Mise en Scene of Thriller FIlms.

Mise en Scene is a French term for everything you see within a scene. This includes settings/props, costume/hair/make-up, facial expressions/body language, light/colour and the positioning of the characters or objects within a frame. Each one is important in film and television because it makes up everything we see and without it we wouldn't get a real sense of what it going on, it usually has a hidden meaning which can tell the viewer different things about the show/film. It enables the viewer to see what time period it is, the type of characters and the type of film.

The Settings for a typical horror film include places associated with darkness i.e. a haunted house, an alley way, the woods, dark street, abandoned location. For example in Taken 2 they are in Turkey, the buildings are old, broken damaged; the fact that the buildings are all close together provides small alleyways to escape down also across the rooftops. Props are any objects used on the set of the film, they're used in Thriller films determine the genre, narrative and are often key to the character. Weapons are usually included within this, guns are always handy for the hero when he reaches the Villain, This can be seen in Die Hard when John McClane has a gun taped to his back ready to shoot; also phones can be used to call people for help. However the props used by villains are used to reinforce the fear or violence for example guns, knifes. 

Here is an example from the hunger games. Katniss is in the woods - somewhere that is secluded, she is alone, its quite dark creeping through the trees as they over tower her. For props she has her bow and arrow, the quiver on her back so that she has quick access to pull out an arrow as quick as she needs to therefore telling us that she is a quick character and must have good aim.

For Costumes the heroes are seen to be quite natural as usually they are seen to be everyday citizens this is because it shows what their life is like to the audience, its used to present to characters to the audience so that they can interpret what they think their life is like. For example if someone was dress in holey, muddy clothes you would assume they were poor however if they were in a suit you would assume they lived a life of luxury. This is important as it creates the character further than the narrative. Typically the villains, usually being murderers, will wear dark clothes, jackets, long coats and this is because it shows the darkness behind the character, enhancing the evil image perceived. The victim of the villain would typically be in dirty, blood stained clothes showing how they've been through hell with the villain, it shows how they have tried to fight back or that they have been taunted or chased. The hair and make up contribute to the image that the audience interpret, make up wise wounds are used as in cuts on the victim from what the hero has done, a scar on the villain to show something from their past also on the hero wounds can be used to show the fight between protagonist and antagonist. Similarly for hair it is used to contribute to this image, the victims hair presuming she is a woman would have messy hair because she has been kidnapped and so demonstrates this, the hero to start with would have quite tidy hair as to begin with they would have been fine living life as normal however by the end of the film it would be untidy to show the battle that has been gone through. Typically for a villain the hair would be out there or messy to demonstrate craziness or it could be gelled back so that they seem serious.

For example here, make up has been used on Bruce Willis - playing John McClane in Die Hard - to demonstrate the battles he has been through by putting blood and cuts on his face, costume wise he has dirty clothes suggesting he has had a struggle, through a bomb or that he had to crawl through a small space to escape. Prop wise he has a gun holster on his shoulder, under his arm so that he has easy access to a gun.

Lighting and Colour is important in thriller films because it shows exactly what is in the shot but also emphasizes key elements in the scene or about a character. Lighting draws the viewers eye onto a key element for example if the scene is dark but there is a bright light shining on one main character they will focus on that character and wonder why that character is in the light. The lighting is mostly dark in thrillers and this is because it adds to the tension of the film however when its light it is because the director wants you to see the characters expression. Low key lighting is used to emphasize a mysterious, sinister scene which can then create shadows. Colour is also key because as humans we associate colours with feelings and so the use of colour in film is so that the audience can do so, mostly the colours consist of blacks, greys, browns and this is because we associate bad things with these colours, we cannot see so it creates a sense of fear, black is commonly associated with death. Similarly red can be used to symbolize blood. If we see a colour dressed in black, grey we would immediately think of them to be an evil character where as if we saw the villain dressed in pink it wouldn't work because you associate pink with happiness. 

For Example in Friday the 13th low key lighting is used around this scene because it is filled with tension, lighting is used on the girls face to show her emotions, we can tell that she looks scared. The killer is dressed all in black, therefore we associate him with being evil.


WIthin Thriller films the facial expressions and body language are key because it tells the audience how the chracter is feeling, we can feel empathy. if we see that they have a frown on their face we know that they feel angry, if they have a smile on their face because they have been saved then we know that they feel relieved and happy. However if scary music is playing over the background we can gain a different feeling toward the character because we know something is going to happen.Therefore the facial expressions reveal a clear indication towards their feelings this can also be done by body language. If we see that two people have their backs towards each other this may suggest that they are angry at each other, if they are holding hands we can see that they're happy together. So in thriller films this is key as the audience can read into the scene to collect information on the characters feelings and know how they feel at that time.
For example here we see Captain Jack Sparrow and because he is screaming with his hand going over his mouth we can assume that he is scared at something he has seen.





Finally the position of characters within the frame, this draws the attention to an important element - this could be a character or an object. Directors often use positioning to determin relationships between people for example if two people are close together it could suggest intimacy where as if they were far apart it would suggest that they dont get on with each other.

For Example here we see the couple spread far apart on the sofa, this sugests that they have had an argument.