Sound in the Mise-en-jeu: Conveying Meaning through Videogames’ Mediated Space

Abstract

Mise-en-jeu is the ontological equivalent of film’s mise-en-scène. As such, mise-en-jeu is a cinematographic language through which game designers communicate. It offers designers the ability to create and shape the aesthetics of videogames’ mediated space, the space of the cinematographic presentation.1 Our prior work on mise-en-jeu focused on the visual aspects of videogames. With that in mind, starting with an analysis of mise-en-scéne, this paper provides an understanding of how sound is relevant for meaningmaking through mise-en-jeu. Since videogames make use of some of motion picture’s filming techniques, we first studied practitioners and academics in the history of film, approaching videogames afterwards. The results of this research show that sound in mise-en-jeu allows designers to provoke emotions in players and to assist those players in formulating meaning as intended by the designers. We also found that mise-en-jeu allows for the deconstruction and interpretation of the characteristics of various variables of videogames’ mediated space. Therefore it allows us to understand better the relationship between videogames as audiovisual artefacts and the potential meanings that emerge from playing them.