Research Into Mise-en-scene - Miss Georgiou

Mise-en-scene helps the audience in understanding the conventions of a thriller, mise-en-scene is a french term meaning 'putting on stage' and it is everything which is put into the camera shot. It consists of the five elements: setting and iconography, costume, hair and makeup, facial expressions and body language, lighting and colour and positioning of characters/objects within the frame. I'm analysing the opening scene of Woman In Black which was released in 2012, this is a thriller film because it includes horror and mystery aspects it also includes the five miss-en-scene elements within this opening scene.

The opening sequence of Woman In Black is set in an old attic which is being used by the three young girls as a play area, we can see this by the doll's, tea cups and other toys around. Also, the iconography being used is that the three girls are playing with their dolls having a tea party this represents their innocents and having fun as young children however, when the children become possessed they step on their dolls breaking them this infers to the audience that they are not acting themselves and makes the audience question why they have been possessed and why they then at the end of the scene jump out of the window, killing themselves. This creates a sense of mystery as the audience does not suspect that something bad would happen to the three girls, this scene is conventional to a thriller because of the mystery and horror theme which runs through out this scene.

The young girls costume, hair and makeup infer that this film is based in the 19th century as they are dressed in posh dresses which young girls from this era would usually wear. However, they are all dressed in white dresses which represents their purity. Additionally, the girls hair is done nicely so we can tell that they are wealthy and well looked after also, because they are dressed similar we can infer that they could be sisters. This relates to the thriller genre because sometimes in a thriller film a whole family is attacked and in this film the three girls which are sister are being attacked/possessed. This effects the audience because it causes them to feel more sympathy towards the family and draws them into the story line of the film more as they want to know why this family has been targeted by the woman in black.

Their facial expressions are that they are all smiley and happily playing until they become possessed and their face becomes emotionless and a blank canvases. This is similar to their body language as they are all sat kindly playing together and when they become possessed they still stay together. Moreover, the girl's body language when they stop playing and walk towards the window show they are being controlled, this demonstrates how powerful the woman in black is and how she can make the innocent girls do deadly things. Also, the woman in black is hidden behind the camera which adds to the sense of mystery as the audience does not know her identity, this makes her character very mysterious which is a main them throughout thriller films as well as this it keeps the audience engaged because they want to know more about the mysterious women.

Lighting and colour are used in this opening scene this is through the girls as they are dressed in light colours and pale skin, this could be seen as the girls being pure, happy and angelic which contrasts to the woman in black as black symbolises death and thriller. The use of lighting demonstrates how the whole room is bright using high key lighting until they go to jump out of the window and the inside of the room changes to having low key lighting and outside of the window their is high key, back lighting this is because it is supposed to show the audience that there is something (the woman in black) inside the room which has possessed the children and the brightness outside symbolises that when they jump they are going to die and go to heaven. Furthermore, this causes the audience to have sympathy towards the girls family and the young girls as they have lost their lives for no particular reason. Additionally, this type of lighting also helps in keeping the thriller film consistent.

Positioning of characters/objects within the frame the children are unified together in the middle of the room letting the audience know that they are sisters and are having fun together. Furthermore, them being in the middle shows that they are the main focus and characters in this scene and even though the woman in black is also a consistent main character throughout the film we only ever see small parts of her in the corner of screen like in this scene or from a distance. This is conventional to a thriller because it cause's the audience to be curious and it creates suspense as we don't know who the woman in black is or what her intentions are. Moreover, the positioning of the young girls symbolises that they are pure and innocent making the audience question why the woman in black has possessed them causing them to kill themselves.

My research about mise-en-scene will help me with planning my own thriller scene as I now know that I need to think about the lighting, costumes and scenery when filming my own thriller sequence as well as how people should be positioned and how they need to look and react in certain situations. The elements are crucial to any production of thriller films and are to be taken into account in the creation of my own sequence. I need to do this order to make my film consistent with sticking to the thriller genre. I will try and include all the aspects of mise-en-scene in my thriller scene as I believe they help in creating an thriller and mystery theme and help in keeping the theme consistent. My iconography i will include is a knife as the weapon for the antagonist to use, this is because it creates a sense of danger for the audience also, it is an everyday object which the audience can easily relate to and so they have more sympathy towards the victim. Furthermore, the victims costume will involve the colour white as this symbolises innocence which relates to the victims character as well as this it lets the audience know that this is the victim, which then creates sympathy from the audience towards the character. The lighting which i will include in my opening thriller sequence is low key lighting as it will foreshadow to the audience that something bad is going to happen to the victim. 

Woman In Black (2012) Opening Scene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCR4tfQBd6w