Mise-en-scene

Setting:
Time period, physical location, economic situation are all part of the setting in a film. These factors will help you understand the situation more, fitting to the theme of the film. A reason for choosing the setting so carefully is to help you understand the mood of the film, and the character’s state of mind. When filming exterior, you must consider things like the weather, which must fit the scene and make the mood.

Props:
Props are used to show certain traits of a character. The prop may appear often to show its significance and importance to the character. For example, a regular prop for a killer is a knife; the knife may be shown before striking an attack. A busy business person may be on their cell phone all the time. These things can help portray a characters personality and give the viewer a better understanding.

Lighting:
Lighting can be used in many ways to create a scene. There are different uses of brightness, quantity, colour and direction that can create a mood in the film. Using a dark/dim coloured filter can make a film dark and mysterious, whereas a brighter or a clearer filter will make a lighter film. Shadowing with a light (lighting from a side to make a shadow on a wall) is a classic horror movie technique to make the scene darker and scarier, along with back lighting (lighting coming from behind the actor to make them appear as a dark figure, and lighting from underneath for a ‘scary story’ look). The quality and quantity of light is also used in different genres of film, less light for scary ones, more light for lighter movies.