Mise en scène

Kino-Agora #6

by Frank Kessler

The Belgian film critic Dirk Lauwaert once proclaimed that mise en scène is the “most beautiful word” when talking about cinema. In this volume Frank Kessler charts the term’s use from its origins in theatre circles in the 19th century through to the auteur theories found in French film criticism of the 1950s and 60s up to the present day and the place of mise en scène in the contemporary digital cinematic landscape. Mise en scène, when understood as one of the most fundamental techniques of filmmaking, has always been a part of film history, from Georges Méliès’s “artificially arranged scenes” to contemporary block busters or art house movies. But the practices to which the term refers have changed over time, and recent developments have shown that the complex interplay between space, actors and camera is also dependent upon technological constraints. Mise en scène disentangles the various ways in which mise en scène appears in writings about film, with regard to its descriptive scope as well as its strategic functions. It also looks at the different practices of mise en scène and the way in which these are conceptualised. Kessler’s three-pronged historical, theoretical and practical approach fills a major gap in the existing literature on cinematic mise en scène.

Frank Kessler is professor of media history at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, and one of the founders and editors of KINtop: Jahrbuch zur Erforschung des frühen Films. He is a past president of Domitor, an international association for research on early cinema. His research mainly concerns the period of the emergence of cinema, exploring various aspects of early cinema, especially the genre of féeries, early non-fiction film and acting styles.

60 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2014

Reviews

[Hassan Hekmat Ravesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتاب مفیدی درباره مفهومی پر‌مناقشه به نام میزانسن که از دو بخش اصلی تشکیل شده.
بخش اول شامل تاریخچه این مفهوم از ابتدای پیدایش سینما تا بحث جدل‌های منتقدان کایه دو سینما و تعریفی که هرکدوم از این واژه داشتن و کارکردی که برایش قائل بودن می‌شه.
بخش دوم هم از کارکردهایی می‌گه که میزانسن در تولید فیلم داره و تاثیری که بر کلیت اثر می‌تونه بذاره صحبت می‌کنه.
در کل تونسته خیلی مختصر و جامع تحولات مربوطه رو بیان کنه و به نظرم خوندنش قطعا سودمنده. البته بهتره که یک پیش‌زمینه نسبی درباره جریانات و مفاهیم اساسی تاریخ سینما داشته باشید و بعد سراغش برید.
من نسخه فارسی رو خوندم که ترجمه خیلی خوبی داشت ولی ظاهرا هنوز وارد گودریدز نشده.

[z]

- very useful discussion about the meanings of mise-en-scene and how it has been misused or misunderstood.
- Kessler's point is that the term is somewhat obsolete now, in light of how cinema has advanced in post production work, which seems right.