Research into Mise-en-scene - Miss Georgiou

                                                          Research into Mis-en-Scene

Introduction

A typical thriller has scenes that are a build up of shock, surprise and tension and excitement as its main elements. A thriller provides the sudden rush of emotions, excitement, and exhilaration that drive the narrative sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls, sometimes at a constant, breakneck pace. It keeps the audience on the "edge of their seats". Mis- en - Scene is important within a thriller film because they are the 5 main things in thrillers that are needed to make a good film, that creates shock, surprise and suspense for the audience. 

 Mis-en-scene consists of 5 main elements:

1.  1. Setting and Iconography - Plays an important part in the film playing not just the background

2.  2. Costume, Hair and Make up - Act as an instant indicator to us of a characters personally it tells us whether the film is in the present. 

3.  3. Facial Expressions and Body Language - Provide an indicator of how someone is feeling, body language shows the relationship between one or more people. 

4.  4. Lighting and Colour - There are two types of lighting 1) Low key lighting - Created by using dark shadows, produces sharp contrasts of light and dark areas. 2) High Key lighting - More filler lights are used. Lighting is natural and realistic to our eyes. Produces brightly it lit sets. 

5.  5. Positioning of characters/objects within a frame - Characters within a frame can relate to how important the character is to the scene.

Chosen Film Scene: 'American Psycho' -  Chainsaw Scene

Setting and Iconography

The Chainsaw seen when Patrick runs out of the bedroom is Iconography (a prop) in the scene and this creates excitement and tension for the audience as this draws them in and makes them interested, this is as he chases her with the chainsaw. down the hallway and through the building. The prop, a chainsaw, is a typical convention of a thriller and this does in turn make the audience feel suspicious of the man with the chainsaw and his motives. The chainsaw is conventional of a thriller because it is a weapon and weapons are typically seen in thriller films as the item that is used to murder the victim(s). If there was no props within a thriller film then there would be no destruction or tense moments for the audience to be 'on the edge of their seats' meaning that they would probably not want to watch the film.  The use of Patrick and the chainsaw is dramatic irony because the audience assumes that from the setting he has a weapon. The setting is in an apartment of his but as she runs she finds another room which has writing on the wall and the lights flicker, this room builds up suspense for the audience because they then want to know what is going to happen to her. The abandoned room in the apartment is a typical convention to a thriller also because the room is dark and abandoned. This is useful and good within a thriller because this draws the audiences attention to the plot and makes them want to find out why the room is abandoned and what the murderer is going to do next. 

Costume, Hair and Make Up 

The fact that she has little clothing on lets the audience know that she is vulnerable and that she is now probably going to be the one to die. The audience may also feel that she is vulnerable because she has just been manipulated into having sex with this man and then he try to kill her. They audience may feel sorry for her character at this point because she is vulnerable she seems like she is an easy target for him to kill.  Patrick doesn't have any clothes on at all which you would think would make him the most vulnerable but actually he is the one with the power mainly because he is the one with the weapon. The hair in the scene looks scruffy and muffled up which could indicate that the characters are in a rush or really not organised and prepared for this. Especially the woman because she did not expect to be running up the corridors and Patrick wasn't prepared to run after her, he may have assumed that he would kill her in the bed too. This leads to the sense of urgency for the audience and they feel like there is a real rush to keep up with the scene as well as the urgency indicating to the audience excitement and thrill. This lack of clothing leads to a convention of a thriller because the woman is the victim that is being chased and the lack of clothing shows that she is vulnerable to the audience. Also this is conventional to a thriller because there is always someone in a thriller film that has been manipulated into doing something and then there being consequences for the character.  

Facial Expressions and Body Language 

 The facial expressions in scenes show how the characters are feeling this in turn helps the audience decide how they should feel about the particular scene and whats happening. In this case the woman has an expression of panic and her body language is telling that she is afraid and wants to run away. Patrick in the scene excited and happy even though he is killing someone the fact that he is chasing her gives him some kind of rush. The audience may feel for the woman because she is the victim and she looks really innocent, so they can feel sorry for her and not actually want her to die. The idea that the female is running away from Patrick shows a typical convention of a thriller because she is the vulnerable woman and there is normally the woman as the victim. Another convention of a thriller with the body language shows that there is always someone who is scared or in panic in a thriller film either because they are being chased or because they are they are plotting ways to murder someone.  

Lighting and Colour 

 
The lighting in this scene is dark at the beginning of the scene which is Low key lighting because there is only the natural lighting from the window into the room. This makes the audience feel tense, when the main character kills one of the girls in the bed the other girl moves and runs through the apartment building which is dark, this creates tension to the audience as she is running in the dark will she get away. As she runs down the stairs the lighting is flickering slightly building up the suspension for the audience as she is panicking. This is a typical convention of a thriller because there tends to be dark rooms or a murder tends to happen in the dark because then they can hide the evidence better. However this is conventional also because the lighting creates tension and panic for the audience as they realise that because it is dark something bad may happen. The audience will feel tense for the characters and the darkness can make the shock within a scene more real for the audience, this in turn keeps there attention in whats going on within the scene.

Positioning of Characters and Objects

The positioning of the characters in the part of the scene where Patrick is at the top of the stairs and she is running down the star is shows that the two characters are distant. This is mainly because Patrick is trying to kill her. In this case he is at the top of the stairs and she is at the bottom which is an indication that he is in charge as he is higher up the building and she is lower down. Patrick in this case has the power over the scene while the woman is vulnerable. When he drops the chainsaw down the stairs and she dies the characters are still distant because he does not go down the stairs he walks away. This has created tension for the audience because they don't know who or what he is going to kill next and makes the audience want to continue watching. This links to the typical conventions of a thriller because the protagonist is chasing the victim who is in fact a female which there tends to be in most thriller films leaving the audience feeling sorry for the character and leave them wanting them to not be hurt or murdered. 

Conclusion

In Conclusion the research that I have conducted on Mis - en - Scene will help me when planning my own thriller because I will know to include the 5 most important things of a thriller film.  Including Costume, Iconography, character positioning with each other and facial expressions and know how to include the most effective light. Mis - en - scene is important to a thriller because the 5 main elements are important other wise the thriller would not be or have any tension or suspense. Sound is important through mis - en - scene because otherwise the film would not make sense and you would not understand necessarily whats going on. As is Iconography and setting is important to  a thriller because otherwise if there was no props then the weapons would not be able to be used and would make the film very boring as there would just be violence through physical. For example if there was no knives used in a film to kill someone then the tension goes and it would take a lot longer to kill someone. The setting is important otherwise there would be no interest for the audience because you wouldn't be interested really in a film where there is a murder in a sunny day park, there would be no tension or suspense created. As is facial expressions and body language which is very important because otherwise the audience wouldn't know how the characters are feeling and what they are going to do next within the film.

The sorts of Mis-en-scene that I can include in my thriller is dark and light settings and scenarios as well as add in effective props and costumes to fit the scene. Other things that can be included from mis - en - scene for my thriller sequence is iconography as this creates suspicion, surprise and tension for the audience, Also there is the light and darkness like adding in to the scene things like shadows because this also makes the audience tense and feel for the characters.  As well as these things in thriller being Mis - en - scene they are also effective and typical conventions of a thriller like props and darkness.