Research into Mise-en-scene- Miss Georgiou

Introduction:

Mise-en-scene is the different elements found in a scene. Which make the film key and shows us a lot about the film itself and the characters. Mise-en-scene is the arrangement and scenery in a film. There's different elements that comes under mise-en-scene such as settings and iconography;Costume hair and makeup;facial expressions and makeup;Facial expressions and body language;Lighting and colour and lastly positioning of characters/objects within the frame. Mise-en-scne is key as it makes the understanding of this particular genre clearer (thriller) or any other genre.

The film I'm analysing is Ouija, in the beginning of the clip key lighting is used when they are sitting around the table contacting Debbie from the dead, it highlights the key parts/important parts of the scene, it makes you focus what the cinematography wants you to focus on. The key lighting is used a lot in thrillers as the background is dark but the key lighting just makes you look at the key things in the scene. With the key lighting the lamps are focused on them which creates suspense as all the attention are just focused on them. Also in the clip back lighing is used when it focuses on two of the teenagers and is very dark which shows the audience that the bad spirit is approaching. Also half of the boys face is showing which could signify that he's hiding something which in this particular part he is fooling the bad spirit locked in the ouija board which is why this particular lighting is used. Moreover the colours in this scene is the colour on the table is blue, blue is associated with cold and the unknown; the unknown is about whats coming up, such as the ouija board, you don't know whats going to come from the dead. Both of these elements make the audience see whats going as the lighting makes you view the scene differenly and highlights the key things in the scene.

In this clip I have chosen makeup and costume is key as when they are trying to connect with Debbie they see her through the object that moves around the board and you see that Debbie's mouth is sewn up which shows the audience that she's keeping quiet about something and that she has something to hide, or that someone is making her stay quiet such as the woman that comes in later who is called Mother. She's the dominant devil that comes out of the board and who also killed Debbie when she done the Ouija board. In this clip also Debbie is dressed in a white gown which shows the audience her purity and innocence and how she died wasn't because she was a bad person. She's done nothing wrong. The teenagers are all dressed in everyday wear which shows the audience that they are just normal teenagers that aren't trying to do anything wrong. This is conventioinal as in a thriller it's always the innocent people that the devil/bad spirit will take against.

When the Mother enters the scene you can tell a lot about her character due to her facial expression when she enters the scene her mouth is open in horror screaming at the group of teenagers, her makeup also shows us that she's dead as she has a pale look about her that doesn't look very healthy. Also when all of the teenagers are sitting around the dinning table all of their facial expressions look wary as to what is going to happen once they finsih with the ouija board. Also they have wide eyes which shows that they are focusing on the ouija board with fear. Again this is conventional to a thriller film as it enages the audience as you feel connected to the teenagers and feel worried for them because their all innocent people who just want to find out what has happened to their best friend. However that is what their body language and facial expressions are portraying them as.

The setting is based in a house around a dining table the room looks small which shows us that their trapped around the table and the only way out is with a struggle, which in a thriller film is conventional seeing people in distress trying to escape. The setting is around a table in a house it's conevntional as your trapped in one area/place. Icgonography in this clip is mainly the ouija board which is connecting to the dead; it creates a mystery as you don't know who your specificaly contacting. This is conevntional to the thriller film as throughout the scene it builds up suspense as their all together in a small place looking trapped. Also the small triangle which is used to connect to the dead; this prop is mainly used when Debbies friend looks through the glass hole to see Debbie's spirit which reveals her identity and shows the audience in detail what her face looks like and also shows us what is happening which creates a atmosphere to the audience of shock and suspense.

The positioning of the characters show us that their all scared as there comforting eachother which shows the audience something bad is possibly going to happen as their all in a semi circle with no spaces between them. The way everything is postinioned shows the audience everything is being placed in certain places for a reason. That comes across in this scene as for instance the ouija board is placed directly in the middle of the dinning table which shows the audience that is one of the main iconography in the scene. This again is conventional, in thrillers the main objects that they want you to focus on are always laid out for you directly so you can see them clearly. Also in this clip the lighting is positoned in front of them to show the audience that all attention is based on them at that moment at that what's behind the lighting is unclear to the audience which again creates shock suspense and mystery.

Conclusion:
Overall with the clip im using it has key mise-en-scene which shows the audience what is happening. I chose this clip as it had clear mis-en-scene that I could relate back to it being a conventional thriller film. Ouija had a clear storyline which made it easy to understand the mise-en-scene which has been put into the film (clip I chose).