time and place.
What are the conventional settings we expect to see in the film opening of the each of the following genres;
Comedy - there are many examples from comedy films that show their typical opening setting which include bedrooms, university's and pubs. They usually are in places that have good natural lighting and are in social areas like pubs. Props are included heavily in comedy but mainly in slapstick comedy because of the style they like to include pain in a humorous way, they may include things like tearaway pants, rubber chickens and breakaway chairs. Characters are used in a variety of ways in comedy as their body language and gestures has to be funny in order to keep the audience entertained, one way they use them in the setting is straight away showing a contrast of characters that can show stupidity and socially awkwardness which comes across in a funny way to the audience. Finally the camera shots used in the opening of the film are basic due to the setting of places that don't offer a variety of camera angles but they are naturalistic that show no character is better than one another.
Horror - the locations we can expect to see within horror films are haunted houses, graveyards, suburban houses and rural areas this is because in these locations the lighting in dark and spooky which gives it the horror effect. Generally the lighting in horror films in always limited to dark or no lighting to give the film the spooky effect and everyone thinks night time is more scary than the day time. Props used will be weapons(such as knifes, chainsaws, hammers, guns and axes), also ropes and blindfolds for the victims and finally sometimes they do include machinery that can harm the victim they are effecting. Characters are used in a variety of ways for example some characters are non existent like ghosts where they are edited to make them look more real but then you can have a normal man or women who is experiencing the horror. Also they can have dressed up characters to make them look more scary, for example in Texas chainsaw the main character has a costume that uses a face mask to make it more scary.
Action - you can expect to see the following locations within an action film; bid modern city such as Los Vegas or London , warehouses and secret government buildings. They use these locations for the open space so they can include things such as car chases and gun fights etc. Lighting involved in the action filming is key because it is used for car explosions therefore there is a big variety of lighting used such as sometimes it will be natural lighting but other times there will be artificial to provide a better view. Props used is similar to horror film so it includes weapons like guns and knifes, cars for the car chases and ropes or chains for hostages. Characters are generally two sided you either have the 'goodies' or 'baddies' which fight against each other for a reason, the both have little costume apart from possibly being in things like army or terrorist gear to clearly show what side each characters are on.
Drama - there are a variety of places where you can expect to see a drama films opening scene such as a police station, a pub or any kind of social place, family homes, parks and a casino. These locations are used because in drama there is a lot of dialogue therefore they are generally in places where you can expect to see a family or a group of friends. Lighting in drams films can vary in such ways that they create a dark light source in order to show the viewers the seriousness of that scene but then they can also use artificial or natural to show happiness and joy, for example using artificial lights at Christmas time to show this. The props that we can see in drama are police cars, ambulance, bright blue lights and general housing objects such as cups, bowls, hovers and ironing boards. Characters in drama are generally the police, teenagers, families and the one that gets the blame, they are in costume but as viewers we just think they aren't because they are dressed casually unless their are special events like weddings.
Romance - the common places we see romance films start are in places like churches, hotels, restaurants which are used because they are usually where couples go when dating or getting married. The lighting in romance films will be bright and natural because they want to show the audience the whole idea of love being a natural thing rather than being artificial lighting which could show them that its fake. Props used are a narrator so they can make sure the viewers are understanding everything that's happening and so they can introduce the theme of love, also things like flowers such as roses as they are seen as a romantic gesture to give to women. Finally possibly doves could be used as well. Characters involved in the romance genre are generally a man, a women and possibly their parents could been involved. The costume they wear could be things like suits and dresses if they were getting married or just general clothing.
How important is setting in the construction of the mise en scene and creating an understanding for the viewer?
The importance of the mise en scene elements in helping viewers understand the opening is key because the elements that are used which are costume, lighting and characters etc, help the viewer understand what is going because the costume can show you straight away what type of genre the film is for example if the actor was in a wedding dress you can tell the film is based around romance. Also the characters can show you understanding as their appearance can show you weather they are apart of the 'goodies' or 'baddies' which can indicate the the viewer that they should dislike him/her, therefore mise en scene elements are key because its like the core of the film without it you cant make it work and it allows everyone watching to have a clear idea of what is happening or what type of things they can expect to happen later on in the film.
Setting is the place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where something is going to take place. It includes the time or geographical location in which the story takes place, it gives the story the main backdrop and mood for the storyline. The elements of setting may include the following things; culture, historical period, geography, hour, plot, character, theme and style. There are two types of setting which are backdrop setting and integral setting. Backdrop is very vague and basic but integral is fully describing the setting including both time and place.
What are the conventional settings we expect to see in the film opening of the each of the following genres;
Comedy - there are many examples from comedy films that show their typical opening setting which include bedrooms, university's and pubs. They usually are in places that have good natural lighting and are in social areas like pubs. Props are included heavily in comedy but mainly in slapstick comedy because of the style they like to include pain in a humorous way, they may include things like tearaway pants, rubber chickens and breakaway chairs. Characters are used in a variety of ways in comedy as their body language and gestures has to be funny in order to keep the audience entertained, one way they use them in the setting is straight away showing a contrast of characters that can show stupidity and socially awkwardness which comes across in a funny way to the audience. Finally the camera shots used in the opening of the film are basic due to the setting of places that don't offer a variety of camera angles but they are naturalistic that show no character is better than one another.
Horror - the locations we can expect to see within horror films are haunted houses, graveyards, suburban houses and rural areas this is because in these locations the lighting in dark and spooky which gives it the horror effect. Generally the lighting in horror films in always limited to dark or no lighting to give the film the spooky effect and everyone thinks night time is more scary than the day time. Props used will be weapons(such as knifes, chainsaws, hammers, guns and axes), also ropes and blindfolds for the victims and finally sometimes they do include machinery that can harm the victim they are effecting. Characters are used in a variety of ways for example some characters are non existent like ghosts where they are edited to make them look more real but then you can have a normal man or women who is experiencing the horror. Also they can have dressed up characters to make them look more scary, for example in Texas chainsaw the main character has a costume that uses a face mask to make it more scary.
Action - you can expect to see the following locations within an action film; bid modern city such as Los Vegas or London , warehouses and secret government buildings. They use these locations for the open space so they can include things such as car chases and gun fights etc. Lighting involved in the action filming is key because it is used for car explosions therefore there is a big variety of lighting used such as sometimes it will be natural lighting but other times there will be artificial to provide a better view. Props used is similar to horror film so it includes weapons like guns and knifes, cars for the car chases and ropes or chains for hostages. Characters are generally two sided you either have the 'goodies' or 'baddies' which fight against each other for a reason, the both have little costume apart from possibly being in things like army or terrorist gear to clearly show what side each characters are on.
Drama - there are a variety of places where you can expect to see a drama films opening scene such as a police station, a pub or any kind of social place, family homes, parks and a casino. These locations are used because in drama there is a lot of dialogue therefore they are generally in places where you can expect to see a family or a group of friends. Lighting in drams films can vary in such ways that they create a dark light source in order to show the viewers the seriousness of that scene but then they can also use artificial or natural to show happiness and joy, for example using artificial lights at Christmas time to show this. The props that we can see in drama are police cars, ambulance, bright blue lights and general housing objects such as cups, bowls, hovers and ironing boards. Characters in drama are generally the police, teenagers, families and the one that gets the blame, they are in costume but as viewers we just think they aren't because they are dressed casually unless their are special events like weddings.
Romance - the common places we see romance films start are in places like churches, hotels, restaurants which are used because they are usually where couples go when dating or getting married. The lighting in romance films will be bright and natural because they want to show the audience the whole idea of love being a natural thing rather than being artificial lighting which could show them that its fake. Props used are a narrator so they can make sure the viewers are understanding everything that's happening and so they can introduce the theme of love, also things like flowers such as roses as they are seen as a romantic gesture to give to women. Finally possibly doves could be used as well. Characters involved in the romance genre are generally a man, a women and possibly their parents could been involved. The costume they wear could be things like suits and dresses if they were getting married or just general clothing.
How important is setting in the construction of the mise en scene and creating an understanding for the viewer?
The importance of the mise en scene elements in helping viewers understand the opening is key because the elements that are used which are costume, lighting and characters etc, help the viewer understand what is going because the costume can show you straight away what type of genre the film is for example if the actor was in a wedding dress you can tell the film is based around romance. Also the characters can show you understanding as their appearance can show you weather they are apart of the 'goodies' or 'baddies' which can indicate the the viewer that they should dislike him/her, therefore mise en scene elements are key because its like the core of the film without it you cant make it work and it allows everyone watching to have a clear idea of what is happening or what type of things they can expect to happen later on in the film.
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