Ava's Media Studies Blog: Research

Have you ever been midway through a romantic comedy and noticed you are staring more at the character's surroundings than at the actual actor? It's all right, you are not alone. I do it constantly, especially since I've been in AICE Media Studies. For as long as I can remember, I thought I was just interested in these movies because the stories were entertaining. However, I recently realized that there is something else captivating me. It is the "vibe" of the movie—or what film enthusiast like to call mise-en-scene. I know, it is a weird, elegant French word, but it is surprisingly straightforward. It just means "everything in the frame." Consider it this way: if you took a picture of a movie and inspected the clothes, furniture, and the way the lights are shinning, you are looking at the mise-en-scene of that specific film. In this post, I will share what the specific conventions of mise-en-scene are in the romantic-comedy genre.

The five main elements that encompass mise-en-scene are setting & props, lighting, costumes & makeup, figure behavior, and composition.

Set Design & Props: The set design is the physical environment in which the action occurs. It incorporates the selection of location, props, and the positioning of objects within the scene. Additionally, props are the objects within the scene that the characters engage with or that play a part in the overall atmosphere.

Lighting: How light is used to enhance the scene and the characters inside it by using brightness (high/low key), shadows, and color. It can generate mood, highlight certain elements, or conceal others.

Costumes & Makeup: The clothing, hairstyles, and makeup that the characters wear. These decisions can reveal a character's social status, personality, and the time period in which the story takes place.

Figure Behavior: The way actors move within the scene and engage with one another as well as their environment. This incorporates the actors' performances, body language, gestures, positioning, and facial expressions.

Composition: The positioning of elements within the frame or on the stage. This incorporates the arrangement of objects, characters, and the use of framing methods and angles. It directs the viewer's eye and highlights relationships.

After researching the elements of mise-en-scene, I am now going to provide examples of how these components are used in modern day romantic-comedy films. To do this, I decided to choose two recent film that I watched and enjoyed: Your Place Or Mine and People We Meet On Vacation.

In Your Place Or Mine, the production design utilizes intense visual differences between the two main settings to consider the internal lives of the protagonists. Debbie's craftsman-style home in Echo Park is represented as a warm, sentimental, and "lived-in" sanctuary packed with loving features that emphasizes her nurturing personality. On the other hand, Peter's basic Brooklyn condo is portrayed as a cold, detached man cave, characterized by untouched luxury amenities and a devastated shortage of knickknacks. Regarding costume design, Debbie's wardrobe is described as cozy, relatable pieces that reflect her warm yet cheerful and tense role as a faithful single mom. Whereas, Peter's clothing displays his professional success as a branding consultant, using intense, clean-cut lines that line up with his sarcastic and polished behavior. The lighting and atmosphere of the film demonstrates a direct emotional geography between the two main characters. The Los Angeles scenes, directed on Debbie, are established by a bright, warm palette of "sunshine and bougainvillea," generating a homely and welcoming environment. In contrast, the New York scenes use harsh and commercial lighting to emphasize Peter's fashionable but impersonal lifestyle in Brooklyn.

The atmospheric change illustrates the distance between Debbie's lively, grounded world and Peter's polished, isolated urban location. Due to the long-distance essence of the friendship, the film regularly uses a, "split-screen" method to show the characters communicating on the phone. This method is used to compare their different worlds in real time. The day-to-day long-distance phone calls are utilized as a "romantic callback" to, "classic, romantic" films, highlighting that the characters are in separate, individual worlds. The film also showcases montages that reveal Debbie reading Peter's novel at different hours of the day, which, adds to the relaxing vibe.

Debbie's House:

Peter's House:

In People We Meet On Vacation, directed by Brett Haley, the film embraces a "travel vlog" aesthetic that emphasizes the life-changing power of travel by focusing on practical locations rather than studio sets. While Poppy's apartment was one of the few constructed sets, the production depended on various international locations to establish the story; Spain's Costa Brava and Barcelona regions were especially adaptable, serving as the backdrop for British Columbia, Tuscany, as well as some parts of New York. This worldwide approach reached its peak in the film's closing beach scene, taking place in the coastal town of Lloret de Mar, while New Orleans issued a genuine background for its own crucial scenes, making sure the film's atmosphere felt as lived-in and expressive as the expedition it portrays. The film's costumes and props function as visual clues for the characters' decade-long expedition, most remarkably through "Harry," an 80-pound wooden bigfoot statue that actor Tom Blyth physically moved throughout numerous filming locations. This feeling of progression is further reflected in the costume design, which follows Poppy and Alex's development from understated campus clothing to more polished vacation wear across a twelve-year period. Furthermore, the production rewards alert viewers with intelligent "easter eggs" that connect the story to an extensive literary universe, for example highlighting a book by a character from a different Emily Henry story.

The film's visual style uses a "rose-tinted" color scheme as well as high-key lighting to intensify the romantic and positive energy of a summer vacation. By focusing on bright, natural sunlight, the cinematography accomplishes a peaceful, "breezy" atmosphere that makes every setting feel like a glamorized escape. This approach is further strengthened by a vibrant color mood, which strikingly spotlights the distinctive character of each location—from the lively, vibrant colors of New Orleans to the golden, earthy colors of Tuscany—guaranteeing that the environment feels as spirited as the flourishing romance itself. The film's staging uses recurring visual themes and physical storytelling to portray the emotional expedition of the protagonists. It frames the narrative by reconstructing the legendary book cover, starting with Poppy by herself on a beach chair and ending with Alex next to her to bring their narrative loop to an end. Pivotal moments are characterized by a mix of movement and setting, from the cheerful physical comedy of their early friendship to the high-pressure "double date" in Tuscany that marks a pivotal fracture in their bond. This tightness ultimately surrenders to classic romantic imagery, for instance an over-the-top rain-soaked balcony scene and a concluding, wholehearted sprint that provides a pleasant and emotionally impactful outcome.