Mise-en-Scene Photo

 

For my shot, I had chosen the prompt “Let's see what happens”. This prompt spoke to me because of my interpretation of it sounding casual in the face of a stressful event. After thinking of what exactly to do for this prompt, I had decided that I would want my shot to be of a subject about to explore uncharted territory. Although this idea sounds dramatic and suspenseful, I wanted to keep this light hearted and comedic. In doing so, it gave me inspiration to make the setting the Chili’s restaurant, giving the scene context that this “uncharted territory” is just a restaurant. I chose chilis in particular because it would give me the set design that I pictured, with the Chili’s having sharp edges and dark colors that make it appear more threatening than it is. 

As for the protagonist, I had a faint idea of what I would have the subject look like. I wanted the subject to appear confident, standing before the building with a prop jacket hanging over their shoulder. I originally wanted the subject to have a more colorful appearance to highlight their confidence, but opted for a darker color scheme to have the character stand out and make them seem more serious. I kept the face out of the shot so that the viewer would have to rely on interpreting the protagonists body language, seeing him stand confidently with a hand on his hip. I also chose a protagonist with longer hair due to it giving the subject more character. The story of this shot would be him searching for a molten lava cake in this location; but I decided to keep this vague in that it draws the viewer into the story more with slight suspense. 

Despite originally hoping for more warm colors, I decided to go with a blend of so that this scene has a less obvious direction. I kept the shot mostly symmetrical, with only a few parts of it being asymmetrical in order to bring back that feeling of uncertainty. The shot has a deep depth of field in order to keep the shot fully clear. I used natural lighting from the outside world to make the outside appear more cheerful and bright in comparison to the Chili’s. I also kept the protagonist and the building in the center of the shot so that the viewer looks to them immediately.