Decisions: A Senior Mise en Scene Illustration by Jacqueline Portelli (2013)

In my mise en scene photograph there is a college student sitting at her desk looking down at her plethora of student loans, with her hand on her head and a worried look on her face. I chose to make the light focused at the focal point of the photograph, and darker around the focal point to create a ''daunting '' feel to the whole photograph. I wanted to apply this type of feeling to the photograph to pair with the idea that the girl is stressed about her student loans.

I chose to photograph this scene because my story is about a college student who tutors child stars and is in a lot of student loan debt. When she is offered a tremendous amount of money for an item of Britney Spears's from a sleazy paparazzi group that will surely pay off her loans, she must make the decision to give the paparazzi the item or not. By giving them the item, she knows she will be betraying a loyal employer, which may cost her her job. But, if she doesn't give the paparazzi what they want, she may not ever be able to pay off her debt.