Planning Mise-En-Scene- Miss Georgiou

Why is Mise-En-Scene important within a thriller film?
Mise-en-scene is important in thriller films as all of the aspects of mise-en-scene together make a successful thriller film, this is as all parts of Mise-en-scene go together to make the conventions of the thriller genre. The conventions of the thriller genre that are essential to the thriller genre are, lighting, sound, costumes, settings and more, the mise-en-scene add to the overall atomosphere of a film, the mise-en-scene is important as without it the film wouldn't be realistic, therefore the audience wouldnt be engaged with the film, so there wouldnt be any suspense or other basic conventions of the thriller genre.

What is the Mise-En-Scene of your thriller and why?

• Setting and iconography-

We are setting our thriller film in an industrial estate, at night time, so there will be low key lighting. The setting is a conventional setting for thriller films as it is somewhere that the audience can relate to, as most people would have been to one before, so they could put their selves in the characters position, we are not filming in a normal street, we are setting it in the dark alley way, which has enough lighting for the audience to see the characters, but it has an eerie feel, that creates suspense amongst the audience, the dark alley way is also conventional as the characters in the opening scene wouldn't be expected to be out at night, this also builds the suspense of the film.

• Costume, hair and makeup-

The two characters in our film are different genders, the young girl, and a man. The blonde female will be wearing dirty clothes and will have a pale face, dark eyes and messy hair, the costume and make up is important for this character as it is is what the audience first See of her, which is important to build the relationship with this character, the costume is conventional of thethriller genre. The male character will be wearing casual clothes as he is just a normal person, this will help the the audience build a relationship with this character as some might be able to relate to him, which is important in thriller films as it helps build suspense when the audience have a relationship with the characters.

• Facial Expressions and Body Language -

The facial expressions of the characters is important in films as it shows the audience what the characters are feeling, the facial expressions and body language of the female character will be important as she will have a blank expression, this works well with our narrative as the audience will be confused as to why7 the young girl isnt scared, this is important for the relationship between the character and audience, it will also build the relationship between the characters on screen.

• Lighting and Colour-

Our opening sequence will be filmed in the dark, with low level lighting, produced by the lamps down the road. The predominant colours in our opening sequence will be dark colours, with many shadows. This will build the suspenseful atmosphere, which is conventional to the thriller genre, as the dark lighting could be scary for the young female character, which will build the relationship between the audience and the characters further as they might be worried for her.

• Positing of Characters/Objects within the frame-

The characters positioning in the opening sequence will be important to the portrayal of the characters to the audience and will show the relationship the characters have with each other. Towards the start the focus will be on the girl, she will be the centre of shots and the male character will be seen to approach her, which will show their relationship again. A the opening sequence continues the focus will be gradually switched to focus on the male. This is in relation to the events on screen, and the suspense, will build as the audience are scared for the male character.

How is the Mise-En-Scene conventional to a thriller film?

• Set and iconography  

The mise-en-scene is important to thriller film as it is what makes the film beliveable for the audience therefore building suspense and making the film exciting for audienes that like thriller films, the setting and iconography is one of the most important parts of mise-en-scene for example if the the setting isn't somewhere that the audiene find scary then they will not be engaged and the rest of the conventions wont be effective.

• Costume hair and makeup-

Some thriller films contain very iconic characters that have very complex costumes. This is another important element in the thriller genre as the costumes and features of the character need to be widely considered as they need to be relate able to the audience so they can create a bond with the audience. if the audience dont feel like they can relate to the characters on screen then there wont be and suspense as the audience dont care about what happens to the characters, meaning that they dont ebnjoy the film.

• Facial Expressions and Body Language-

 Thriller films contain lots of the characters emotions throughout the film and they are expressed through many camera angles such as close ups, which can focus on the body language and facial expressions of the characters to get a deeper meaning across to the audience. This will help build a relationship between the characters and the audience, which is important in thriller films, as it builds suspense, we plan to use the camera angles and have the characters body language in a way that builds suspense in our opening scene.

• Lighting and Colour - 

The lighting and colour that will will use in our thriller opening sequence will be conventional of the thriller genre as the low key lighting and dark colours that are in our opening sequence are popular in thriller films, as it helps build suspense, which is very important to make a good thriller film. If our opening sequence didn't have the lighting and colour that we are planning for it then the suspense and, parts of the sequence that are made to shock the audience will not be effective. This is why lighting and colour is so important as if the coulours and lighting dont reflect the thriller genre then suspense is lost.

• Positioning of Character and Objects within the frame -

This element draws attention to a character at a certain time, which can help to force the audience to feel a certain way about a specific character, for example if the shot is focusing on one character acting scared then this will make the audience assume that the other character has caused them to feel scared. The shots will focus on them specifically, giving the audience a third meaning. We are thinking of using this in our opening sequence as we make the audience think that one character is in danger then we will switch the roles to give the opposite effect, wwe feel this will add alot of suspense to our opening scene. The positioning of a character is important in the thriller genre because they tend to focus highly on a character before something happens to them. It gives time for the audience to build a relationship with this character, which therefore buiolds suspense as they want a character to be safe.

How can your thriller build a relationship with your target audience?

During my thriller opening scene there are many ways I can build a relationship with my target audience. I can do this by focusing on the facial expression and body language of the characters. I will do this by making the actor who plays the blonde female show her emotions which will be focused on with close ups and mid shots of the two characters together. I can also show this by having the blonde female in the centre of most of the shots in the opening of the scene to make it apparent to the audience that the girl is lonely at night time therefore creating a connection with her as they will feel they want to help her, this relationship will make the suspense easier to create, as the audience care about the characters, the way this is shown to the audience as it is how the narrative needs to be show to make sense for them.