Planning Mise-en-scene - Miss Georgiou

Introduction:

Mise-en-scene in thriller opening is one of the key conventions that make a successful thriller sequence, mise-en-scene include Setting and Iconography ,Costumes, Lighting, Positioning and lastly Facial expressions and body language. These elements are all important to include in a thriller film because they all have their own way in leaving an effect on the audience, which makes each of them unique in their own way, these elements create an effect and clearer understanding on what is going to happen in the thriller opening, they allow the audience to have a connection as the mise-en-scene tells the audience a lot about their character.

Facial expressions will be shown to the audience when the victim is scared, it will show the audience that the victim is shocked and worried and will have the audience feeling sympathetic towards the victim, without the facial expressions being shown and expressed with detail to the audience, the audience wouldn't be able to tell whether the victim is scared or not. The antagonist expressions however is more of the opposite of the victims; The protagonists face would be focused which will show the audience that the killer is determined to kill and to be a conventional killer in a thriller genre. This will make the audience have a clearer understanding of each of the characters roles. Body Language is related in with the facial expressions; The victim in my thriller opening sequence will have a hunched over closed in body posture this will show the audience that the victim is weak and vulnerable as her body posture is closed up. The antagonist body posture is relaxed and comfortable this will show the audience that the antagonist isn't the one who's scared, also shows the audience the protagonist has the power in the sequence. These two elements help explain my narrative as it will show the audience the characters personality through body language and facial expressions. Within my discussion as to what I will be using for my characters it is conventional due to the victim and protagonist being portrayed in a specific way that will be conventional in a thriller opening sequence.

Lighting in my opening sequence will be conventiona as I will include low-key lighting when the victim wakes up and sees a dead body laying next to her this will set a sense of foreboding atmosphere as low key lighting in a thriller shows the audience that something bad will eventually happen such as a murder or a revealing of a killer. When the victim is walking up towards the curtain there will be a backlight being used such as a lamp this will help create a sense of suspense as it's unknown to the audience why there is only a back light being used in this specific part of the sequence it creates a sense of mystery, this is conventional as it's creating an enigma to the audience, as they don't know what's going to happen next or what my group and I are going to create due to the tension of these specific lighting. Colour will be used in my sequence also, such as the shadows; this will be used when the victim sees a object in the curtain this will create tension to the audience as they are unaware as to what is behind the curtain, when shadows are used it makes the audience wary as they don't know who else is being involved in the sequence, a shadow is conventional as it's creating an enigma to the audience such as the unknowingness of who is behind the curtain. I would also include the colours red and black. I will use the colour red as it's associated with blood and blood will be shown at the very start of my opening sequence when the victim sees the blood on her and on the dead body behind her. Black will be used to signify the power and misery of the antagonist this will portray the coldness and disturbance of the character.

 

The costumes within my opening sequence will help the audience understand the characters role more as the victim will be dressed in a white dress this will show the audience the victims innocence and purity this relates to my narrative as the victim is stuck in a building and she has no recognition of how she got there, the costume shows us how vulnerable she is, moreover this is conventional to my thriller genre as it's showing the audience who the weak and vulnerable is which will make it clearer to the audience to understand who the victim is also. In mostly all of the thriller films the victims are mostly always wearing white in their costume as it gives the audience a better understanding of the character roles. My antagonist however will be dressed in all black, as it will show the audience that the antagonist is the more dominant and evil one in the thriller sequence. This is conventional to a thriller genre as it's giving the audience a clearer understanding of the character roles.

 

The setting and iconography in my opening sequence will be in either a isolated house or room which will create an enigma as it's an unknown eerie location, when the flashbacks begin to happen the location soon changes to somewhere, this was to show the audience that it's not in the same scene; This is conventional to a thriller genre as it makes the audience wonder why the setting is somewhere unknown it engages the audience into wanting to know more. The iconography which is going to be used in my sequence is a knife for the weapon, this was voted one of the most popular weapons in my research into target audience post which is one of the reasons why my group and myself have chosen this weapon, the knife is to show the audience that the antagonist is threatening and dangerous. Rope is also going to be used, this will be used at the start of the sequence when the girl is tied up, it limits her movement and shows her struggles to escape, this is conventional as the victim is struggling to escape from the antagonist's master plan. A mask will also be used for the antagonist as it will hide the identity of the killer until the ending of the sequence, this again is conventional to the thriller genre as it's to make the audience feel suspense as to who the killer is.

 

Conclusion:

This planning has helped me plan what I am going to include in my thriller sequence, as I now have a clear understanding as to what I need to include for mise-en-scene and why my elements of mise-en-scene will be conventional to a thriller genre.