Planning mise-en-scene- Miss Georgiou

Settings and Iconography:

My group and I have selected to use an abandoned, isolated car park, empty long alley ways and an obscure, dark forest as our settings for our thriller sequence because they are conventional to a thriller film and create enigma and an intense atmosphere. The car park will be the first part of our sequence where, the couple have their argument and the stalker sees the girl and tries to kidnap her. This then leads to the girl running away through the alley ways, eventually ending up in the forest. This will allow the audience to feel on edge and make them wonder what is going to happen to her. This is conventional to a thriller as it creates surprise, shock and suspense throughout the sequence.
The iconography we will include is a knife, because it is a typical convention of a thriller and is easily identifiable as a weapon; it is dangerous and can easily cause harm. The knife will be used by the antagonist ( the stalker) as he threatens to kill the female victim if she does not go with him. This is conventional to a thriller as it makes the audience feel shocked and it creates an eerie atmosphere. A phone will also be included in the sequence, as the victim notices the stalker and attempts to call to inform someone of the situation she is in, and get someone to help her. However, there is no service in the car park, leaving the girl panicked and unsure of what she is to do. This is conventional to a thriller as it creates enigma and the audience anticipate what will happen to her; whether she will escape the dangerous situation.

Facial Expressions and Body Language:

As a group, we decided that the victim should have scared and panicked facial expressions as she is being chased through the alley ways and the forest. This will allow the audience to see how worried she is about getting to safety and make them anticipate what is going to happen to her. This is conventional to a thriller as it allows the audience to experience surprise, shock and suspense when they see this. We discussed the idea of using closed body language, for example: crossed arms, slumped sholders and head down, when the couple are arguing in the car park. This will portray the low emotions that the couple are experiencing  which will allow the audience to understand the characters' perspectives. On the other hand, will want the antagonist to show open body language, such as standing tall and holding his head high to demonstrate the power and authorisation he has over the female victim. However, the antagonists' facial expressions will not be seen throughout any of the sequence, as he remains with a hidden identity; creating enigma and an eerie atmosphere for the audience to experience.

Positioning of characters (objects withing the frame)




Costume, hair and make-up

For the antagonists clothing, we thought that it should be dark colours, for example black or navy, because it will make him stand out as unusual. The antagonist will also remain with a hidden identity, by wearing a hood and a ski mask. This is a typical convention of a thriller as it creates enigma and leaves the audience anxious about whats going to happen, and whether the identity is going to be revealed. As the antagonist will wear dark items of clothing, my group and I thought that the other characters in the sequence should wear casual, colourful clothing to show a contrast between the characters. The female should wear girly colours, such as pink, to demonstrate her innocence and to emphasise her vunerablility. As the antagonist wears a mask, there will be no visible make-up used, and the same for the boyfriend, as there is no need for him to wear it. The female character will wear normal make-up and fake blood will be used to show cuts on her body; from the trees and bushes, as she runs through the forest, escaping the anatagonist.

Lighting and colour

As our sequence is a thriller, my group and I decided that low key lighting will be used throughout the sequence, as it is conventional to a thriller and creates an eerie atmosphere. However there will be exceptions as we want to use high key lighting, as th arugment takes place betweent the couple. This will highlight the importance of this scene as it is a key part of the narrative. This will allow the audience to understand the narrative, which will make them want to want the rest of the film to find out what happens.