Print: Magazine

How are the elements of mise-en-scene used to create

 meaning on the variety front cover?

Power is the focus and intention of this Variety magazine front cover.

The costume depicted presents power by emasculating Cate with a suit. Her outfit is very uniform-like and bares large resemblance to a revolutionary uniform, with its shape, style and colour scheme of black, red and white. The red cuffs drag the reader’s attention onto Cate, thus creating a powerful focus on to her.

Cate’s gesture, posture and proxemics on the cover show her powerful status as her slightly hunched over position paired with her head held high (all while sat on a stool) help demonstrate her intensity. This paired with her glancing away from the camera and upwards, suggests her looking towards what is to come (her presidential role within the Cannes Festival), and the responsibility and power she holds within that. There is a slight low angled camera shot of Cate that causes the reader to feel intimidated by her presence and therefore pushes power and intimidation onto her.

The colour design creates a powerful aura that surrounds Cate. The black-to-white gradient background creates a spotlight effect that singles out Cate as the subject of the cover. The monotone colour scheme of black and white creates a clean and sharp looking cover that contrasts with Cate’s small highlights of red on her costume, therefore allowing more focus to fall upon her, emphasising her power.

• Iconography is an important aspect of genre. We expect to see certain objects on screen when we see a particular genre.
• The study of proxemics is useful when analysing the implied distance or position between the camera and the subject.
• Mise-en-scene is a French term that can be translated into English as ‘production’ or ‘staging’.

Mise-en-scene is the most important when considering the production of a magazine cover as it concerns colour schemes, costume, makeup, props, gesture etc. These partake in creating an advertisable and appealing cover.

House Style - The expression house style refers to the specific usage and editing conversations followed by writers and editors to ensure stylistic consistency in a particular publication or series of publications (newspapers, magazines, journals, websites, books).