Mise-En-Scene Planning - Miss Georgiou

Mise-En-Scene Planning

Mise-en-scene is vital to plan when creating a film as it is everything that is put in the scene. This needs to be planned as it is what is most noticeable throughout and to make an opening sequence capitvating and successful, this needs to be thoroughly thought out.

Setting & Iconography
Firstly, the setting throughout our opening sequence is going to be in the forest, with not much in the way of surroundings. This illustrates an isolated area and helps create suspense as it gives a lack of hope for the victim to seek any help that they may need. Furthermore, the forest is a setting in which everyone is aware of aswell as the stories that come with them. This will add a sense of normality but also weariness for the audience as many tragic stories are created in the presence of a forest. Therefore, the audience feel more empathetic towards the characters that appear here as it gives them the feeling that the character could be them and the viewer could in fact be unwillingly in their position. The forest having so many trees surrounding the footpath also creates a sense on entrapment as it's like the trees are closing in on the characters and there is no escape. Having this setting is conventional to the thriller genre as it is isolated, in the middle of nowhere and so creates a sense of foreboding. In the forest, some view may be restricted and there is lots of space for something to be lurking and so creates suspense as the audience are unknowing as to what is in the forest with the other characters - especially the victim. As well as this, it is what our target audience want to see as this setting proved popular when we carried out our questionnaire for research.

Iconography in which we will use will be a knife. This will be used against the protagonist by the antagonist in an unskillful manner. The audience know that a knife in the wrong hands can cause all sorts of harm, so the fact that this knife is placed is the hands of a mentally unstable psychopath gets them on the edge of their seat. A knife is an everyday object, meaning that the audience know of its capabilities and so, a sense of foreboding is created from the way they know that the knife is in the wrong hands. From the emphasis in which we will make through the use of cinematography for example, it will be a reoccuring image that will show its significance in the sequence. This use of iconography is conventional to the thriller genre as is it violent and makes a more personal and gory murder as apposed to a gun, for example. The killer has to be up close with their victim in order to cause any kind of harm, however, with a gun you can still kill someone but with much further distance. Using a knife gives the impression that the killer is a lot more reckless and cold-hearted as they make the death a lot more brutal. These reasons are why the use of a knife is conventional to the thriller genre.

Lighting & Colour
The lighting and colour in our sequence is going to be low-key throughout. This will create a tense atmosphere because low-key lighting restricts certain views and so, the audience are unknowing of some of the aspects/characters that may lurk. The dimness of the lighting makes the identities of the characters a lot more unidentifiable too and therefore, the audience feel on edge. Furthermore, it suggests a lateness in the time of day and the later the time of day, the less people there are around which creates suspense especially when Tony is seen walking around in the forest. The colour will also be altered to make the scenes appear darker and less tonal, making the colours that may appear resplendant to become dull and murky which will compliment the atmosphere and situation in the scene. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it contributes to helping the 3 main elements to a successful thriller in being portrayed - suspense, shock and surprise. Low-key lighting is present in most thrillers as it also supports many audiences fear of the dark.

Costume, Hair & Makeup
The costume for each character will be relatively similar as a whole. Colours will be black or dark in the tones of black so, grey for example. Chloe will be wearing normal clothes however, this will be the only kind of colour that should be evident between the 3 characters. Tony will be in some sort of tracksuit in a shade of black and likewise with Marius - dark clothing. This will demonstrate their dangerous character, as black connotes danger or hazard which will leave the audience feeling weary of both of them. The way Chloe will be in normal clothes and even some white, will show her pureness and innocence, which is what we intend to try and get across to the audience. This is important as, in a thriller it is conventional to have a vulnerable and innocent victim which is what Chloe is - this makes her costume conventional to the thriller genre. Tony and Marius' costumes are also conventional to the thriller genre as they are dark and dull which portrays their dangerous, negative character which every thriller has to contain. This gives the audiences hints as to what they are like as antagonists. Tony and Marius will also have a mask on so that their identity is hidden which is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates suspense and wodner as to who this mysterious character may be.

Hair for Chloe is going to be normal and casual - down and straight, as we want to give the impression that she is a victim entering a situation off-guard. Making her appearance seem casual allows this sense of normality to be felt by the audience and so creates more of a shock and surprise when something does happen to her. Tony is also going to have a relatively casual hairstyle as he is suppsoed to be represented as a normal everyday person in the forest with no motive apart from walking his dog. It may however, be party scruffy to show his lack of care and the fact that he needs not to impress anyone. Finally Marius' hair will also be casual, however, this will not be visible so it is not as important as the other characters.

Not much makeup will be used in the way of makeup for our sequence. To create this sense of normality, we didn't want to go mad so that it made the sequence seem unrealistic. Chloe will be wearing the makeup of an everyday female, Tony will not be wearing any makeup and Marius will just be wearing makeup to give the illusion that he has a scar on his face. This needs to be created because the actor (Alfie) does not have this feature.

Facial Expressions & Body Language
The facial expressions and body language will be different depending on which character is portraying them. Firstly, Chloe's facial expressions will show panic and the fear in which she feels from the presence of the antagonist. Her body language will show fragility, however, will show effort when attempting to escape the antagonist. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the vulnerability of this character has to be portrayed to the audience for them to be able to identify her as the female victim. Tony's facial expressions will be fairly natural and his body language will be slightly shifty (looking around, distinctive way of walking). This creates a suspicious feel for his character therefore, making him conventional to the thriller genre. Marius, as the antagonist will have forceful body language and his facial expressions will not be seen as they will be hidden. The violent way in which his body language is shows his lack of care, demonstrating his cold-hearted nature - conventional to the thriller genre.

Positioning of Characters/Objects
The positioning of characters/objects will not be in any sort of particular form. Chloe's encounter with Marius causes the fluctuation of distance between the two characters. Having this is conventional to the thriller genre, as the victim and antagonist in a thriller have to get close in order to cause suspense, tension and a sense of foreboding. Tony will be fairly close to Chloe from the frequent passings by of her. Pictures of Chloe may also be pinned to trees that will cause a scare to Chloe as they will be positioned in her path. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates the shock and surprise element intended, from the way that a negative, dangerous character manages to get so close to the innocent victim.

Planning the mise-en-scene for our sequence has been helpful as it has given us a much better idea of how we are going to film and what we need to make sure is included. Our planning for mise-en-scene is conventional to the thriller genre in may different ways, as mentioned above.