Research into mise-en-scene

Introduction

Mise-en-scene is the all the elements that make up a scene of a film. These elements are:

• Settings and iconography
• Costume, hair and make-up
• Facial expressions and body language
• Lighting and colour
• Positioning of characters/objects within the frame

The thriller film I will be analyzing is Woman in Black:

The first piece of mise-en-scene I found was the setting. The scene is located in the attic at the start of the film when the three girls are playing with their dolls. This is a popular location for children as they can sit and play quietly up there. As the attic is at the top of the house, it is a long jump down for the girls which makes it scarier for the audience. The attic is also a very creepy place because there are usually spiders and cob webs up there which a lot of people have a fear of. This is conventional to the thriller genre because the film makers want the audience to be scared of what is happening on the screen so the location has to be something in which creates fear and suspense.

The second piece of mise-en-scene I found was their costumes where they are wearing dresses. The three girls are sat playing with their dolls wearing pink and lilac dresses. This is a popular outfit for young girls to wear because it makes them feel very pretty but also makes them look innocent. The dresses make them look more vulnerable as they look cute and sweet. They are also wearing bows in their hair which makes them look like little dolls. As they look like dolls, the audience may feel that the Woman in Black is playing with them like they play with their dolls. This is conventional to the thriller genre because villains like their targets to be people that are weak and innocent.

The next piece of mise-en-scene I found were their facial expressions. At the start of the scene, the girls have happy expressions as they sit and play with their dolls but when they see the Woman in Black, they seem to become a bit scared although they are fearless to go up to the window and jump. This shows that they are only innocent young girls and are weak as they do not fight back and they do what the Woman in Black tells them too. Facial expressions tell the audience a lot about how the characters are feeling so in this scene, it makes the audience feel sorry for the girls as they were playing nicely and then told to jump out of the window. This is conventional to the thriller genre because the aim of a thriller is to make the audience feel sorry for the victim and be scared of what's going to happen.

Another piece of mise-en-scene I found was the lighting and colour. It is quite dark and gloomy in there which the audience would expect as it is an attic. This makes it scarier for them to watch. As it is quite a dark colour, it connotes fear and brings more of a dramatic effect to the scene. The windows are the only source of light in the attic so this could mean that the Woman in Black is sending the girls to a brighter place as they are playing in the dark. Both high key lighting and low key lighting are used in this scene as there are some shadows being created but there is also only a filler light being used. The high key lighting is effective as it shows that the girls are enjoying themselves whilst they play because it doesn't give a depressive mood. However, the low key lighting is also effective because it gives the scene more of a dramatic effect as it tells the audience that something bad is going to happen. This is conventional to the thriller genre because tension is built up which should happen in all thriller films.

Conclusion

My research will help to plan my own thriller film as I have found out that if I want a character to look weak and innocent then they should wear a dress or a cute outfit. I have also found out that if the lighting is dark then it will create more of a dramatic effect. Finally, I will make facial expressions a priority as they show the audience exactly what a character is thinking.