Reflection on the Production of Day in the Life: A Study of Mise-en-scène in Visual Methodology

• In Event: Exploring Daily Social Transactions of Resilient Youth in Various Contexts Around the Globe

Abstract

“Mise-en- scène” is a French theatrical term that refers to the production decisions in the composition of moving images (Monaco, 2000). The study of a production site must be inquisitive, pursuing answers to question such as: Why is it being made? What technological equipment is required? Who is involved? When and where does the action take place? What are to be the subjects of “shoots”, and at what sorts of angles and distances will the shoots happen? How is space to be filled with light and sound? (Rose, 2007). Producing videos for Day in the Life (DITL) was much more challenging than producing a stage drama, TV show or movie would have been as the film-making research assistants on the DITL project had to make spontaneous decisions in the natural, unplanned environments of the youth participants. Temporary and special relationships were in a constant state of flux, and often beyond the research assistants’ control. This, and the research assistants’ experiences with the camera, comfort levels with technology, perspectives on framing, academic disciplines, ontological and epistemological constructs, certainly impact on how information was conveyed on the screen.
To ensure the reliability and systematic standards of procedures at all sites, the four research assistants on the Canadian sites received a standardized training prior to data collection. Each research assistant also travelled to the partner international site that had the same technical equipment, and conducted the study with the same research protocol. Interestingly, the way that our youth participants were captured in the videos, and the compositional agreements (the spatial organization of the images) turned out to reflect the unique views and perspectives of the individual research assistant. In this paper, two research assistants in the DITL project reflect on their personal experiences in the data-gathering process. In particular, we identify the advantages, challenges and limitations that arose during the production stages. As Monaco (2000) suggests, the interpretations of the moving images go beyond the images themselves as one must consider the structure of the shots and frame used.
We used Monoco’s mise-en- scène schema to reflect on the frame and shots as we reviewed the videos. Engaging in a reflective reviewing process allowed us to learn the effects of the special organization of images. Our preoccupations, educational/disciplinary backgrounds, and worldviews significantly affect the visual images. Our spontaneous decisions about when to zoom in, where to focus, where we should stand in relation to the participant and their interactants, and how to deal with lighting and sounds, influenced our interpretations of the qualitative dynamics of the moving images. The production of visual images is challenging, and researchers must pay careful attention to the different components of the development and assessment of moving images.

Author

• Cindy Lau, The University of British Columbia