Research into Mise en scene - Miss Georgiou

Mise-en-scene is made up of five elements:

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

The settings and iconography is the place where the film takes place and objects that are seen in the film, for example a house where knives are seen. The setting of a scene can manipulate the audience as it creates particular expectations of what might happen.

Costume, hair & make-up are what the character is wearing, and how their hair and make -up defines their character. It helps suggest to the audience the characters personality, where they might live/work and also which society or culture the film is set in.

The facial expressions and body language used by the character, show the audience how they are feeling at certain points of the film and demonstrate their reactions to particular events taking place. It can help identify relationships between characters and what emotions they are experiencing.

Lighting and colour in the film are essential as they set the mood and atmosphere of each scene. It can highlight important characters and objects and can indicate a characters hidden emotions. For example, if a room has low lighting with key points in the room alight in a thriller film, it engages the audience to particular focus points in the room and can build tension as the audience does not know what is going to happen next; perhaps something might jump out and potentially scare the audience members.

The positioning of characters/objects within the frame is where the character is positioned in the frame of the film, for example in the middle or in the back corner of the shot. If the character is in the back corner of the shot it will normally meant that they are not that important or have a hidden identity so are hard to see. The positioning can indicate relationships between characters and can draw attention to important objects and characters.

In this sequence from the supernatural thriller film, "Mama" directed by Andres Muschietti, two members of the search party for the girls, enter an abandoned looking house, in the middle of the forest. This is a stereotypical setting for a thriller film as no one is around and it could potentially be difficult to reach someone if in need of help. This suggests that entering the house could be dangerous and makes the audience feel uneasy and tense as the men don't know what they are going to find.

As one of the men are searching the house, he starts to discover drawings up the walls, a doll which has possibly been burnt, and one shoe in the middle of the floor. These are all examples of iconography that demonstrate to the audience that the girls were present at the house; drawings, dolls and a small show are all things you expect to find around young children. This makes the audience feel uncomfortable as they anticipate what they will next find.

The costumes worn in this clip demonstrate the time of year the film is set; autumn/winter. The older male from the search party is wearing a puffy, winter coat and a hat which tells the audience he is cold and is wearing them to keep him warm. These items of clothing also show that the film is set in the present day. Make-up is used on the girls to show how dirty they are due to being missing on their own for a long time period. This makes the film more realistic as the audience understand the circumstances the girls were living in.

Facial expressions and body language are key in this sequence of the film as they provide a clear indicator of how the characters are feeling towards searching for the girls and they show their reactions when the girls appear. The older man demonstrates a sign of hope and anticipation as his eyes light up as he discovers the drawings up the walls. The audience see an element of fear as the second man of the search party jumps back and yells as one of the girls runs towards him. This makes the audience jump as it is unexpected and surprising.

There is hardly any lighting used in this sequence apart from back lighting which comes from outside, shown through the windows and doors. This indicates to the audience that there is no electricity in the house and also highlights the atmosphere of gloom and mystery. Torches are used to highlight key objects and images in the scene which makes the audience question why they are shown in the frame and what they mean. The colours in the sequence are mostly dark and dull, for example all of the furniture is different shades of brown, however multicolours are shown as the drawings on the wall are highlighted. The colours symbolise the young age of girls as young children enjoy drawing with lots of different colours.

The positioning of the characters in this scene suggest how the men are cautious of where they look in the house.  For example, at the beginning of the sequence, when the man first opens the door, He stands in the doorway looking in, indicating a reluctance to rushing around looking for the girls. This demonstrates to the audience a sense of fear and apprehension.

My research for this post will assist me with my planning for my own thriller as it will ensure I include all 5 elements of mise-en-scene and will also give me ideas of the different ways they can be used to illustrate the different conventions of a thriller sequence.