Mise-en-scène (French: [mi.z‿ɑ̃.sɛn]; English: “placing on stage” or “what is put into the scene”) is the stage design and arrangement of actors in scenes for a theatre or film production,^[1] both in the visual arts through storyboarding, visual theme, and cinematography and in narrative storytelling through direction. The term is also commonly used to refer to single scenes that are representative of a film.

When applied to the cinema, mise-en-scène refers to everything that appears before the camera—the sets, props, costumes, actors, and even the lighting. These elements help to express a film’s vision by generating a sense of time and space, as well as setting a mood. Mise-en-scène can be used to suggest a character’s state of mind, whether that be happy with bright colors, or sad with darker colors.

Mise-en-scène also includes the composition, which consists of the positioning and movement of actors, as well as objects, in the shot, as overseen by the director and production designer. The director, cast, and crew (who control props, costumes, lighting and sound) all have input on the mise-en-scène; they work together to make sure it fits the film well before production begins. The production designer is generally responsible for the look of the movie, and thus leads the various departments in charge of individual sets, locations, props, and costumes, among other things. André Bazin, a French film critic and film theorist, describes the mise-en-scène aesthetic as emphasizing choreographed movement within the scene rather than through editing.