In film theory, Mise-en-scène [mizA~sEn] is one of the currently-dominant theories of conveying information in the cinema. It maintains that long takes and frequent camera moves are preferred over chopping up a scene through editing. It refers to everything that is to appear before the camera and its arrangement -- sets, props, actors, costumes, camera movements and performances. The term was coined by early French film critics and means literally "put into the scene" or "setting in scene." In auteur theory, less creative directors are sometimes disparagingly called "metteurs en scène".