Mise en Scene

  

 Mise en Scene is a french term meaning "placing on stage". In terms of film, Mise en Scene is the arrangement of everything that appears in the framing, i.e. actors, lighting, decor, props and costumes. Every film contains Mise en Scene however, not every film can present it in a successful way. One movie that comes to mind that has great Mise en Scene is The Godfather.
    
    The Godfather (1972) directed by Francis Ford Coppola is one of the most recognizable movies in all of film history. This entire film is filled with symbolism however one scene that uses Mise en Scene to portray a strong message is “the baptism scene”, in which during the baptism of Michael Corleone’s sister’s son, the heads of the 5 rival families to the Corleone’s are being murdered, as commanded by Michael himself.

   The overall aesthetics of the actual baptism in this whole scene are very drab and almost lifeless. The church is cast in a very dull light, the only colors we see are varies shades of browns and yellows. The browns are almost expected because it’s a church and most tend to have wooden structures, the yellow hue however is very interesting as it has sort of a double meaning. For example, let’s compare the yellow lighting on the baby being baptized verses Michael. Typically, the color yellow represents happiness, joy, positivity, etc.

    When we see the yellow light on the baby, this makes sense as it is a happy day for him.  However, when the yellow light is cast on Michael, instead of representing happiness it represents deceit. Earlier in the movie, Michael’s brother was murdered, however his father vowed that he would not avenge the death of his son, thereby ending the war between the 5 families. Technically what Michael did not break his father’s vows, however I’m pretty sure you can say it was deceitful. This scene along with others in The Godfather, use lighting and other aspects of Mise en Scene to portray messages and symbolism.