Planning Mise- En-Scene - Miss Georgiou

Planning Mise-En-Scene

Mise-en-scene is important in the production of any film as mise-en-scene simple means everything that appears in the scene. This includes the setting and iconography, facial expressions and body language, lighting and colour, character representation and costume and makeup. Without these elements in the film it would be very plain boring and unprofessional as these are key things which make a film enjoyable for the audience to watch. There are certain elements of mise-en-scene which are conventional to the thriller genre, for example a knife for iconography and a hidden identity such as a mask for the costume and makeup. These sort of things help the audience to understand that the film is of a thriller genre and to make them aware that there will be scary parts of the film.

Setting and Iconography

Me and my group have planned to set our thriller sequence in a forest. We decided to set it in a forest because it is a conventional thriller setting and it is what the audience would expect. Straight away from our setting the audience will understand that our film is part of the thriller genre and will instantly be on the edge on their seats anticipating what will happen. We feel that the forest setting is the perfect setting for our thriller film as it is a wide open space which will make the characters feel vulnerable but it can also be seem as a dark and gloomy place at night time which will instantly give off a sense of foreboding which is what we want to create for the audience. Due to our narrative of a cannibal attack our film has a lack of iconography. However we have chosen to include a dog in our sequence to make it seem more realistic and relatable. We will be throwing a stick for the dog to build tension before the dog goes missing and everyone has to split up to look for it. This sort of action is a casual daily action which most of the audience will be able to relate to. We therefore chose this so the audience can feel as though they are almost part of our film and imagine themselves caring out this normal action.  This is conventional to the thriller genre because they usually try to include realistic relationships and scenarios to make the film seem more relatable to the audience.

Forest Setting

Facial Expressions and Body Language

Our group narrative is quite imaginative and unique and therefore our facial expressions and body language will have to be heightened to create the correct atmosphere and ideas that we want to present as a group. There will have to be many different facial expressions portrayed from our characters to ensure that the audience are aware of what is happening. The first imperative facial will be from Kane. He has to start becoming aware that something isn't right when I goes missing from helping him look for his dog. Kane has to portray a suspicious but worried look as he starts to notice a dilemma. His body language will also have to be quite reserved and reluctant as he wont want to make himself overly noticeable. Once I have jumped in front of Kane and shown myself his facial expression will be critical as this will be a shock moment for the audience. It will be one of our moments which will make the audience jump, so therefore Kane has to show the audience he is genuinely shocked and frightened. This will also make the audience surprised as they wouldn't expect me to be the antagonist of the film. I will also have key elements of body language and facial expressions that I will have to portray to make our thriller sequence successful. I will have to ensure that near the beginning of the scene that my body language is as normal and casual as I can make it to make sure that the audience don't suspect anything and try to make it easy for them to relate to me. This should be an easy task as our target audience are people of our own age group therefore our body language should be similar to their daily basis body language. However as the film goes on my body language will have to become stranger and make the audience suspicious. To ensure this I will have to make sure my facial expression are emotionless and make the audience feel as if I am possessed or there is something wrong with me. Also when I am being caught by one of the other characters I will have to make facial expressions which will make the audience feel as if I have ulterior motive which is what we want them to expect so they are surprised for the next jumpy part of our film. We are also hoping it will build tension for the audience.



Freddie's Body Language



Lighting and Colour

Our group have decided to use low key lighting and mostly dark colours. We have decided to do this as it gives an all round eerie and gloomy vibe and will make the audience feel a dark aura. We have decided to film our production at around 4 o'clock as due to the weather and the times at this moment it gets quite dark early and therefore we can use the natural light which will make it seem more realistic. The low key lighting that we will be using is conventional to the thriller genre because it connotes mystery and suspense. It will make the audience immediately understand that the film will be bleak and forlorn due to the dark colours and low lighting. This will eventually build up the tension throughout the film making the audience more paranoid which will make it easier for them to build relationships with the audience.

Low Key Lighting

Character Positioning

The characters don't appear in the film until the second frame. In this frame this is where Bettie and Kane are walking through the forest in a low angle shot calling for missing dog Bella. However the characters split up and then the next shot is Freddie also walking through the middle of the forest calling for missing dog Bella. Once this has happened the next few shots include only character Kane as he is on the phone and then we hear a scream on a black screen with our title. The next shot is a point of view shot where the antagonist is positioned with her back to the camera, you can see an arm poking out which we assume was character Kane who we just heard scream. Once the antagonist is revealed we keep all the victim characters in one frame together in all the following shots and we keep the antagonist in a frame on her own to show her dominance and power and to also show the victims vulnerability which will shock the audience due to the female representation of the antagonist. This is conventional to the thriller genre as we see a clear contrast between the victims and the antagonist. In the final chase scene where the victims are being chased by the antagonist who is constantly in her own frame this will create tensions and suspense as the audience anticipate whether the victims will escape or whether they will be attack and caught by the antagonist.

Character Positioning

Costume and Make-Up

We have planned in our group that our costume and makeup will be minimal. Our costume will be our casual clothes and our makeup will be minimal of what you would expect teenagers to wear on a daily basis. We have decided to have our costume and make-up in this way as it will make it more realistic and relatable for the audience. Also the audience wont suspect anything from our costume or make-up which will also be more of a shock when they realise that I am the antagonist as they would expect me to be a normal teenage girl. We hope to present the idea to the audience that the antagonist is unknown and is not already part of the group so that they are extremely surprised when they find out who the antagonist is. This type of minimal make-up and casual clothing is conventional to the thriller genre as they usually want the characters to seem as normal and relatable as possible so that the audience are more surprised when bad things happen to them as they expected them to just be normal people like themselves.

Bloody Antagonist