Research into Mise-en-scene Miss Georgiou

Mise-en-scene is a French term that refers to everything that you can see on camera, its purpose is to communicate essential information to the audience. The aspects of media that make up mise-en scene are the following:

• Setting
• costume
• body language
• lighting/colour
• positioning of all objects and characters on camera 

The piece of media i will be analysing today will be an extract from the criticaly acclaimed Seven. I have chosen the film seven as it is a generic thriller film and features all of the mise en scene elements commonly associated with the thriller genre.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1giVzxyoclE

SE7EN Scene - "The Box"

During this shot we see Detective Lt. William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) racing towards detective David Mills (Brad Pitt). The characters integrated into the drained, near colourless setting invokes a sense of despair and sorrow. The setting is also appropriate to the given situation as it is a true reflection of the situation. Detective Lt. Williams (Morgan Freeman) is racing towards David Mills to stop him from shooting John Doe the colours of the remote setting again show the hopelessness of the situation they now find themselves in and how it is quickly escalating out of control. This setting of dark, 'gloomy', and isolated is typical in a thriller as it exemplifies fear, loneliness and an aspect of danger, the usual emotions thriller films look to invoke in viewer. The setting used is relatable to the thriller genre as it is a true reflection of the themes explored in the scene, including desperation, suspense and tension and so what we are seeing on screen is that of a conventional thriller film

The next aspect of mise-en-scene i have chosen is the striking orange overall costume on the films antagonist John Doe (Kevin Spacey). This controversial choice of consume and colour show how although he is conforming to the generic prisoner persona by wearing the attire he still provokes a sense of danger that the orange colour suggests.The effect of danger that the oragange colour creates is conventional to that of a thriller film as danger allways needs to be prominent to create the effects of suspence and tention and make them effective within a film. Its warning the viewer that although he is in handcuffs and appears to be suppressed he still proves to be a danger. This aspect of mise-en-scene is relatable to the thriller genre as well as other genres as it is an effective way to portray a character in a way that makes them appear more powerful using costume to do so. The orange jump suit refflects the danger that John Doe represents and it is this sence of danger that enhances the tension with the thriller film. Darth Vader in the star wars series is a classic example of a character who's costume makes them appear more scary.

Now this screen shot features David Mills holding a gun to John Doe, I would argue that the normal conventions of this iconography (the gun) invoke emotions of fear and danger within the viewer helping build a viewer/character relationship as we feel more involved with the emotions of fury that David Mills is feeling at the given situation.The close up used also brings more attention to the gun and although iconography is prominent in all movie genres they are increasingly important in thrillers as although they frequently symbolise death, they could also symbolise threat as well as a sense inferiority as a coward would use a weapon to kill, this theme of a death is a key focus in Thrillers as it gives a sense of mystery.

The use of iconography during these scene particulary the box is conventional to what you would expect to see in a thriller film. Its subtle yet influential part it plays in the scene is common to what you would expect generic thriller iconography to convey. For example the box is being used to create tension as we are unaware of its contents as well as this it also creates fear similar to that a gun would. This is relatable to the thriller genre as thriller films look to use all types of ways to enhance fear, tension and danger particularly in the use of iconography.



The clip elaborates on the darkness of the plot and concept through the use of lighting. Particularly through this screenshot bellow where low key lighting is prominent. The lack of any primary lighting gives the audience the impression that the two characters are without hope in this situation, with lighting being a metaphor for hope during the scene. The lighting is dark and bleak and is a reference to their hopeless scenario. This is relatable to the thriller genre as many thriller films manipulate lighting in a way to further the effects seen on screen.They use low key lighting to make the scene feel dark and scary and conform to the generic conventions of the thriller genre in doing so.

Throughout the clip John Does body language and facial expressions make the audience feel uneasy as they are anxtious and scared that his relaxed body language is suggesting that he might do something to our protagonists. John Doe (Kevin Spacys) calm and collective body language within this screen shot contrasts that of Detective Lt. William Somerset (Morgan Freeman). He appears in control and arrogant despite being handcuffed and on his knees. This intern makes the audience feel insecure and on edge as they are expecting John Doe to do something as he remains to unexpectedly calm. This is relatable to the thriller genre as a thriller convention is to make the audience feels uneasy and they do this through the use of body language in Mise-en-scene.

This use of character positioning within this clip is essential in understanding Detective Lt. William Somerset's (Morgan Freeman) and David Mills (Brad Pitt) relationship with each other during the scene. The clip bellow is a relevant example to their conflicting views as to the death of John Doe. They are both walking in opposite directions of each other and the body to convey how their partnership is now over or (split up) it could also symbolise their contrasting opinions on the situate, Where David Mills (Brad Pitt) wanted to kill John Doe and Detective Lt. William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) didn't. The use of character positioning is critical in the understanding of character relationships on screen and is why it is relatable to to thriller genre as it is used to further the audiences interpretations of the characters, allowing them to grow relationships with them.

The setting during the scene is that of a generic thriller film. This is relatable to the thriller genre as it is a stereotypical example of thriller setting. The isolated environment gives the audience the impression that no one is around to stop or hear what is happening and therefore furthers the conventional effects of tension and suspense that the scene is hoping to evoke on to the audience.

The research in which i have carried out today will help me in the planning of my future thriller opening as i am now growing increasingly aware of the mise-en-scene of thriller films and what the common mise-en-scene conventions of thriller films are, including dark lighting and fearful iconography. I now have a basic understanding of how i need to present my thriller opening and how to use the different aspects of miss-en-scene to convey and conventional thriller.