Planning miss-en-scene - Miss Georgiou

Planning production - mise-en-scene
Examples of intended miss-en-scene use in the narrative

Settings and iconography

I have selected an abandoned, dark car park along with a dark obsucure forest for the settings. I have selected both as they are both common locations for thriller films, as the lack of prescense and people creates a dark and eerie atmosphere; paired alongside the lighting and other aspects allows for the creation of a thriller like atmosphere. This location will be used in the middle and later end of the sequence, as this setting will take place during the part of the narrative in which the antagonist is chasing the victim. This is conventional to a thriller as the location is generic and iconic for thrillers, as they usually take place in either a main city/ busy area or a surban quiet area. From using such a location, the atmosphere which is created by doing so allows for the build up in thriller conventions (such as tension, suspense, surprise and shock), as it is a very dark location which enables the producer to build up tension and suspense for the audience.

The iconography I intend to use consists of a phone, and a knife. This is because they are common items in thriller sequences, therefore the use of them in my own sequence will allow the audience to see it as being more realist to an actual thriller as they will see similar items in the sequence. The phone will be seen after the couple have an arguement as the girl trys to call someone, but her phone gets no service and the knife will be used by scenes in which the antagonist is trying to harm the victim. This is so the audience will see that the victim is in danger as she has no contact to anyone in the middle of nowhere, and the use of knife is because it is common iconography used by the angonist of thriller films, therefore the presense of typical weapons allows for a more realistic viewing. This is conventional to the thriller genre as both items are frequently used in thriller films, used to add to the atmosphere of the sequence, relating the item use with the charaters in the narrative as the antagonist is weilding a weapon and the victim is alone with a phone with no service. From doing so it estabilshes to the positon in which the characters are in throughout the sequence, adding to there character through the item use.


Costumes , hair and makeup

The other characters in the sequence will be wearing casual clothing, whereas the antagonist in the sequence will be wearing all black attair, along with an identity hidding mask. None of the male characters will wear visable makeup, whereas the female victim will be wearing makeup. The antgonist will be wearing this throughout the enire sequence, as it will hide his iddentity for the audience; creating an enigma as they will be unaware as to his iddentity. The use of all black clothing will make the audience percieve the antagonist as having a very cold and dark character, which is how he is intended to be shown. The remander of the characters will wear regular clothing as it shows them as being regular people and civilisms, allowing the audience to relate to those characters as they are just regular people. This is convention to thriller films as the custume of the antagonist, creating an enigma from doing so makes the audience question as to the character of him. Creating an enigma early on in thriller openings is convention as it makes the audience question the actions and iddentity of the villian. Also, creating a relationship between the audience and characters allows for a more thrilling experience as the audience will want the characters to prevail if they are in a position of danger, due to this connection.


Positioning of characters (objects in the frame) 

Before the couple are arguing, they will positioned in a way in which they are shown from a unsteady viewpoint, through the use of canted angle during the part of the segment in which the couple first confront each other on scene. The girl of the narrative will be positioned so that she is often the main focus of the shot (near the middle of the shot, in which the camera will be eye level), as she is the main focus for the audience in the opening sequence. The antagonist will often be shown so that he is slowly behind her in the frame. This will be done to show the couple as being unstable and uneasy, connoting to the audience that there is going to be an upcoming conflict. The girl will be shown as the main focus of the frame as she is going to be the main source of creating suspense and tension for the audience as she is often going to be in a position of danger, and as the audience have built a relationship with her due to the use of cinematography in the sequence, they will want her to get out of her situations unharmed; therefore putting her in a position of danger keeps the audience on  there feet.

Lighting and colour 

Before the conflict between the couple takes place at the very beggining segment of the opening (during the equilibrium stage), high key lighting will be used throughout this segement. As soon as the conflict between the couple begins, low key lighting will be used througout the rest of the sequence, emphasised more so during the chase between the antagonist and the victim. This will be done to emphasis to the audience that everything is fine at this stage because the scene will be very lit and easily visable, creating a calm/ relaxed atmosphere. This shall be done so once the conflict takes place, a drastic change in atmosphere will be aparent, by doing so having a stronger impact on the audience, creating shock and surprise because the pace of the scene increases drastically. This is convention to the thriller genre as creating a contrast between the two segments in the film emphasis's the break in the eqalibrium,  introducing the dark theme of the narrative through the disequalibrium as the rest of the segment is very dark. The errie atmosphere and theme is clearly shown to the audience through the use of low key lighting, as it makes the scenery harder to view, and overall the lack of light creates a suspense filled atmosphere, accompinied with the concept of the narrative.

Facial expressions and body language

Scared facial expression of the girl will be shown quite frequently after the argument (past the middle and later segments). The body language while the argument is taking place is closed, both characters having there arms crossed, the antagonist in the narrative will have an open posture and body langauge throughout the entire sequence. This will be done to show the audience the fear of the girl, by doing so making the audience feel sorry for her due to her very scared and frightened expression, as she is portrayed as being weak and vulnable beforehand through the use of shots (high angle). The body language of both characters will be closed to show that they are both unhappy with each other, showing both of there displease which is each other and the relationship. The posture of the antagonist will be open to show that he is not nevous when attacting the victim, showing also that he is happy doing so; through which showing that he could be psychotic or have psychological issues as he is happy while doing such horrible acts. This is convention to the thriller genre as portraying the young girl in the narrative as scared and in danger is the common portrayal of the main female roles in thriller films that follow a similar narrative such to the groups and I. Varing the body language/posture to the mental state of the characters connotes to the audience an addition insight into them, which is conventional as the antagonist in such films often has psychological issues, and arguments are often shown through the characters having closed body language.