CREATING MEANING THROUGH INTERPRETATIONS: A MISE-EN-SCENE ANALYSIS OF THE FILM ‘THE SONG OF SPARROWS’ Jayakrishnan Sreekumar Assistant Professor, School of Communication, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India E-Mail: s_jayakrishnan@cb.amrita.edu ABSTRACT Cinema is a mass medium and it stimulates experiences in its pursuit to put across ideas and perceptions (Acker, 1991). Filmmakers adopt different ways to transfer their thoughts and perceptions to the audience. Elements like décor, lighting, space, costumes and acting, which can be collectively referred to as mise-en- scene, play a crucial role in creating mood and meaning to the shots ( Barsam & Monahan, 2010). Specific scenes from the Iranian film ‘The Song of Sparrows’ are identified to discuss each of the five elements and their importance in the storyline and its possible effects on the audience are analyzed using content analysis. The paper concludes that meanings can be created through the interpretation of these five mise-en-scene elements. A close observation and analysis of these elements in the film could lead to a much enhanced film- watching experience. Keywords: Film, Mise-en-scene Analysis, Majid Majidi, Content Analysis INTRODUCTION In Cinematic terms, mise-en-scene can be referred to as all the elements of a film that we see in front of the camera and the way it is arranged (Bordewell & Thompson, 2003). Those elements, which include décor, lighting, space, costumes and acting, have an important role in imparting a mood to the story and delivering a meaning to the visuals, thus playing a crucial role in signifying the director’s narrative mastery. It involves visual composition, the movement and position of on-screen actors and the properties set as part of stage design ( Barsam & Monahan, 2010). Expressionist films like ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ employed mise- en-scene to good effect, both stylistically and ideologically, to convey a certain message to the audience. The sets, lighting, acting, costumes and make up were all done in a particular manner to generate a sense of horror and thrill. The set and the way it is designed play a crucial role in creating a mood, interpreting the visuals, and providing an aesthetic appeal to the shots. There are several instances where the set designers had control over all the visual aspects of the particular film. An example of this is Victor Fleming’s ‘Gone with the Wind’, where production designer William Cameron Menzies played an important role in the overall look of the film (Ward, 1994). The props, which are a part of the set design, also have a specific role to play in terms of lending meaning to the visuals. The key aspect of lighting is to focus on imparting moods and meaning to the scenes. The amount of light used to frame a subject or light up a room and the direction of the source from which the light appears can all denote a particular meaning and interpretation to the overall content of the scene. Variations in lighting is used to show change in time during the day or night and even to symbolize the character’s mindset at a given juncture. Low-key lighting is often used to create strong contrasts and shadows in horrors and thrillers while high-key lighting would suit musicals and comedies that call for a brighter setting. The mood of the scene or the characters in it can be explained by analyzing the placement of subject and the amount of space in the frame. The space can be open or closed (Monaco, 2009), negative or positive (Cassidy, 2013), deep or shallow, and offscreen or frontality (Pierson, 2010). The use of costumes also deems extreme importance not just in defining characters but also as indispensible elements in the narrative (Bruzzi, 1997).