Planning Mise-en-Scene - Miss Georgiou

Mise-en-Scene is essential to use within a thriller film as it allows the film to be able to connect with the audience indirectly through elements they may not necessarily pay attention to within the background but are able to establish the influence it will have on the audience in order to understand the narrative as well as the characters. For example, costume can be used to portray a certain character's role within the film, if a character is wearing a costume of a light colour such as white, it can be implied that this character is one of the good characters as connotations attached to the colour white is that of purity and innocence. Furthermore, an item of iconography can help to engage the audience and make them wonder what this could mean as well as beginning to form in their heads an idea of what role this would play within the film such as a murder weapon. Iconography can also be used to create an enigma and encourage the audience to want to watch on further to see what may happen next. A dark and mysterious location such as an abandoned warehouse serves its function as creating suspense within the audience and if a significant event, for example a murder, was to take place in this setting it would also evoke senses of shock and surprise. These small elements, in addition to micro-elements such as cinematography, sound and editing, all combine to provide the audience with crucial parts of information regarding to the narrative. 

In our sequence, we decided to use the different elements of Mise-en-Scene as shown in the image above and began to think about how these elements could be used to create ideal senses of shock, tension, surprise and suspense. One element we referred to in detail was Setting and Iconography. For one our settings, we decided to use a simple house location to give our female victim character a sense of false security as this character will be killed in her own home as part of our opening sequence. This will also evoke the same feeling from our audience as when shots of the hit man creeping up on the female victim, it will show that the female victim is in danger which she is oblivious to and there is no way she will be able to escape it. This setting will be very relatable for our target audience as houses are something everyone lives in and are able to recognise it as somewhere that they feel safe and would therefore assume that the victim will be safe. Using the house as the main location will be able to explain part of the narrative to the audience and show that the victim will be left completely vulnerable and powerless as the hit man will come up behind her while she is washing up and not be able to struggle as she will be killed without any warning whatsoever. This will therefore make our opening sequence conventional to the thriller genre as the audience expect to see a female victim who is weak and unable to protect herself from the hit man who will catch her off guard and end her life. This helps to create suspense as the victim is left completely in the dark when the audience and other characters know exactly what is going to happen to her. This will also create elements of surprise and tension as the audience wouldn't expect someone to be violently murdered in a place that they should feel safe and secure in, therefore a murderer occurring in a house location would create shock as the audience's perception will be destroyed leaving them reeling from current events and making them question if houses are really as safe as everyone first thought. Furthermore, this would help in portraying the psychological theme as the narrative will play on the audience's minds as they wonder if they are really safe in their own homes, a response that would be ideal in creating a successful thriller. The  audience will automatically begin to feel empathy toward the victim as it is a very violent murder and no one deserves to be killed in this way, no matter what she may have done.

We have decided to use several items of iconography within our thriller with the main being a knife which will be used as the murder weapon. The knife will be shown at different points within the sequence; for example, near the beginning when he finds the knife in the envelope left for him by the antagonist and again at the murder location when he slices his victim's throat killing her instantly. We have decided to use our knife instead of a gun or rope as my partner and I believe that a knife is the most conventional murder weapon, used frequently in other thriller films such as Scream and Halloween, and it helps to connote the element of danger as it is a weapon that can be used to inflict serious injury or even death if someone was to get hold of one. The use of a knife is relatable for the audience as they will recognise it immediately as something that is extremely dangerous if not used correctly and they would have probably watched other thriller films and identified that a knife is frequently used as a murder weapon. The most popular example of these being 'Ghostface' from the highly successful Scream franchise which shows that the killer is keeping his identity remained hidden for as long as possible due to the use of the knife as a silent weapon that can be used to kill without anyone realising until it is too late, suggesting that the killer plans on killing more people than just the victim. This will make our film conventional as the audience will expect to see a knife being used to kill and the antagonist who has hired the hit man to kill his wife is kept hidden from the audience so as to create suspense and suggest that he could hire again to kill another individual. The audience will feel sympathy towards the victim within the narrative as the hit man will be able to kill her quite easily without anyone noticing while the fatality connotations attached to the knife can kill instantly without the victim getting a fighting chance for survival.

When planning for filming our opening sequence, my partner and I also considered how positioning of characters could be used to determine certain roles and relationships within the narrative. We decided to have the hit man positioned carefully at certain points within the film to make him seem deceptive and threatening towards the audience such as having him grab the female victim during the murder scene. We have selected this position as it would show that, although he is not the antagonist, he is the only bad character within the sequence due to him agreeing to kill this woman, the fact he grabs her and begins to drag her away out of shot helps to suggest that he is the dominant character and the victim hasn't got a chance. This relates to the narrative as it reinforces the idea that the hit man has been paid to kill this woman he has crept up on and grabbed and so has to ensure that he doesn't give her a fighting chance to make it inevitable that the victim is going to die, creating surprise within the audience as they begin to wonder what the victim may have done to have a hit man paid to kill her. This will make our thriller conventional as they expect the killer to be mysterious so that his victim will not react before he had the chance to kill her as well as being dominant over her in order to be able to kill her relatively easily without too much of a struggle, the audience are also left wondering what the victim could have possibly done to be murdered out of cold blood by someone who she is not familiar with.  The surprise and tension the audience feel is conventional as they expect to be left waiting to find out more about the background behind the murder so they can learn what to expect from the antagonist and find out what may happen next. This enables the audience to feel sympathy for the victim as they know that the killer is preparing to kill while she has her back turned and is completely oblivious to what is about to happen to her so that when he finally attacks, she will be caught off guard and he will have the upper hand which will mean that she has no chance in fighting back.

My partner and I have decided to feature costumes to represent our characters and allowing our target audience to understand a little more about their background in order to form a definite relationship. We would like our hit man to be shown wearing a white t-shirt with a pair of trousers and ordinary shoes in order to show some form of innocence and help represent to the audience that the hit man is not actually the true antagonist and that he has been caught up in a threatening situation. This shirt will have some stains on to show some sign of struggle in order to portray that this character had been kidnapped and dumped in the location where the sequence will open. We have selected this particular costume so as to show the audience that this is not the real killer and, as they will see further on in the sequence, he has been manipulated to kill someone.
We have also decided to have our female victim wearing an ordinary, everyday outfit so as to portray an element of innocence to show that this specific character is weak and vulnerable. By having the victim in this outfit, it shows that she is already in danger and the audience are made fully aware that she is going to die because she has been portrayed as weak and defenseless.


We have chosen to portray the antagonist wearing all black with his t-shirt being covered with a long black jacket and wearing a ski mask to hide his face with gloves. The mask will be worn throughout the sequence until the final shot where we will see the antagonist take off his mask after seeing his wife dead and looking into the camera in a sinister way. We have decided to use this as it will help to show the audience that the antagonist is the ominous character and that he has extremely dark intentions within the sequence and that he will either be the person to carry out the murder or hire someone to do the dirty work for him however he will be the brains behind the operation which is reinforced through the jacket. The further use of a mask also suggests to the audience that the antagonist wishes to be anonymous in order to carry out his evil plans with the hope that he will be able to carry these out before the police are even made aware. This tells the audience that this character will be the person responsible for the hit man killing the victim as he is shown to be dressed in a mysterious manner causing the audience to wonder why he is dressed in this way and why he is hiring someone to kill his wife and what he may be capable of doing if he is caught up with. This will make the thriller conventional as the audience expect to see an antagonist type character who will cause the narrative to become clear and serve a purpose causing them to piecing the story line together by working out why the antagonist paid someone to kill his wife. This will help to surprise the viewers as the antagonist will be shown after the murder has taken place talking to the body of his dead wife which will immediately cause the audience to question his state of mentality, tying in with our psychological theme.

Another element of Mise-en-Scene that we have considered closely are facial expressions and body language. Through facial expressions, it has been decided that our antagonist character will be shown as being emotionless and showing no mercy toward his victim. The killer will be shown constantly as having a blank expression on his face when he removes his mask before proceeding to perform a sinister smile right into the lens of the camera. We have chosen this as we felt that it will show the audience clearly that this character is mentally unstable and is unable to show compassion having hired a hit man to kill his wife for him. This relates to our narrative as it demonstrates that the antagonist is insistent on this plan and will do whatever it takes. This will make our sequence conventional as the audience expect the antagonist character to be adamant on his plan as no villain in any film ever goes back on his idea to kill. This will create surprise within viewers as they do not expect the antagonist to be so emotionless and sinister, especially towards someone who he was supposed to love unconditionally which could also evoke a sense of intrigue as the audience begin to wonder why he never seems to express emotion, that it could possibly relate to the character's background; for example, a bad past suggesting that there is more to the character than what he is letting on.

We have also decided to use body language to show that the female victim is extremely vulnerable towards the hit man. The victim will be shown to be extremely scared in the moment that she is grabbed and dragged out of shot. Signs of a struggle will be shown through the victim attempting to unwrap the arms from around her waist but failing to do this. We have selected this as it will show the audience that the victim is more vulnerable to the hit man as no matter her efforts, the hit man is more stronger than her and is more able to kill her than she has of getting away. This relates to the narrative as it shows that the victim is just a normal person going about her everyday activity of cleaning the dishes and putting them away and so it will be of a more surprise to her when she is attacked and that when the plot twist is revealed that her attacker is not the reason behind her murder, it will have a higher impact because it was not hinted at. This will make our thriller conventional as the audience expect to see a victim that is not prepared to be able to physically defeat the hit man due to not being involved in any form of a fight because of the sheltered and relaxed lives some women lead which shines through their calm persona usually associated with females. This will evoke a sense of suspense from viewers when the victim and hit man are involved in a struggle as it is left unclear whether or not the victim will escape her attacker's clutches due to her being previously portrayed as physically weaker and less dominant, which usually is very unlikely. This causes the audience to have sympathy towards the victim as they know she is completely unprepared to face the hit man who he had tracked down so when he finally attacks, the audience are left to wonder if she could actually escape from it although it was a planned attack.

When planning the Mise-en-Scene elements of our thriller opening sequence, my partner and I thought carefully about lighting & colour. We have decided to use low key lighting to show that the victim is trapped and is unable to escape the clutches of the hit man and ultimately, the antagonist. This type of lighting will be used throughout the sequence but more in the murder scene where it will be used to cast shadows upon the antagonist's face as well as the room to suggest the presence of a bad character. This can help suggest that something bad is about to take place in the house location which can serve as creating tension within the audience as they wait to find out what will happen. This relates to our narrative as it foreshadows the murder scene and shows that she is trapped due to the attack being carefully planned and the only way of her to escape would be for the victim to kill the hit man which is highly unlikely due to the hit man catching her off guard and killing her before she had any time to react. This is conventional to the genre as the audience expect to see the victim put in an impossible situation for her to get out of which is why female characters are usually killed in thrillers as they are placed in a dangerous situation where they are completely vulnerable and defenseless. This is also used to show the hit man's power over his victim as he is always one step ahead of her and how the victim will have to work extremely hard to escape the hit man and finally be free of his presence. This creates tension within the audience as they would want to know if the victim could actually get away and how she will be able to overpower him. This enables the audience to view the antagonist and hit man as organised and dominant due to being able to overpower the victim and keep her in the impossible situation before killing her.

Finally, we have decided to use colour to portray certain emotions and feelings at specific points within the sequence. The audience will see a shot of the hit man waking up with masking tape covering his mouth and discovering he is tied up of which we will add a blue effect. We have selected this as we believe that it brings a cold and sinister feeling to the scene as well as acting as an example of foreshadowing that something bad will happen later on in the sequence. It also leads the audience to wonder who could have put the hit man in this situation as well as questioning the mind set of this character, that he has dark intentions for the hit man, shown through the use of POV. This relates to the narrative as it shows the audience who the hit man is and show the audience that he may play a big role within the narrative as well as the antagonist, who is yet to be seen. This will make our thriller conventional as the audience to expect to see one of the main characters at the beginning of the sequence so they are able to form their own individual perceptions of what they believe could have happened to the hit man. The Point of View shot is also conventional as it keeps the identity of the character hidden although he is not the antagonist, it enables the audience to be placed into his shoes and see exactly what he is seeing within the scene creating a sense of vulnerability as, during this time, something could appear and not even the audience would be aware of it therefore creating an element of tension. The blue filter adds some sense of shock as the audience are shown a sinister scene and that the antagonist plans on using this hit man for something which viewers are not yet made aware of encouraging them to watch on further. The audience feel empathy towards the hit man at this point as they do not yet know he has been hired to kill and they feel this emotion as they are shown the image of the hit man laid on the floor tied up and bleeding.


By planning the Mise-en-Scene elements we wish to include before we start filming for our thriller opening sequence, it means that we are able to make sure that the elements selected are being used for the correct purposes as well as understanding how conventional they are to the thriller genre so as to ensure we are creating a sequence that will be successful as well as knowing if they fit well into the narrative so that what the audience see is consistent and not too confusing to understand. We will also know what we can do and see if it is suitable enough to be added into the sequence so that we are making a high quality piece with professional looking Mise-en-Scene elements rather than aiming too high and getting carried away and having the final sequence look poor and unprofessional. Mise-en-Scene is significant to be done in the correct way as it helps to drive the narrative forward and serves as a function the characters with what the audience are witnessing ensuring that this doesn't clash and interfere with the sound, cinematography and editing, however if the Mise-en-Scene is of a poor standard, it may cause the audience to feel distracted and would not pay full attention to the narrative and what is going on within the scenes.