Mise-en-scene

 

In this activity, we were given a character that we had to develop and had the liberty of developing in any way we pleased. The primary goal was to ensure it was clear and easy to understand. In the development of our character, every piece we put into our presentation should make it easier for anyone to understand who we are trying to create. 

Jenny Garcia is a college student studying environmental science. She is outspoken, driven, and passionate about climate activism, often organizing campus events and rallies. Standing at 5’5”, she has dark brown curly hair and brown eyes. Her style is casual and expressive—featuring light-wash jeans, a green tank top paired with a white cardigan, Converse sneakers, and gold jewelry. She wears glasses and keeps her makeup simple, with mascara, red blush, and burgundy lip gloss (#3d011f), reflecting her natural confidence and grounded personality.

For a seamless development process of my character, I used Pinterest to gather images that inspired my character’s appearance and personality. I organized these ideas in a Canva template to visually bring my concept together. I also used ShotDeck to select environmental shots that represent what my character advocates for and to develop a cohesive color palette that reflects their message. If I had done my station in person, I would have had one computer for my Canva presentation and another for a playlist of what my character would listen to. As well as having a place for my physical objects that my character would own.

In developing Jenny Garcia, I aimed to create a realistic representation of a young woman passionate about environmental activism. Her character challenges the stereotype that college students are lazy or uninvolved by showing her as outspoken, driven, and community-focused. Through construction choices like natural makeup, casual clothing, and a green color palette, I built a visual identity that reflects her grounded and eco-conscious personality. By using selection to focus on activism and leadership rather than popularity or appearance, Jenny’s character avoids common tropes and presents a positive, authentic image of modern youth advocacy.

Since I worked alone, I had to entirely depend on myself and hold myself accountable for everything. I went through the entire brainstorming and creating process by myself. I had to first establish what elements I wanted to highlight in my character and which ones were supporting that. Going through all the steps and thoroughly making sure that everything I needed was included was extremely important. The result of my efforts provided me with a product I was proud of, and I believe it developed my character to its fullest potential. Although my project wasn't perfect, I felt as if I made it easy to understand and thoroughly curated.