Research into Mise-en-scene - Miss Georgiou

Mise-en-scene is a french word used to communicate to the audience by visual information infront of the camera, that being absolutely everything that the audience can see within a scene, ranging from the characters clothing to the objects strategically placed in the background. The five elements that make up mise-en-scene are; the arrangment of scenery, setting and iconography in a shot, costumes, hair and makeup, facial expressions and body language, the positioning of lighting, characters and objects within the scene as well as colours used. Mise-en-scene helps the audience define the genre more clearly by using common conventions of a thriller in the minor details of a scene and to represent the place where the film is enacted.

 

I have chosen to analyse a clip from 'Saw'; this scene displays all the element of mise-en-scene to an uncertain audience at the beginning of the film and helps them define the genre much more easily with all the common conventions that are incorporated into the clip. The mise-en-scene in the bathroom clip is delievered to an uncertain audience who are unsure of what to expect from the very beginning of the film, they have no idea of how the people got there, why they are there, who put them there, how long they have been there and exactly where they actually are other than in a concealed room. This adds enigma and keeps the audience interested to find out all of those things.

Settings & Iconography

The opening of this clip starts in an secluded industrial bathroom that is clearly run-down and unused. This immediately shows the audience that this is not a good place to be and the dirt and blood covered walls show it to be incredibly hostile, and that someone has clearly also been kept captive here before, not taking into account the corpse located in the centre of the room between the two characters. All of this makes it clear to the audience that they should be expecting to watch a thriller film, this is apparent due to all the different conventions that have been maticulously incorporated into the scene. The choice of such a hostile environment automatically puts the audience's mindset into expecting some sort of violence in the film and which sets the tone of the rest of the film straight from the opening. Placing the gun in the corpse's hand in the centre of the room is a prime example of iconography, it also adds to the fact that because of its presence the audience automatically some sort of violence relating to the gun at some point throughout the film. This adds tension and suspense because the audience know it will happen but aren't sure of when and how.

 

Costumes, Hair & Makeup

The character's style of clothing tells us immediately that the film is modern, set in the present day. The state of their clothes is exactly what you expect, tattered, ripped, messy and dirty. This shows the audience there has been some sort of struggle to get them into their current position of being chained to pipes in a secluded, unknown location. Through this the audience are straight away informed that the characters are both in some sort of danger. The character's hair & makeup also tells the audience that the characters are being held against their will in this room, they look dirty and unhygienic, their hair is all over the place.

Facial Expressions & Body Language

The characters look very timid and very vulnerable because they clearly have nowhere to escape, by their facial expressions you can see that they are scared and confused as to why they are where they are and why there is a dead body in the middle of the room.

Positioning of Characters

The characters are positioned on opposite sides of the room, this shows that they don't know each other and may be against each other, they may also be on opposite sides so the person behind their kidnap has them exactly where he wants them and they cannot work together as well as being able to get messages to one and not the other, shown in the film.

Colour & Lighting

The colours in the film are kept very basic and dull, this shows that the situation is bleak and the characters are in danger. Some of the opening sequence uses low key lighting to represent the characters as vulnerable to the audience, the low key lighting is also conventional to thriller films as it builds tension, suspense and a fear of the unknown.

By analysing this clip I will be able to implement some of the features used into my own thriller trailer, this clip from Saw uses its own original ideas but still keeps in line with the conventions which is something I would like to replicate in my own trailer.