Research into mise-en-scene- Miss Georgiou

Research into mise-en-scene.

My clip is a scene from 'Shutter island', it is a thriller film and it uses Mise-En-Scene to show meanings and provoke responses from an audience, which happens in many ways. I chose this film as it has an interesting storyline and the scene I chose is a fast paced scene with action and shots that tell the audience about the characters in the film. Mise-En-Scene is made up by five elements which are, Settings and iconography. Costume, hair and makeup. Facial expressions and body language. Lighting and colour and positioning and lighting. 

Settings and iconography.

This is an important element of Mise-En-Scene as it is where the shot is taken, this can set the mood of a film entirely. Iconography is mainly props or certain points in a the set used for the film. The clip uses settings and iconography effectively as the props used in the screen shot below show the audience that men with the guns are in a position of authority over the others as they a taking responsibility for what happened in the scene as they begin to rush over to what happened, the guns also prove that they are in a position of authority. The use of the props and settings in this film are clever as they show the audience clearly who is more important in the scene, which helps to build the plot of a film. The setting is also important in the scene as it sets a mood for the scene, for example if the shot is in a dark forest, it could be scary to the audience who might anticipate something bad could happen in  a dark setting, whereas if the setting is bright and colourful the scene might not have the same effect on the audience.

Costume, hair and makeup.

The costume, hair and makeup in the scene is important as it shows the audience many things about the film, the costumes they wear, for example the type of clothes or the way women have their hair shows the period the film is set in and the situation they are in, for example if the characters are being attacked their hair might be messy and their clothes might be ripped. The scene uses costumes well, to show the audience what situation they are in, as the all white suits shows that they are working together.

Body language & facial expressions.

This element of Mise-En-Scene indicates how the character is feeling, this helps build a connection to the audience. The body language in this scene is popular in thriller films as it helps build suspense and makes the audience anticipate what might happen in the scene. This is shown in the scene as the characters are seen rushing around hiding. The genre of thriller is continued as a girl appears that stares into the camera with a blank facial expression (shown below) which could be scary to some so this is a good use of body language and facial expressions, as it helps to continue the suspense of the film for the audience.

Positioning of characters in a frame.

Positioning of characters is important in thriller films as it can draw attention to character in a scene to show their importance over someone, and it indicates the relationships with the characters. This is important to building the plot in a film to show a characters relationship with other characters and there personality. The shot below from the scene shows the audience the relationship between characters in the shot. They are holding hands in this shot which shows that they are friendly with each other, and that they are equal. The positioning of the two characters in this shot helps to add suspense in the scene as they are staring at the camera. This makes you feel like they are looking at you. This helps to continue the suspense and the genre of 'thriller' in this scene.



Lighting and colour.

The lighting in films is important, its used to highlight the character in the shot, to let the audience see what is happening in the scene. In the thriller genre lighting is used to help build tension, and can be used to focus on something in a scene that the audience might not have noticed originally.
This screen shot on the right is a good example of the dark lighting used in this scene. The dark skies help add a tense atmosphere, which is typical of the thriller genre.