Planning Mise En Scene - Miss Georgiou

All five elements of mise en scene are necessary when creating a successful thriller opening sequence. Each part of the mise en scene topic is important in various ways as they all have different roles when making a film as well as composing emotions to the audience so that they know how they are supposed to feel at certain times of the sequence. For example, settings and locations are key elements in the film making industry as they are used in order to make the audience feel a certain way which then makes the film more important later on. If the film is set in an abandoned cabin in the woods, this can make the audience feel fearful as they will not know what will happen next to the characters involved in the scene. Hair, makeup & costumes all help the audience understand the role of the character shown on screen. It also helps the characters to portray their personalities by how they look and dress. It can also indicate to the audience what era the film was made in. It can show to the viewers that films have changed since then. Facial expressions and body language indicate what is happening to the character and how the audience should feel. It also allows the audience to connote the relationships displayed between characters. Positioning is also a key element within the mise en scene topic as it can demonstrate different relationships between characters to the viewers. This helps the audience to focus as there may be some clues within the positioning that can help the viewers understand why they feel this way towards each other. Finally, lighting and colour are important when creating a film as they can help the audience to connote the mood and the type of scene that will be displayed. For example, if there is low key lighting, the audience can connote that there will be something hiding that they cannot see yet or there could be an unwanted dark presence. If the elements are combined correctly within a film, the audience will feel the elements of shock, surprise, suspense and tension and this will then make the film a success.

When planning our thriller opening sequence, i must consider the element of mise en scene in order to make sure i don't miss out any information to include in my piece. For example, i must think about settings and iconography, this means where the film is shot, and the types of objects used and shown to show the audience what is going to happen. I must think about costumes and how they can indicate to the viewers the personality and role of the character within the sequence. I will talk about facial expressions and body language, this must be portrayed correctly so that the audience know exactly what is happening and how they should feel at this moment in time as they see the faces of the characters. This can also be a clue to them so that they can guess what is going to happen. Lighting and colour is included and i will use this to show the emotions of the characters filmed, and depending on where the film is set in different places, the lighting will change to show the meaning behind the scene and setting. Costumes is an important factor when making a thriller themed opening,  because the colours they wear can indicate what their personalities are and this will create hints to the audience so they can piece the story together and create their own theories. Positioning of the characters is also an important factor to consider because it can show emotion without dialogue.

As part of the planning task, my partner and I drew a spider diagram explaining the key elements of mise en scene we were to include within our sequence as well as including key examples of where in our opening we would use them. We also had to explain why these elements were conventional and how it could make the audience feel when looking at these certain things in the sequence.

The first topic we had to think about is setting and iconography. As I previously explained, this is where the film is set and its different locations and what objects the characters use within the scene to help the audience connote what will happen next without telling them directly. This allows the audience to think about things themselves rather than get told all the answers. Myself and my partner have decided to use a variety of settings to help the audience feel the way they are supposed to when watching a thriller. This will also give the audience a chance to get to know the characters and portray the relationships to the viewers before getting in depth with the story. One of the settings that we will use is the house of the wife and antagonist. This will be used to show the hit man killing the woman in her own home after he is paid to kill her by her husband. This creates a sense of realism as the house is a normal place that everyone lives in. The killing helps to attach the audience to the character so that the emotions of the character can be reflected on the audience as they will feel sympathy. So, this will also create the element of shock, surprise, suspense and tension as the audience will want to help the woman get away from the hitman but can't. I think this setting is conventional due to the fact that it is a realistic setting, so the audience can be scared as they will imagine themselves in this position. It is also conventional because it is quiet and the woman is the only one in the house at this time. So, no one will be around to witness the murder and therefore, she will not be helped. During the beginning of the sequence, the hitman will be in an unknown location. This means that the audience will not actually find out where it is, nor is it important to the story. This setting will be used to show the hostage scene. Due to the fact that it is quiet and isolated, it will make the hitman feel even more nervous, which will make the audience feel the same emotion. 

Another element of mise en scene that my partner and i must consider within our opening thriller sequence is costumes. Whilst making our spider diagram we carefully thought about what each character within our sequence should wear in order to portray them properly and so that the audience tell who they are. We have decided that the antagonist will be wearing jeans and a t-shirt that will be covered by a black jacket. The colour of the jacket being black will signify death and this will help the audience to recognize them easily and quickly. The second character is the hitman and this character will be wearing a plain outfit of a simple white t-shirt and jeans. The colour white can represent purity and innocence to a certain extent. The choice of clothes will be worn to suggest to the audience that he is not the real antagonist. Lastly, the female victim will be wearing an everyday outfit which will be a pair of jeans and a top and this can connote to the audience that this character is not very important. Therefore, telling the viewers that she is the wrong person. The choice of costume also helps to suggest that she was unprepared for this visit and therefore making her a convention. 

Another element in which we must plan carefully is lighting & colour. We have decided that we will be using low key lighting to show the murder scene which will cast shadows and this will represent an evil presence. It can also suggest to the audience that something bad will happen to someone within the house and this helps to create tension. This is conventional as it will create the elements of surprise and tension which are essential when making a thriller piece. The second effect that we will be using is the 'blue effect'  on top of some scenes including the scene where the hitman is held hostage. This will help to create a cold feel to the scene and also shows the audience that something bad is going to happen within this scene that will effect the rest of the story. This then builds up the element of suspense right up to when he does the deed he has been asked to do. When showing the hostage scene, the audience will feel surprised and shocked as they will not have expected this to happen, this makes them more engaged in what they are watching and allows them to want to watch more. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the elements of shock and surprise are being used and these are key elements in which the audience must feel in order for the sequence to be branded a 'thriller'. The shock and surprise that the viewers will feel will help them to create bonds and relationships with the characters.

As a group, we also planned what facial expressions the characters will have as well as the positioning of each character. This will be useful to the story as it will help viewers see certain relationships between characters. We both decided that the hitman and the antagonist must have some distance between them to show a clear division. It can also show the audience that they are not the same at all as one is more evil than the other. We decided that the facial expressions of the female will be shocked and scared in order to show a realistic expression of a woman who is about to have her life taken away from her. This is conventional because her expression will show the element of surprise and shock as her mouth will be open to represent her not expecting this to happen. This then helps to make the audience feel shock and surprise as it is unexpected and as this evokes a sense of realism, the audience will be able to relate more as if they were in the woman's place and this then makes the viewers emotional. Again, this is conventional as the elements of shock and surprise are being used and this is key when creating a successful thriller.

The final element within mise en scene that my partner and i have to think about when planning our opening thriller sequence is body language. This element is key when creating a thriller as it helps to portray the different relationships between various characters in order to help the audience imply what the film could lead to aswell determine each characters role within the sequence. We decided that the hitman will look very scary when killing his victim, as well as stabbing the woman with a relative amount of force so that he kills her. This can connote to the audience that he has never killed anyone before today. It also shows that he is stronger than his victim and this then makes it conventional as she is unsuspecting and therefore, makes it easier for the hitman to kill her. Although he does kill someone, the audience create a bond with him as he is felt sorry for because he didn't want to kill the woman, but was forced to. 

To conclude, the planning of  mise en scene will help me when creating my opening thriller sequence as i know that i must add the different elements of mise en scene in order to create as much shock, surprise, suspense and tension as possible. I have learned many things when planning for the opening especially knowing how each element will be conventional and how the audience will feel aswell as creating different bonds and relationships with each individual character.