3.2.2: Cinematic Style

Taken together, setting, character, lighting, and composition make up the key elements of design in creating an effective and coherent mise-en-scène. As discussed earlier, it’s one of the ways we can pick out the work of great filmmakers. A consistent mise-en-scène becomes a kind of signature style of a filmmaker.

But it can also mark the signature style of a particular genre or type of cinema. Take film noir, for example. Remember those detective movies I mentioned earlier? They are part of a whole trend in filmmaking that began in the 1940s with titles like The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941), Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944), and The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946). These films and many more are part of a style of filmmaking that includes a gritty, urban setting, tough, no-nonsense characters, low-key lighting, and off-balance compositions. Sometimes, they feature a private detective on a case, but not always. Usually, they were filmed in black and white, but not always. In fact, film noir – which literally means “dark film” in French (what is with all the French?!) – has been historically difficult to define because the specific elements can vary so widely. However, one easy way to identify a film as part of that tradition is through its mise-en-scène. Mise-en-scène isn’t about any one element; it’s that overall look, the whole, that is greater than the sum of its parts.

And that can extend to a whole national trend in cinema as well. Because cinema is so profoundly connected to a particular cultural context, part of that gives and takes in the cultural production of meaning, it should come as no surprise that there are specific periods in a given place and time where cinema can take on a kind of national style. Where cinema artists in that same place and time are all speaking the same cinematic language, as a result, produces a unified, identifiable style, which is another way of saying a consistent mise-en-scène.

One powerful example of a national cinematic style can be found in Japanese cinema.

According to the Center for Japanese Studies, Japanese filmmaking is often characterized by long average shot lengths (ASL), slow or static camera movement, and the expression of emotions through natural elements. This minimalist visual style—seen in the works of directors like Yasujirō Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi—often emphasizes deep focus shots, flat lighting, and scenes that linger on details that may not directly connect to the narrative but build the emotional and thematic depth of the story.

Akira Kurosawa, one of Japan’s most celebrated filmmakers, used mise-en-scène masterfully to create epic, visually stunning films. In his film Ran (1985), Kurosawa uses vast landscapes, dramatic lighting, and careful composition to tell a deeply emotional story of power, betrayal, and madness. Watch this series of scenes from Ran to see how Kurosawa builds a cohesive visual style through his use of setting, character placement, and color:

Ran - 35 Scenes

While live-action cinema showcases mise-en-scène in one way, animation offers an entirely different medium through which directors can control every aspect of the frame. In animation, everything is constructed: every element, from the background to the smallest character expression, is deliberately designed. This gives animators and directors incredible freedom to craft detailed, visually rich worlds where mise-en-scène plays a key role.

Consider that Andre Bazin, a renowned and influential French film critic, asserted,

All art is founded upon human agency, but in photography alone can we celebrate its absence… photography's objectivity confers upon it a degree of credibility absent from any painting.

Bazin believed cinema had the unique ability to capture reality, but animation poses an interesting counterpoint. It may not capture reality as live-action cinema does, but it creates an alternate reality—a world constructed from scratch, frame by frame.

Take, for example, Akira (1988), an iconic Japanese animated film that pushed the boundaries of what animation could achieve. In Akira, lighting and movement play an essential role in building the dystopian world. The use of light not only adds texture but also creates mood, tension, and emotion in ways that live-action films struggle to replicate. Here’s a video analyzing how light is used in Akira to shape the atmosphere of its animated world:

AKIRA: How To Animate Light

In films like Spirited Away (2001), director Hayao Miyazaki demonstrates the power of hand-drawn animation in creating emotionally rich and visually immersive worlds. Spirited Away's attention to mise-en-scène—from the way spaces are designed to the emotional resonance created by lighting and composition—immerses viewers in the story in a way that feels almost tangible.

Lev Manovich, a scholar of digital cinema, reflects on the role of manual image construction in filmmaking. He observes that in the digital age, CGI and other digital techniques have blended animation and live-action filmmaking, but traditional hand-drawn animation, as seen in Spirited Away, retains the rich, crafted feeling of older films. Miyazaki’s work is a testament to how animation can preserve the human touch, creating detailed worlds that feel as if they could be lived in.

Seen in this [rampant use of CGI in live action films] context, the manual construction of images in digital cinema represents a return to nineteenth century pre-cinematic practices, when images were hand-painted and hand-animated. At the turn of the twentieth century, cinema was to delegate these manual techniques to animation and define itself as a recording medium. As cinema enters the digital age, these techniques are again becoming commonplace in the filmmaking process. Consequently, cinema can no longer be clearly distinguished from animation. It is no longer an indexical media technology but, rather, a sub-genre of painting.

He follows up later by stating:

Manual construction and animation of images gave birth to cinema and slipped into the margins...only to re-appear as the foundation of digital cinema. The history of the moving image thus makes a full circle. Born from animation, cinema pushed animation to its boundary, only to become one particular case of animation in the end.

Miyazaki's strategic use of close-ups intimately connects the audience with Chihiro’s emotional journey. Focusing closely on Chihiro’s expressions and reactions, these shots capture the subtle shifts in her emotions as she navigates the challenges of the spirit world. This careful visual articulation of Chihiro’s emotional state fosters a deep, empathetic connection, allowing the audience to feel her fears, joys, and growth. The emotional depth conveyed through these close-ups is pivotal, as it transforms Chihiro’s journey into a shared emotional experience with the audience, making her character development and the narrative’s emotional stakes more engaging and relatable.

It may be true that CGI has essentially turned some live-action films into quasi-animations, but animation frequently employs techniques seen in live-action films. In fact, these techniques—like framing, composition, and lighting—are integral to how animated films, especially Miyazaki’s, achieve their cinematic impact.

As we explore Miyazaki's work in the context of modern technology, creator and YouTuber DamiLee notes that Artificial Intelligence (AI) could never replicate the essence of Miyazaki's films, particularly those intimate, reflective "slice of life" moments that define his storytelling style:

Why Studio Ghibli movies CAN'T be made with AI.

As Dami points out, Miyazaki’s meticulous attention to mise-en-scène is evident in the way spaces within Spirited Away are designed to evoke the feeling of ma—the Japanese concept of negative space, emphasizing the tension and interplay between objects. Ma shapes how viewers perceive and interact with the film's world, allowing for moments of reflection and a deeper connection to the characters.

The film's setting, infused with rich sensory details, invites viewers to feel the dampness on their skin or the wind in their hair, transcending cinema's visual and auditory mediums. This sensory engagement is achieved through detailed compositions that include lighting techniques like komorebi—the dappled light filtering through trees, which creates a dream-like atmosphere distinct to Studio Ghibli's storytelling style.

This is the power of mise-en-scène in any context: to unify the cinematic experience and to provide the aesthetic foundation for everything else the filmmaker wants to express. Drawing on setting, character, lighting, and composition, mise-en-scène isn't just one technique; it’s the overall look, feel, and emotional tone of a film, and it’s far greater than the sum of its parts. This is why we began our exploration of cinema with mise-en-scène—because it allows us to see how everything else, from acting to story, works in harmony to create a film's unique world.