Mise en scene in "Mad Men"

Mad Men is a drama series about advertising executives in the 1960s. In the first season finale 'The Wheel', the lead character Don Draper pitches a marketing campaign to Kodak for their Carousel slide projector. This scene is set in the formal working environment of the office of Sterling Cooper, the agency where Don works, in New York.

Props include cigaretters, as every adult character smokes because it is set at a time when society isn't yet fully aware of the dangers of tobacco, and the projector, the subject of the pitch. Every character in the room is wearing a suit as they are all males in a male-dominated industry and society in general, and this is a business meeting, and the set is darkly lit to focus on and emphasise the slideshow that is central to the whole pitch. Don presents this pitch in a slow and distinct way so we get the message more clearly, and so the execs he's pitching to do, as well. He explains how a slideshow can create a sense of nostalgia, and shows pictures of himself with his family, that helps him realise what's really important in his life after a whole season of growing distant from his kids and cheating on his wife, and regrets where it all went wrong.