Reasearch Into Mise-en-scene - Miss Georgiou

Mise-en-scene is a French term which means what is put into a scene or frame. Mise-en-scene refers to everything that appears before the camera and its arrangement—composition, sets, iconography, actors, costumes, sounds, and lighting.

The clip I will be analysing is taken from the movie 'Scream 4' This scene is where Kirby is on the phone to Ghost face, whilst Sidney is looking for Jill.


Setting
This clip is set in the comfort of the characters home. Home symbolises security, peace and a loving place. So for a thriller to be set in a home makes the film more interesting and more realistic. By it being more realistic, allows the audience to relate to the narrative. It will then cause the audience to have more of a reaction to it and then show more emotions towards the film. In this film a lot of different rooms are used in scenes, in this clip the room seems to be the conservatory where Kirby is standing. Also for the audience to watch the characters be trapped in a house changes the views people will have on a home. The symbolisation of a home is that its a place for security, this movie puts a spin on a symbol of a home. A lot of thriller movies tend to use homes, this may be to shock the audience as they probably were not expecting anything to happen - and also allows the audience to imagine if this happened to them.

As it is set in a home its also easier for household objects to play a part in the thriller (for example phones,knives)

Iconography
These type of objects are called 'iconography' also known as props. A knife is a very typical weapon that is conventional to the thriller genre. In this clip we see the use of knives which are drawn from the kitchen cupboards. The use of knives in thrillers suggest that

Another item we see in this clip is a mobile phone. In this clip the mobile phone was used in a way to communicate with the antagonist. Using a mobile phone to contact the villain builds up enigma, as the identity of the villain is unknown. This is another convention in the thriller genre. When the phone rings, this also builds up suspense as the audience don't know what the phone call conversation is going to be about.

We use it for everyday tasks but so quickly in this movie it is used for life or death, another turning point in the movie.

 Characters/Actors
 We also notice that this clip uses all young girls, especially blonde haired this is because girls can symbolise vulnerability,and innocence. Also girls tend to show their emotions better by sound such as (screaming and crying). Blonde hair also has a code behind it such as, unintelligent and again innocent. This is all done so the audience can feel empathy towards the characters.



                                                  

Costumes are also used to create effect in the movie. Firstly, Ghostface's costume the mask is very simplistic.But the masks use is more important than the design, as the use is to hide identity. That plays a major part in scream 4 as no-one knows why this is happening to them or who's behind the mask this also adds suspense and gives a sense of mystery for the audience.

Another point i noticed about costumes was how the girls were dressed. They were all dressed in Grey and white very plain and dull. They fit in well with the background. I think they were dressed like this because the focus of the film was not actually on them it was on Ghost face. Who wore black but stood out from the plain background. But when it was dark it was hard to see the body's of all characters including ghost face, This may have been done because we were supposed to pay attention to the facial expressions and so the blood on there clothes would have a bigger impact on screen. Sidney however the main character wore blue, which made her stand out from the plain background, we could see her movement much more than the other girls.

In this clip, there are mixed negative emotions of fear, scared, sad, pain and bravery. In the opening scene

In these pictures we see the character Kirby Reed portrayed by Hayden Panettiere, with a scared, urgent look on her face. If you watch the clip above you will see that she was on the phone to Ghostface and had to answer horror trivia questions to save Charlie's life. Her facial expressions and panicky body language allow us to feel her pain and really sympathise with her situation,because if Charlie dies the guilt would be on her.

Soon after, she answers the question with multiple answers, she thinks she's right and goes to quickly 'save' Charlie. But she doesn't, It was all a trick and Charlie stabs her we can really see the pain and misery in her eyes in this part. You can see the strain and pain in her face and you can see how weak she is as she is practically hugging her enemy. Her facial expressions really make the audience sympathize with her and we feel bad for her as she was innocent and just trying to be a good Samaritan. But Charlie is seeking revenge for her being oblivious to him until now        

The lighting and colour in this scene is very dark this is because it is emphasising how this is not just any dark day, Its there dark day. The lighting is only really lit up on there face during this scene (so we only really pay attention to there facial expressions) and all the background is black, and hardly anything can be seen. The only light where Kirby is is the light where Charlie is in the Garden. This can represent there situations as Kirby and Sidney are going through Tragedy, whilst Charlie is still perfectly fine, just pretending not to be. Very dim lights, set at night time. As Evil/Horror usually takes place at night in thriller films it still sticks to that conventional thriller film but still is made different to the typical thriller. The colours are very dark even in the scenery there are no bright, happy colours as there is no need for them. Nothing happy is going on in there situation, So the colours/lighting allow us to relate to what they are going through.

The last topic to analyse in this clip is the positioning of characters/objects within the frame. In the opening of this clip we see that Sidney and Jill are behind the window and we can really see there facial expressions from this position.

In this image it looks as if Sidney and Kirby are in a prison cell, behind bars with Sidney's face behind the window of blood. This positioning of the characters behind the window shows me that they are not really in prison but they are in there own emotional prison. And feel terrified of what is going on. As windows are meant to represent freedom and opportunity this window purely means, no way out/the end before we even see Kirby pick up the phone or get stabbed. This is giving hints to what is going to happen before it even does, This is very effective to the audience as the eye contact they are giving is looking directly at us. Which makes us responsive, emotionally to this scene.

You can see the picture above of Sidney holding a knife, you can also see it in the clip. The way she's holding the knife and facing the camera to an angle allows the audience to really see how strong she is and she how brave she is. As she is mid shot to the camera it shows how important she is. If she was shying away from the camera holding the knife lightly we'd have a different view on her. But the way she was holding it allowed the audience to see how emotionally and physically strong she is and instantly like her for her boldness.

Going into detail and analyzing the mise-en-scene in a successful thriller film has informed me of what the audience want to see and the impact it will have on them. It's also shown me what elements to include and not to include to show symbols, codes and conventions. This research has allowed me to be more knowledgeable about the thriller genre as I found out what type of key elements are put into a frame to set the scene.