Planning Mise-en-scene - Miss Georgiou

Mise-en-scene
Introduction

After planning the mise-en-scene we have come to the conclusion that each of these sections will have certain aspects that will be conventional to a thriller.

Setting and Iconography

We plan to use a cellar or something similar to produce our suicide scene otherwise it wouldn't be erie enough to present a good conventional setting that causes the audience to feel very isolated. We plan to make the scenery very dark and gloomy in all aspects. We want the audience to feel trapped within the setting. While our character Cameron commits suicide we want the audience to feel trapped in with his emotions, this will create guilt almost as though something would've been done but due to the isolated setting nothing was done to save him. In addition to this one piece of iconography we hope to use in our thriller is knives. This is type of weapon is very conventional to a thriller as it produces a more chilling atmosphere from just using knives alone the violence is more interactive and because we are using a more personal weapon is will result in the audience feeling unsafe and uncertain within the surroundings of this scene. The use of isolated locations and knives instantly create a very conventional suspenseful scene within a thriller as we know there is no escape for the character but we are also away the murdered will have to be close to be able to murder them. Leaving the audience feeling very anxious for the innocent characters withing the opening thriller sequence.

Lighting and Colour

While filming the suicide scene the lighting will be dimmed with low-key lighting showing only the things we want focused on such as the chair or the rope. This is to portray how dark the character feels about his life. He no longer feels satisfied with how his life has turned out and he feels trapped within the 'darkness' This causes the audience to feel sympathetic towards the character and want him to be able to release himself from the darkness but in fact fails to. This is conventional to a thriller as it contributes to the erie enigma that is portrayed within a thriller, the use of low-key lighting is usual always portrayed in thrillers at some point as it creates a very chilling setting as shadows can easily be created through the manipulation of light, leaving the audience to suspect something is lurking in the dark in the background. Natural daylight will be introduced in the dinner scene as it creates a force reaction from the audience they will feel safe and warm just like the light but this is just a trick of the camera that will immediately be contrasted with murderous behaviour from Cameron. This is to portray that the light shows every ones true colours within a scene.


  

Costume, Hair and Makeup
The use of costume will be manipulated in our opening sequence to portray good and evil. When Cameron wears a white t-shirt In the suicide scene it is to represent his innocent side. He is ending his life so the 'unsettled' side to him can no longer cause any harm to his loved ones. He is riddled with guilt and feels so empty that he believes this is his only way out. This is conventional to a thriller as in this perspective moment he is able to be presented as the victim. The audience overall build a strong relationship with this character making them believe that he is a character filled with troubles. This contrasts with the black top he will wear while his other personality takes over. He will become agitated and violent and this will be supported by his costume. The use of a black top remains to be seen as dark and almost scary and in this moment he is perceived to be the antagonist. This makes the audience question whether Cameron is actually a good character or in fact that this is all just a front that is being over driven by his 'evil' personality. Makeup in addition to this will be used on Cameron to show the tiredness under his eyes to show that he has given up on his appearance and that he has given up overall on his life. This use of makeup is also conventional to a thriller as someone who is mentally disturbed may be paler and tired looking to show that not everything is healthy inside there mind and that they do perform some disturbing acts.

Facial Expression and Body Language 
Reaction shots and close ups will be used throughout our opening sequence, this is to mainly focus on facial expressions and certain body language. While Cameron is about to end his life his facial expressions will seem very emotionless and self-destructive he will no longer be able to think straight and his mind will be very unfocused. This will easily be portrayed in his face alone. This is to create suspense within the scene as the audience are no longer able to read this character he doesn't look sad or angry. This is conventional to a thriller as it produces shock for the audience to see characters reactions, this is an important aspect in thrillers as this alone is what makes the audience connect with the characters, if the audience was unable to know or see what emotion the character felt they may not feel that the character is sincere and immediately build up a hateful impression of them, which is why it is important when trying to display an innocent side to a character to make the appear vulnerable and helpless.

Positioning of characters

Characters are able to be placed in different positions to create tension within a scene if one character is standing over another one this can cause a threatening atmosphere and then result in the audience feeling fearful of characters. This is conventional to a thriller as it produces relationships with characters due to the different positions that they are placed in for example if one character stands over another the audience will know that this is a character that remains more powerful. In our thriller sequence this character appears to be Cameron.

Conclusion
After collecting information and considering within my group how the mise-en-scene elements can be manipulated to make our thriller film better we are able to understand what we need to involve to create a conventional thriller opening