What is Mise-en-Scene

WHAT IS MISE EN SCENE? When I stated in bygone days that everything is expressed on the screen through mise en scene in no way contested the importance of the subject-mater and the imput of the numerous people cooperating in the making of a movie. I never intended, for instance, to ignore or dismiss the significant contributions of the actors and the scriptwriters. I simply wanted to point out that the distinguishing feature of a …

…great movie.The director's presence is felt all along and the movie proves how an "auteur" can transform the "stupidest" script into a masterpiece ofarttAs one critic noted"'The camera itself is almost a character"(Stephen Hunter in W Post sept 18, 98) [In the absence of rhythm, movies seem verbose! I hope that the foregoing remarks have helped in clarifying the concept of "mise-en-scene" as we used it in our articles in the 50s and 60s.]