Planning mise-en-scene - Miss Georgiou

Mise-en-scene consists of 5 different elements, all of which are important and make up the film. The first element, settings and iconography, is important because it sets the feel of the film. For example, if the setting is a house and there are normal, every day objects on display, the audience will feel a (possibly false) sense of security. The second element of mise-en-scene is costume, hair and make-up. These things are important as they decide how the characters will look. The audience will identify with a victim who looks very ordinary. Facial expressions and body language, the third element, are important because they help convey the feelings/emotions of the character. This makes them more readable, and the audience can understand them and their situation more. The fourth element of mise-en-scene is lighting and colour. These things are important because they also determine the mood and atmosphere of the scene. For example, high key lighting is used in situations where everything is normal and ordinary. Low key lighting is used to create tension and suspense. The final element of mise-en-scene is positioning of characters/objects within the frame. This is integral to the scene as the positioning of everything decides what aspects are the scene are important for the audience to see. Mise-en-scene is extremely important within a thriller film because every small detail is significant in telling a story.

Settings & Iconography
The setting of our opening scene will mostly be in a dark, isolated bedroom. This is where the woman sits and thinks about the wedding, leading to the revelation that she killed the 'groom's parents. This particular setting was used as it symbolizes the dark and uneasy nature of the plot of the opening sequence/film. Other settings in the opening scene, such as in the flashbacks, will be the outside of a church (briefly), field/forest at night (briefly) and outside in the streets at night (briefly). The church setting will be bright and seemingly cheerful, as it will show the wedding party arriving. This provides a false sense of happiness and joy. The two outside-at-night settings will be used in the flashbacks to the [implied] killings of the 'groom's parents. The dark, scary and intense atmosphere will create an appropriate mood for that part of the story. This isolated, dark setting is conventional to the thriller genre as thrillers commonly use settings such as this to create an intense atmosphere.

The iconography in the scene will include the following important objects: photo album, full of wedding guest photos; wedding decorations; knife (flashbacks) and the stereo/radio that will play the music in the background of the scene. The wedding-centric iconography indicates that the film is somewhat based around the events of a wedding. The knife is important, and conventional to thriller films, iconography as it represents a murder symbol. The inclusion of the knife in the flashbacks is important as it implies that the deaths happened, without showing anyone being killed. Knives are common iconography choices in thriller films in general.

Costume, Hair & Make-up
The main female character, the killer, will be wearing a wedding dress throughout the opening scene. She wears it when reminiscing over the failed wedding day, when killing her victims, and in the brief flashback to the wedding day. The constant wearing of this costume indicates that a wedding affected her deeply, and she is too unstable to take off the dress. Wearing it as she kills her victims further indicates her emotional instability. She also wears her veil at all times, which maintains a hidden identity. Furthermore, her hair and make-up will be made to look as if she is a bride. Her eye make-up will be smeared, to indicate crying. This all indicates that the wedding strongly affected her emotionally. This element of the mise-en-scene is quite conventional to the thriller genre as the costume/hair/make-up is related to the character's role in the story, and helps the audience identify and understand the character more.

Facial Expressions & Body Language
The 'bride' will be continuously upset/crying throughout the scene, except in the happy flashbacks and the angry implied-killing flashbacks. She is weak-looking when she is on the bed, looking over the photo album - her posture is poor. This highlights the effect that the wedding had on her. However, when she is killing, her posture is sure and confident. This shows that she is still stronger than her victims, despite her unhappiness and mental instability. Thrillers conventionally convey most of the characters' emotions through their facial expressions and body language, as it is easier for the audience to understand the character's feelings this way.

Lighting & Colour
There will be low key lighting all throughout the scene to create a tense and suspenseful atmosphere, except in the positive flashback to before the wedding. This contrast will alert the audience to the shift in mood - it indicates that she was a lot happier back then. Now, she is broken, lonely and distraught. Low key lighting is a conventional, common part of the typical thriller film as it highlights the bad, violent and frightening parts of the story.

Positioning of Characters/Objects Within the Frame
In the opening shot especially, it will be visible that wedding decorations are scattered all around the bedroom, surrounding the woman on the bed. This suggests that the wedding still surrounds her and fully engulfs her memory and mind. The audience can infer straight away that a failed wedding/marriage is an integral plot point of the film. This element of the mise-en-scene is quite conventional to a thriller film as the positioning of objects in relation to a character can, a lot of the time, indicate certain parts of the story.

Our target audience for our thriller film is 15+ year olds. We will engage this target audience, and older viewers, by using a variation of objects, characters and other elements of mise-en-scene listed above. Females especially will be intrigued by the inclusion of a wedding in a thriller film, as females tend to be more interested in romantic themes. Furthermore, our young target audience will be able to relate more to the film and the characters as the characters are all quite young (approximately 18 years old). This builds the relationship between the audience and the characters because they can empathise more with the narrative.