Mise En Scene: Gossip Girl

October 25 2019
Quarter two week one

Mise En Scene: Gossip Girl

I am currently watching Gossip Girl, so I decided to do this week's assignment while watching and episode, because as I watch this show frequently, I think it would be interesting to study the show. The episode used is Season 2 Episode 10: Bonfire of the Vanity

The episode begins in Brooklyn, New York. The setting is casual, located inside of one of the main character's, Dan Humphrey's apartment. Both characters in the scene, are placed in the kitchen with deep space, many different parts of the apartment are shown and you can tell the depth and difference of space between items. As the scene shifts to the Upper East side of New York, in Blair Waldorf's apartment, deep space is still used at the large table of girls chatting about boys and parties, this is the point where costume changes. As Brooklyn is a more middle class part of New York, the character's costume is casual. Upper East side is a much more expensive part of New York, and the change to fancier formal wear distinguishes the location and the background of the people in the scene. The lighting of the scene stays generally high-key, as both scenes are positive and morning day, natural lighting. The staging of the characters is natural, it resembles normal people interacting with each other in many different ways. Blocking staging is slightly used because the characters from the Upper East side do have dominance over the characters from Brooklyn, so as the scene progresses and characters like Blair and Dan interact, the richer more prestigious will have dominance in the scene, and blocking is used.

All different aspects of Mise En Scene help us better understand the background of the characters and the interaction between them without the viewer needing thorough explanation. For example, the locations of the characters and their financial situation (which is a large part of the plot of the show) is shown through their wardrobe and setting.