Planning Mise-en-scene - Miss Georgiou

Mise-en-scene is important when creating a thriller sequence as it sets the genre of the film and also sets the plot. Mise-en-scene is divided into 5 categories which each have important roles in a thriller sequence as they help the audience to understand what is going on in the film. Mise-en-scene also helps to create suspense and build up tension within the film as features such as low key lighting create a dark atmosphere and it makes the audience hard to see what is in the scene. Mise-en-scene thrills the audience and helps to build a relationship with the characters and the audience. It is also used to create an enigma and make the audience wonder what is going to happen next. By using Mise-en-scene it portrays a dark atmosphere and already foreshadows a death in the sequence.

I am going to set my sequence in an isolated house and the sequence will be filmed in one room where it will look like it has been abandoned. By using an isolated location it makes the victim seem completely helpless and portrays her innocence and weakness. The isolated location suggest
s that the victim hasn't got anywhere to run to and no one can hear her scream. This implies that the killer has a better chance of murdering her and portrays her death. An isolated location also creates a sinister effect as it makes it seem like the victim is alone, however when the killer does appear this will create shock and surprise for the audience and make them want to watch the rest of the sequence to find out what is going to happen to the victim. An isolated location also sets the theme straight away of a thriller genre and foreshadows to the audience that a death scene is going to take place as the victim is shown to be helpless. The room that she will be held hostage in, is also going to be abandoned and this makes the house seem even more isolated and shows no one has been there in ages. A relationship can be built between the characters and the audience as the audience straight away feel sympathy for the girl as they know she is trapped and can't escape which shows that the killer can easily get to her. The audience know that the victim is going to die and they are left on edge as to when she is going to die or if she does survive. The audience also feel intimated by the house and the isolated house makes both the victim and the audience see small as it is overpowering and foreshadows death. The audience become nervous for the victim because they can see how vulnerable and weak she is and so makes her an easy target. The setting is conventional to a thriller film as in all thriller films, an isolated location is always used to portray the vulnerability of the victim and to show how weak they are. Isolated locations are always used to show that the victims can't escape and nobody can hear them scream which creates a sinister atmosphere and creates suspense and tension for the audience.

I am also going to use iconography in my sequence and this will be shown as the knife and the smashed picture frame. Both of these items will be used in my thriller sequence as they both create a dark effect because they both show pain. The knife will be used when the antagonist walks in with the knife. The knife foreshadows death and shows that a lot of pain is going to be involved. The knife also tells the audience that is how the victim is going to die and this gets the audience on edge because they become scared for the victim. A knife is shown to be a dangerous weapon and this makes the sequence seem a lot more dramatic because it shows that the girl has no chance of survival and she is helpless. It also makes the killer seem a lot stronger and over powering because the knife shows that the killer can murder anyone and gives the killer more of a chance of killing the victim. The picture frame is also an important object within the thriller sequence as it shows instability of the victim and portrays how weak the victim is. The smashed picture frame also portrays danger as the broken glass makes it seem like the girl is unstable and the glass represents pain and suffering and this also foreshadows her death. Iconography helps to build a relationship with the audience as it creates surprise, suspense and shock for them. The objects used make the audience scared for the victim as they know how dangerous the weapons are. An enigma is also created as to what is going to happen next and this gets the audience intrigued into the sequence even more because tension is built up and makes the victim seem like an easy target. The audience are also engaged as the objects foreshadow danger and pain and so the audience are lead into the unknown as to whether the victim is going to die or not. Iconography is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates dramatic tension and foreshadows a death is going to take place. Iconography is always used in thriller films, and is shown by a dangerous weapon used by the antagonist. This straight away makes the antagonist seem overpowering compared to the victim who seems weak and vulnerable. Iconography is also used in thriller films to get the audience engaged and build up tension as to what is going to happen to the victim.

In my sequence, I am going to use low key lighting and this will be shown throughout the scene. I am going to have back lighting which will be a lamp in the room, and i am gong to use filler lighting which will be light from the window. Low key lighting will be used to tell the audience straight away that the genre is thriller. It will also make it hard for the audience to see what is going on in the sequ
ence as it will be dark and this will make it harder to see the characters. Low key lighting is used to create thrill for the audience and leave the audience in suspense. Low key lighting thrills the audience by making the killer appear when the audience least expect it and this makes the audience jump but also engages the audience into watching the rest of the sequence to find out what is going to happen next. Low key lighting also creates more of a sinister effect as it portrays the girl as vulnerable as she thinks she is alone and she can't see the killer, however when the killer does appear, this makes her helpless and shows she has no escape. Low key lighting is used to portray the victim as weak and helpless as it makes the victim unaware of the surroundings and gets them nervous for what is going to happen to them. Low key lighting builds a relationship with the audience as it leads them into the unknown and builds up tension for the audience. Low key lighting leaves the audience into suspense as it makes them unaware of events that are going to take place and this thrills the audience as it makes them jump when the unexpected happens but also gives them sympathy towards the victim. The audience are placed into the victims shoes and so they can have empathy when something unexpected happens as low key lighting makes it hard to see when the killer is going to appear. Low key lighting is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates thrill for the audience and shocks them when they least expect it. Low key lighting is used in all thriller films to creates  mysterious atmosphere and to tell the audience straight away that the film is a thriller. Low key lighting is also used in all thriller films to surprise the audience and make the audience feel intimated by the killer.

I am also going to include is costumes of the characters. The victim is going to wear white clothing and this connotes that the victim is pure and innocence as the connotation of white portrays innocence and shows that the victim is vulnerable and weak. By making the victim wear white, it shows that she is already in danger and the audience know that she is going to die because she has been portrayed as weak and helpless. The killer is going to be wearing black clothing and this connotes pain and death as black is seen as a dark colour which creates a sinister atmosphere and foreshadows the death of the victim. The black also connotes that the killer is going to be the one that murders the victim as the black represents danger and death. Both of these colours contrast with each other which portrays the two characters as innocent and dangerous. By using different colours for the victim and the killer it means that the audience know straight away who the characters are. The audience also know that a death is going to take place as the black implies death while the white portrays innocence and so the audience know that the victim is going to be killed by the antagonist. This creates suspense for the audience as it leaves them on edge as to when the killer is going to murder the victim but also builds up tension as the audience begin to feel sorry for the victim as they know something bad is going to happen. Costumes build a relationship with the characters because the audience feel threatened by the killer because of the connotation of black which suggests the killer is capable of murdering someone. The audience feel over powered by the killer and are placed in the victims shoes as they feel intimidated because the audience know that the killer can cause pain and death. The audience feel empathy towards the victim because they know the victim is helpless and can't escape so the victim is going to die and this causes shock towards the audience as they don't want the victim to die. Costumes is conventional to a thriller film as it portrays who the characters are to the audience it also creates thrill for the audience because they know that the killer is capable to murdering someone. Costumes are used in thriller films to connote meanings to the audience for instance the victim is always shown to be wearing white to imply purity and innocence while black is used to connote death. Costumes are important as white is a basic colour and red stands out on white which is important for thriller films and it shows when the victim has been stabbed and the connotation of red is pain and blood. Colours are always used in thriller films to foreshadow events that are going to take place.

Facial expressions and body language are also going to be used in my sequence. The victims facial expressions are going to be scared and confused. Her body language is going to be very closed while the antagonist's facial expressions are going to be determined and scary while the body language is overpowering and strong. By using facial expressions and body language it shows the difference in characters and portrays the weakness in the victim. The audience can also begin to understand how each of the characters are feeling and what their role is within the sequence. They are also important as they create thrill and shock for the audience as they can feel what the victim is feeling. For instance when the killer appears, both the audience and the victim didn't expect it and so they both have shocked expressions and this makes the audience understand how the victim is feeling. The body language also portrays the status of the characters so the killer seem overpowering which implies that the killer has the capability to kill someone and this gets the audience on edge. Facial expressions and body language create relationships for the audience as they help to build suspense and keep the audience in tension as to what is going to happen to the victim. They also create relationships as the audience is placed in the victims shoes and becomes intimidated by the killer as the killer overpowers both the audience and the victim. The audience can relate to the victim and feel how she is feeling as the events that take place are unexpected and so shock both the victim and the audience. Body language and facial expressions are always used in thriller films because they highlight who is the killer and who is the victim. They also set the genre of the sequence and tell the narrative to the audience. The audience can also understand how each of the characters are feeling and portray their status which makes the audience have sympathy on the victim. Facial expressions and body language are used to lead the audience into suspense as they create an element of shock and surprise.

The last thing I am going to include in my sequence is positioning of characters. In my opening sequence, I am going to have my victim placed in the center of the shot while the killer is going to be hidden behind the victim. The victim is going to be in the middle so that the audience know straight away who is the main character. By having my victim as the main image, it foreshadows events and portrays that the victim is going to die as she is the main character. The audience know who to focus on and who to watch throughout the sequence. The audience also know that something sinister is going to happen to the victim and so they are left on edge as to when the killer is going to appear. By having my killer hidden in the shot, it creates thrill for the audience because when the killer does appear it shocks the audience and makes them jump as it was unexpected. It also makes the victim seem vulnerable and helpless as she thinks she is alone however the killer is behind her and knows she is going to die. The victim doesn't know what is happening and so this portrays her as vulnerable and shows she has no escape from the killer. Having the main character as the main image also makes it easier to see their facial expressions and this includes the audience more into the sequence as they can relate to the victim and feel the same way she does because they don't expect the killer to be there and so both the victims and the audiences reactions are the same. The audience are also so focused on the victim that they don't notice the killer in the background and this creates an element of surprise and shock for the audience as a dramatic effect is created. A relationship is built because the audience are put into the victims shoes and feel exactly how she feels and the events taking place are unexpected for both the victim and the audience. Positioning of characters is conventional to a thriller film, as in all thriller films, the victim is always placed in the center of the image so that the audience focus on the victim rather than anything else in the shot. By doing this, it creates shock for the audience when the killer does appear because they were so focused on the victim that they didn't notice the killer and this makes the audience and the victim seem helpless and vulnerable.

To conclude, Mise-en-scene is important when creating a thriller sequence as it sets the genre of the film and makes the audience understand what is happening in the film. It helps the audience to also understand how the characters might be feeling and relate to them. It creates more of a sinister effect and creates a dark atmoshoehre and features such a low key lighting make it hard for the audience to see what is happening in the sequence. Mise-en-scene is also used to make the audience jump and scare them when they least expect it. This intrigues the audience into watching the rest of the sequence as they are lead into the unknown and an enigma is created. Mise-en-scene is used to create emotions and reactions within the audience and keep the audience in tension. The audience are constantly left not knowing what is going to happen and this creates thrill but also keeps the audience on edge. Mise-en-scene is very important in a thriller film because it helps to set the theme of a dark and mysterious atmosphere and straight away grabs the audiences attention and gets them worried for events that are going to take place. It is used to foreshadow death and portray that a lot of pain is going to take place.