Mise-en-scene

That 70's Show

One setting in the show is Michael Kelso's van. It is a green Volkswagen with maroon leather all over the walls and has pink carpet all the way through it. This can be seen as a representation of Kelso's out-there personality. The whole friend group is spectacle of the strange looking van at some point during the show ,but Kelso thought it was in love with it from the jump. The basement of the Foreman's house is very well lit from all sides. There is lighting coming from all directions. This is called three point lighting because it is an arrangement of key, fill, and back light lighting. All of the characters in the group can be well seen because of this lighting technique. Even if they are on different levels of the shot they are still easily distinguishable. This would be considered blocking. The characters are usually positioned in a similar spot each time the basement is a part of a scene. This is to give it a sense of meaning to each character. The costumes used in the show represent the time frame in which is it portrayed in very well. For example Eric Foreman wears bell bottom jeans most of the time which was a popular style back in the 70's. Also the show often has flashbacks and the outfits they are wearing in them also represent the era of the flashback well. This along with all the other wardrobes helps us understand the era the film is showing. There is different types of space used in the show. Such as off screen space. One example of this is when Kelso is at his girlfriend Jackie's house. He is dancing with her in her room when he dad comes home. The camera is oh the dads point of view so he can not be seen, but it is evident to the viewers that he is present in the room.