Many directors of the Russian and Soviet stage attached great importance to the creative approach to the construction of mise-en-scènes. These were such eminent directors as G. A. Tovstonogov, A. V. Efros, K. S. Stanislavsky, E. B. Vakhtangov, V. E. Meyerhold, A. Ya. Tairov, and others. Mise-en-scène translated from French is mise en scène - placement on stage. That is, the location of the actors in the playing environment in designated combinations with each other and the environment at different moments of the performance or filming.
The purpose of the mise-en-scene is to show through physical, external interactions between actors their inner experiences, the essence of the conflict of their relationships, emotional content, the logic of stage action, putting it into an aesthetic form. The tasks of the mise-en-scene are to skillfully switch the viewer's attention from one action to another.
The mise-en-scene as an artistic image is the director's language, a vivid means of embodying the director's intention, both in the theater and in cinematography and even in photography. She is able to combine expressive artistic actions (musical, pictorial, light, color, noise, etc.) into a single harmonious whole. Therefore, the director is in close cooperation not only with actors, but also with artists, etc.
The art of mise-en-scène lies in the director's special ability to think in plastic images. The genre and style of a play or film is manifested in the nature of the mise-en-scène. Several consecutive mise-en-scenes reflect the director's course of the production or make up the director's drawing. The constituent parts of each mise-en-scene are a sequential transition from one action to another.
Each mise-en-scene, as in the canvases of works of art, has its own composition, that is, it is organized in a conditioned stage space in such a way as to show the viewer all the components of the spiritual life of the heroes, their tempo-rhythm and physical well-being. That is why in the theater universities, where they study directing skills, much attention is paid to teaching students the laws of composition in the visual arts, as well as psychology.
Mise-en-scenes are most often centrifugal in nature, when all the actors participating in it tend to repel each other. And also centripetal. In this case, all participants in the stage production strive for each other. Paradox, counterpoint, restrictive graphics, plastic contrast, reality, spontaneity and vital basis - these are the main qualities of the mise-en-scène.
The types of mise-en-scenes differ in their construction. When the characters try to move out of the stage, as if projecting entirely to another place, the mise-en-scene is projection. By the nature of movement on the stage, dynamic and statistical are distinguished.
The most common definitions for mise-en-scenes are geometric. In relation to the scene - diagonal, frontal, circular, circular, etc. And towards the middle of the stage - eccentric and concentric. Regarding the volume of the scene - cubic, cylindrical, pyramidal, etc.
Also, by the nature of the mise-en-scène, ironic, strict, hyperbolic, realistic and metamorphic are possible. In theatrical terminology, it is customary to subdivide mise-en-scenes into main, non-main, passing, nodal, service, transitional, supporting, inevitable and final ones.
Each mise-en-scène has the most striking main action, which is its compositional center. All other operations must be subordinate to this spectacle. For this, the actors have certain techniques. The compositional center of a mise-en-scene is usually accurately lit to focus the viewer's attention.
In order to correctly position the actors on the stage, the director usually focuses on seeing the spectacle from the audience by the viewer sitting in the middle of rows 11-13. An expressive mise-en-scène can be born involuntarily in the process of rehearsing a performance through direct interaction and intuition of the actors themselves.
One of the fundamental differences between mise-en-scene in cinematography and theatrical is that the spectator in the theater is faced with the need to separate the particular from the general and to perceive the performance analytically. And in the cinema, on the contrary, the viewer mainly sees parts of the spectacle and restores the general in his consciousness from them.
The order of mise-en-scène in photography, cinema, theater and painting are equivalent. In photography, there are also mise-en-scenes that include the participants' angles and their advantageous positioning. Each mise-en-scene brings the viewer to the essence of the director's idea.