Research into Mise-en-scene - Miss Georgiou

Mise-en-scene is split up into 5 categories, setting and iconography, lighting and colour, costume hair and makeup, facial expressions and body language and positioning of characters. Mise-en-scene is used to provoke certain meanings that the audience might not of seen. It is also used focus on certain things in the clip for instance an object that the audience might not pick up on or a character that could be seen as unimportant.

In the film, "Insidious" a scene is shown where Quinn Brenner, who is the girl that notices strange things, is sitting in her room texting a boy.  During the scene, she knocks on the wall and there is a knock back. She texts the boy, who is her next door neighbour but soon finds out that he isn't at home and she finds it stranger that she heard a knock back.
The audience see the girl turn the light off and suddenly a pair of hands come down and touch her.

In the clip, low key lighting is constantly used and this is shown when the girl is sitting in her room. The only lighting is coming from her lamp and her phone, but the rest of the room is dark. This is conventional to a thriller film because it creates a dark atmosphere and makes the audience wonder if there is anything or anyone else in her room. It also creates suspension as the lighting makes it hard to see the room and so it leads the audience wondering what is going to happen next. This engages the audience as low lighting shows that something bad is going to happen to the girl and so they are left in suspense for when something unexpected is going to happen. The audience can also relate to the character as both the characters and the audience don't know if someone is in the room or not and they both at the moment think that she is alone, however the low key lighting makes the audience have doubts whether the girl is actually alone or not. The key light in this scene is the lamp next to her bed and this creates the main source of light to make sure the audience can see the person on the screen. The back light is the fairy lights on her bed which helps creates shadows around the room and makes the room seem dark and mysterious and the filler lights is the lamp right at the back of the room which helps balance out the lighting as a whole. This makes sure the audience focus on the main person however it also shows what is at the back of the room and creates tension as to who is in the room. Using these types of lighting makes the room seem dark and makes it hard for the audience to see the room however the lighting also is focused on the girl in the room so that the audience can see her facial expressions and see how she reacts to the situation.


The facial expressions used in the scene shows the girl looking flirtatious. In the scene, the girl is texting her next door neighbour who is a boy. When she is texting the boy, the facial expressions on the girls face sh
ows that she may like him as she is acting flirty, however when she finds out the boy isn't next door, her facial expression changes to more of a shocked face. This shows that she thinks something is wrong and that the situation is no longer a joke but it is actually serious. This is conventional to a thriller film as the facial expressions are meant to be shocked and scared as the characters in a thriller film don't know what is going on and so are scared for what is going to happen next. Her shocked facial expression engages the audience as the audience now know that she is scared and so they also feel scared for her because they know that something bad is going to happen and so it leads the audience into suspension as to who is banging on the wall. The audience can also tell that the girl is no longer joking around and so this builds up tension because the situation has changed to serious.

Quinn is positioned in the middle of the screen throughout the whole time in the scene and this shows that he is the main character. It also makes the audience focus on her instead of anything else in her room. It is conventional to have the main character in the middle of the screen in a thriller film as the audience would automatically think that something bad is going to happen to them and they could be the one that gets hurt or could die. It is also conventional as the film would revolve around them and the audience would know who to look at. This engages the audience as they concentrate on the main character and they can feel worried for her as they know that something bad is going to happen to her. It also means that the audience can focus on her facial expressions and her body language which builds up tension as when the character feels scared then the audience would feel scared. Quinn is shown to be in the whole image on the camera and so this creates tension because the audience are so focused on her that they don't know when the demon is going to attack and where it could come from and so when it does attack then this creates an element of surprise as it was unexpected. For example, in this scene, the demons hands come down and grab her from the ceiling, however Quinn takes up the whole shot and so the audience were surprised when the hands came down and grabbed her as they didn't expect it. This creates a thrill but also makes the audience jump.

Iconography is also used in this scene as Quinn is on her phone texting a boy. The phone is key to this scene because it gives away that t
he boy isn't actually next door but instead someone else was banging on the wall. This is conventional as it creates suspense for the audience as to who is next
door. The phone is also conventional because it leads the audience into the fear of the unknown as to who might actually be behind the screen and whether there is someone in the room. This engages the audience because they are worried for the girl and it keeps them intrigued in the film as they would want to know if something happens to the girl. when the boy says hes not next door, the audience are automatically drawn more towards the film as this creates tension because it leads them guessing whose responding to the girl and this creates a thrill for the audience.

The setting of the scene is in Quinn's room which is shown to be dark. The room is conventional because it shows a naturalistic place for a thriller scene to be set as bedrooms are realistic. The bedroom also gives a sense that the girl is alone which makes the girl more vulnerable and gives the killer more access to her. By setting the scene in the bedroom is means that the audience wonder if she is really alone and the low lighting of the room creates more suspense as the audience can't se
e around the room. The audience feel as though someone is in the room as the shadows in the room make it seem like shes not alone. The girl seems vulnerable as she is on her own and the door is shut which makes the exit seem even harder to get out of which also creates the feel that someone is in the room. This is conventional as the bedroom makes it seem like a no exit room which is what the killer wants. In thriller films, the victim usually finds it hard to get out of a room which is where the killer can strike. The room is also conventional as the darkness and the shadows make the room seem creepy to the audience and the audience know that someone is in there, while Quinn doesn't and this makes the audience scared for her. This engages the audience as they audience would want to find out what happens during the scene.

Costume is also used in this scene as Quinn is wearing white pj's. This makes the scene more realistic  as the scene is set at night in her bedroom and so the clothing makes the scene seem more real. The clothing is also white, the colour white symbolises purity and innocence and that makes the girl seem more vulnerable to getting killed. The girl is shown to be pure which suggests she is the victim but also innocent which tells the audience that she doesn't know what is happening during the scene. The colour white is conventional to a thriller film as the victim is usually dressed in white to show innocence and vulnerability while the killer is usually dressed in black to hide identity and to show mystery to its character and this gets the audience engaged as they would want to know who the killer is. Costume engages the audience because the colour represent what is going to happen in the film. Quinn is wearing white and so the audience would automatically assume she is the victim and so would want to watch the scene to find out what happens.

To conclude, Mise-en-scene is used in thriller films is to create emotions at certain points of the film and make the audience feel tense or nervous. The point of mise-en-scene is to get a feel of what the characters might be feeling and this is used throughout the scene as the audience is constantly left not knowing what is gong to happen next just like the characters in the scene don't know what is going to happen. It is also used to outline certain things in the scene which could be a key element of the scene. The scene is used to thrill the audience and to build suspense for them and mise-en-scene is used to create this as certain aspects make the scene more scarier than it is for example lighting which is a key element when making thriller films. Mise-en-scene builds up both tension and thrill as the audience are left to find out what happens next. Mise-en-scene is used to create the three elements of surprise, shock and suspense and this is shown throughout the clip of insidious as the audience felt suspense during the scene as to what was going to happen during the scene. There was also an element of shock when the boy texted back saying he wasn't next door and this straight away makes the audience feel worried for the character.