Research into mise-en-scene -Miss Georgiou

In this essay, I will be discussing Mise-En-Scene and how it will help and inspire me to plan my own thriller. Mise-en-scene means everything that appears in a scene and the five elements of mise-en-scene are settings and iconography, costume, hair and makeup, facial expressions and body language, lighting and colour and positioning of characters and objects within the scene. The clip I chose is the 'Scream' opening sequence, where the victim (a blonde girl) is being taunted by the killer. I thought this sequence included many different elements of mise-en-scene as it creates shock, suspense and surprises the audience. You can view the clip here.

The  first element of mise-en-scene I will be analysing is 'positioning of objects'. This is found right at the beginning of tturns out to beifresearchthe killer patronizes and scares tidentim bdifthe phone. This would scare the audience as we see that the killer can very easily come in contact with the victim also, the phone leaves the audience in suspense as the killer starts to play a game with the victim. Leading from this, the audience connect with the character and want to know what will happen to her. The phone is an important and popular prop as it acts as a motif throughout the whole clip, thus showing how important this iconography is. This highlights a conventional thriller to the audience as the phone highlights the idea of hidden identity which scares the audience and adds the element of suspense. Furthermore, the ring of the phone shocks the audience, showing how a piece of iconography and sound is very conventional to the  thriller genre. Overall, the audience finds that the killer is calling the victim but have no idea of the purpoae and her fate is concealed, furthermore, this is how typical thriller writers want the audience to react.

This clip also contains the use of 'costume'. And the audience see thisbelement of mise-en-scene as the woman wears the same costume throughout. The victim wears a white jumper through the whole sequence which shows to the audience that she is the victim and this scares the audience as it foreshadows her fate. The colour white is typical to the thriller genre as it signifies innocence and purity. Linking to this, the woman is blonde which stereo-typically also refers to the idea of innocence. Blonde female victims are conventional to the thriller genre as they are used as a main victim an example of this is the film Pyscho. Lastly, the girl seems to have the 'girl next door' look which causes the audience to relate to her therefore, we care about what happens to her and the audience senses a lack of hope, relating to the character, themselves. Like the prop element before, this costume creates a sense or normality. She looks like a normal girl and this is running through the whole clip, even before any negative events occur. This would terrify the audience as they worry why she is getting targeted. Overall, this links to a conventional thriller as typical costumes are worn by characters to show the audience their status and forforeshadoif they are good or evil, in this case, the victim wears white. Another example, is a villain wearing black to show mystery and hidden identity like in this clip.

The setting is typical to the thriller genre and is an aspect of mise-en-scene. The same setting is used throughout the whole clip, which is a house in the middle of a forest. This highlights that the house is important and could foreshadow her death. The setting adds a sense of mystery and makes the audience think about what happens in a conventional thriller and what the victim's fate could be, this is because forests and houses are popular settings used in the thriller genre. This aspect of mise-en-scene shows the audience where key scenes are going to take place. Aswell as this, the house is the only house in that area, which highlights the victim's lonliness. Because of this, the atmosphere is eerie and tense. Therefore, the audience see that nothing positive can occur as the victim and killer are the only people in that area. This causes the audience to feel empathy towards the victim and want to find out her fate.

Also, the positoning of characters is an important aspect and is used when the victim runs to the door and locks it. This shows that the victim is scared and in trouble and that the door is significant as the woman was placed their for a reason. She locks the door, which scares the audience as we know that the killer is in her presence. Because of this, the audience can see the lack of safety and her negative emotions and the scary aspects of this situation. She is also wearing white and blends in with the background and from this the audience could infer that she is unimportant. The fact she locks the door relates and links to a conventional thriller as we can identify that she is unsafe and that even if she does lock the door her door, she still isn't completely out of harms way. The fact she rushes to the door and locks it shows that she is scared and on edge which makes the audience fe the same as from using different mise-en-scene effects, we as an audience care about the character. The setting before links to this point, highlighting even further the conventional thriller genre as she is not safe in her own home, causing the audience to relate to this, also. The use of the element positioning of character raises a large amount of questions from the audience. 'Will she die?' 'Where is the killer?'

Lastly, a character's facial expressions are used especially to show the victim, which is key to a typical thriller and an aspect of mise-en-scene. The expression of horror and shock is visable to the audience as she learns that the person on the phone isn't as they seem and as we feel linked to her, we do too. She is especially shocked when she finds that the killer knows her boyfriend and this raises suspense. This element of mise-en-scene helps to show the thriller genre as the victim is in danger and the audience is terrified also as overall, she isn't the only one in danger, her boyfriend is, too. Lastly, this point is conventional to the thriller genre because traditionally, victims act scared, shocked or saddened.

To conclude, many mise-en-scene elements are used within the opening sequence of Scream ndchosea are all conventional to the thriller genre and play a helpful role in the making of my own thriller. This research will help me plan my own thriller as this clip includes the typical thriller elements which are suspense, surprise and shock. Which are essential to add to my own thriller as the audience would be interested to watch the sequence. The costumes have inspired me as they make it easier for the audience to identify different roles and the fate of characters. Also, setting is really important and can increase the audience's fear. Lastly, the setting can raise suspense and could easily be twisted for example, a murder in an unsuspecting place such as somewhere light and innocent. Overall, research into mise-en-scene has helped me identify different elements that I could add to my own thriller sequence.