On Wednesday we had a guest speaker come in to talk to us about mise-en-scene and its use in Manhattan.  Professor Diaz seemed to have covered everything. She was prepared, and had a number of examples to help make her points clear.  One example that I enjoyed looking at was how characters would appear under certain light, which included key light, fill light, and back light.  I would have never known how different the characters appeared under each light without being presented with visuals. I also thought it was a good idea to make examples out of other films besides Manhattan.  When Professor Diaz was talking about canted angles being used when things are getting rough for the characters in the scene, Inception seemed like the perfect example.  This lecture really did help me better understand mise-en-scene and its importance in cinema. I never realized how much thought needed to go into the making of a film, and how much every decision, like which light to use, mattered.

Although I’d have to admit that many of the aspects we went over were not of much interest to me, there were certain ones that I was genuinely interested in.  Discussing different types of lenses was my favorite part of Wednesday’s seminar class.  I myself have a DSLR camera, and really enjoy taking and looking at pictures.  I have actually been looking for a new lense to add to my collection, so I knew a little bit about what the professor was talking about.  She added a few details about certain lenses that I was less familiar with, which I loved hearing about.

Overall, I found this class to be very informative and I feel as though next time I watch a movie I will know exactly what to look for and therefore get more out of the film.