Research into mise-en-scene - Miss Georgiou

Scream 3 - The cutting room

Mes-en-scene are the five different factors which make a thriller film, these factors are the setting and iconography, the costumes, hair and makeup, the facial expressions and body language, the lighting and colour and the positioning of the characters. These five different factors help to create tension and suspense in thriller films. The same techniques are frequently used in thriller films.

Setting and iconography 

This clip is set in a closed dry cleaners, the building is completely empty and this is emphasised when the security guard checks the halls and locks the doors. Apart from the girl and the killer. They are both trapped inside and the girl shuts herself into a room, with lots of different costumes and the killer. Abandoned settings are common in thriller films as it increase tension as we know there is no on around to hear the victims cries for help. There is a focus on the knife when the killer reveals it, which creates fear for the victim amongst the audience. This focus of the knife helps to build up the intense climax of the killing. This isolated setting is conventional as it builds up suspense regarding the safety of the victims. An example of another thriller that uses this thriller convention is The Shining, this is seen as it shows the surroundings of the location to show civilisation is not in sight.

Costume, hair and make up 

The girl is wearing very bright clothing, however her top is very low cut and revealing, which could suggest there are two sides to her personality. Girls are very common victims in thrillers, this is because they are seem as inferiors to men regarding strength. This makes the viewers feel sympathy for the girl as they would think the fight scene is unfair. 

The killer is wearing a black costume with a scream mask. He blends in well as there are many alike costumes hanging up on the rails. The black and use of a mask enforces that he has a hidden identity. This helps to create suspense as the girl doesn't no which one he is and nether do the audience until we see his trainers. Women being portrayed as vulnerable and innocent is a common convention in a thriller film as it builds up tension, most thrillers use women as the victims and use particular hair and make up to imply vulnerability. A  mask to portray hidden identity is a common convention in thriller films and is used through all of the scream movies. This helps to build up suspense in the sequence as the killer is never revealed or only right at the end.

 Facial expressions and body language 

At first her body language is very arrogant, we can see this as she shrugs her shoulders a lot and her faces look almost disgusted in what the killer on the phone saying to her. This make the audience dislike the girl and disregard any fears they had at first for her safety.
However we see the vulnerable side come out when the killer starts to say he is going to kill her. She backs away from the phone like it was the phone that was going to hurt her. Then the girls body language changes to be very timid and frightened. She shakes a lot and runs everywhere crouched down trying to hide. This movement allows us as the audience to feel more involved with the film as people generally share the same instincts when they are scared. Her face looks very shocked and scared after the phone call ends with the killer, she screws it up a lot in panic and confusion. The intensity of these emotions are increase by extreme close up of her face.
 This body language and facial expressions are continued until she sees the killers.She then turns very defensive. She grits her teeth and tries to make herself seem big. This creates tension as we know the killer has a knife and could over power her. The girl appears very flustered with emotion there are parts where she looks angry and tries to fight back but then there are parts where she cowers away, this creates suspense as it shows how vulnerable she really is.

The killers body language is very overpowering and he always stands over the victim. Making himself appear bigger. Additionally, he never appears timid or shys away from the victims attempts to fight back. This makes the audience resent the killer as this body language makes him appear very arrogant. The weakness and cowering shown by the victim is common within thrillers as it adds to the tension as does the over powering antagonist.

Lighting and colour 

The lighting at the start of the scene is quite bright when she is in her office on the phone to the killer. This shows the innocence and vunrability of the victim. Also how she's so unaware that anything is going to happen. This is common in thriller films the victims always get caught out be unexpected killings. As she goes into the room she hides in she tries to turn off the light, this could show she feels exposed and that darkness will hide her. And uses darkness as a comfort. 

The further into the room she goes there low key lighting increases, this makes her stand out as she is wearing bright clothing. This emphasises her innocence and how something bad is going to happen in the room.
Also the low key lighting in the room creates an eery and creepy effect. The only source of light is from above them (the back light). It helps to create shadows and the knife shimmers in this lighting. 

Positioning of characters

When the girl goes into a room to hide, she goes between the scream costumes, this shows she has a child like vunrability as she has resorted to hiding like a kid. The fact that she is between scream costumes shows there is no escape from her and we know that he is behind her, however she doesn't. This creates tension as we don't no when he will make the move to kill her. 

When the killer pushes the cart and she falls off, she lays on the floor and the killer is standing over her. The lets the viewers see that the she will be killed as she is inferior to the killer. 

Throughout this part of the scene the killer is directing the movement of the victim by his overpowering body language. He pushes her causing her to fall on the floor, and he walks in towards her which directs her a particular way. This shows how dominating he is, also that he has planned the killing as he knows where he wants her to go. This dominating attire of the killer and lack of knowledge from the victim is in thriller films.


To conclude, mise-en-scene has shown me to use the different factors to portray characters in certain ways and create tension within the audience. From this i have decided that I am going to have my antagonists identity hidden with a mask as I think this adds to the shock and surprise within the clip. I will also use low key lighting to show how the scene becomes more dangerous when the antagonist is around. I also want to adopt the dominating nature of the antagonist in this clip because it shows confidence and how assured they are in what there doing. I also want to use the bright clothing of this victim to resemble there innocence.