MIS-EN-SCENE

Mis-en-scene:

Lighting: 

Connotations: Low key: creating a very unsure, tense atmosphere before we find out that her fiancé has been killed. Low key: To show how she goes from being happy and content to sad and depressed, with shadows to suggest this shift in emotion
High key/warm lighting: during flashbacks, to remember the positivity and love she had in her life

Denotations: Ranging from high key to low key, depending on mood and atmosphere

Props:

Connotations: Texting on her mobile phone, to suggest that she is quite young, has a lot of friends and a social life. 

Christmas tree depicts the time of year, as she takes it down after a few scenes, this can imply a change in time. 

Engagement ring implies her close and loving relationship with her fiancé as they plan to be married. Her looking at it a lot also connotes the fact she is happy in her relationship

Denotations: Props include a mobile phone, christmas tree, letter, engagement ring. 

Setting/Location:

Connotations: Entire film takes place inside and outside of her house. House is fully decorated and homely so suggests it is very lived in. Setting depicts that she is a normal woman with a normal life, as she spends time in her house. 

Denotations: All of film takes place inside or outside of a house: bedroom, living room and garden. 

Costume:

Connotations: Females wear normal 'every day' clothes- just highlights how they are normal people, going about their every day lives.The uniform of the soldier at the door is significant because it is a hint at what is about to happen. 

The uniform of the soldier who she is supposed to be marrying is also significant because the first time we meet him, this is what he is wearing, which immediately gives us information about him and his career, suggesting he is a strong, patriotic man, who is obviously proud of who he is and what he does, as he wears his uniform to propose.

Denotations: Every character wears normal, casual clothing/pyjamas except the male actors who both wear army uniforms. 

Character: 

Connotations: Main female character seems like a normal woman, as she lives in a normal house and wears casual clothes. She appears to be very much in love and excited to be married as her facial expression and performance suggests when she tries in her dress. She is an emotional person and the way she reacts to the death of her fiancé shows this, as well as how in love she is. 

Soldier is very proud of who he is, the way he carries himself and the way he proposes wearing his uniform. Very romantic in that he sets out the garden with lights and champagne. 

Denotations: Main character is Grace Smith, who lives alone while her boyfriend/fiance is fighting in the army. 

Soldier

2 friends

Soldier at the door

Actors/Casting: 

Connotations: I wanted the soldier to be very tall and quite handsome and young, so it was realistic that he was about to get married and was also fighting in the army. The main female had to be confident to take on the roll of a widower and had to be young to match up with the soldier. 

I wanted the two best friends to be older, so that their performance and facial expression would seem proud and like they had been there and experienced their own weddings. 

Soldier at the door was always to me kept anonymous, so that there was an element of mystery, but had to be male. 

Denotations: 2 young main actors, one male, one female. 2 older friends and one anonymous man to play the soldier who comes to the door with the letter. 

Camera Angles and Movement: 

Connotations: Slow zooms for dramatic effect, to draw the audience into certain details of the film, i.e. people in photographs, the time on the clock, etc. Lots of midshots, to enable the audience to see detail into the life of the main character, the things around her house, clothes she wears, to show her normal lifestyle. Close ups, especially of the characters face at points in the film, to show a closer look at her facial expressions, like her distraught face when she learns her boyfriend is dead, emphasises their close relationship and her genuine sadness, also a contrast to the close up/midshot of when she is trying on her wedding dress, to compare the emotional change from one scene to the other, showing how much her life has changed for the worse. 

Denotations: A variety of camera angles and movements, such as: close ups, extreme close ups, midshots, two shots, pans, tilts and zooms. 

Mis en scene and Post Production: Visual Analysis

Diegetic Sound:

Connotations: No diegetic sound will be used, to make the piece more dramatic and lack of speech will leave room for the audience to focus on the action and have more of an emotional response.

Denotations: No diegetic sound will be used in the film

Non Diegetic Sound: 

Connotations: Sound effects will be added, like an air raid siren as she wakes up and a helicopter when she opens the letter, so that audience get a hint about the life of the character and it foreshadows the dramatic events to come. 

Denotations: Music will be played through the film, with sound effects at certain points, like air raid siren and army helicopter.

Music: 

Connotations: Music will be played throughout the film. It will be a slow paced, orchestra-style song that will gradually build up at the same pace as the action does in the film, so that it has a dramatic impact on the audience and adds to the emotion and sad atmosphere. 

Denotations: One song to be played throughout the film, building gradually. 

Editing: 

Connotations: Straight cuts from each seen, to link them together so that the audience can follow easily. Some scenes will be joined by fades to that it can show passing of time or so that it leaves time between scenes so the audience can reflect on what has happened previously. Some fade to whites will be used as a way of implying that the character is thinking back in the style of a flashback. 

Denotations: A variety of editing styles, fade to white/black, straight cuts and music edited in over the top. 

Special FX

Connotations: There will be no real special effects, so that the film is as realistic and relatable to the audience as possible. 

Denotations: There will be no special effects added to the film