Mise-En-Scene is a french term that means what is put into the scene and how it is arranged. When applied to cinema, mise-en-scne refers to everything that appears before the camera and its arrangement. It consists of the main aspects; composition, sets, props, actors, costumes, sounds and lighting. All of these are used to represent where the film or play is enacted. The mise-en-scene along with the cinematography and editing of a film, influence the verisimilitude of a film in the eyes of its viewers.
Setting and Iconography
The setting/location of the film is in the suburbs, which relates to the name of the film 'Disturbia'. This could be a play on words of disturbed and suburbia. At this point in the clip, the character is stuck in what looks like a muddy, discomforting and horrible hole. This sewer like hole shows us as an audience that there is a less than pleasant atmosphere. In this case the atmosphere gives off the impression of claustrophobia which, is a powerful effect of the thriller genre. Alongside this the fact the man is stuck in the hole can give anticipation of how exactly he is going to find his way out of it or if he will at all. This element of anticipation contributes to the thriller like factors that build up the film. This setting is conventional to the thriller genre as the house, allows the audience to relate to the characters as they all would have been in the position of walking around their own home. By adding conventional and stereotypical settings such as the hole, its allows the audience to make the connection between the film being a thriller and the associations they make with dark holes that they can bind with their characters.
The Iconography within this clip is shown through the use of the knife. The knife is iconic to a thriller film in the sense of, it connotes danger and death that is about to happen within the film. This means that by including the knife it gives a sense of foreboding to the audience as they use irony to make
assumptions of what will happen next. Iconography is conventional to a thriller for this reason and to allow the audience to gain more information about the thriller simply by the use of it. For example: by using a mask within a film the audience would be able to automatically come up with the fact that the killer is not to be known and has a hidden identity without the film having to say it outwardly. Overall the use of iconography within a film makes the thriller's audience understand and capture more from the scene, due to the connotations of the items.
Lighting and Colour
We are displayed a scene that is mostly in blackness except the lighting from the torch and the filler light from just above the hole. With such minimalist lighting a sense of gloom is given off and to lead on further a thought of weather he could be in a state of death. The hole itself enlightens us into 2 worlds, either one the character could fall into, the lit half and the dark half. This lighting allows us to view this as the light half is the character surviving and the dark half is the characters life coming to a close. However, the torch light is pointing to the ground perhaps emphasising that maybe the fact the characters fate is fatal. The use of the low key lighting is conventional to the thriller genre as, it creates a fear of the unknown. This means that the audience can only slightly see what is going on and are not given the clearest insite, meaning theres something thats held back, which, will grab the audiences full attention. The dark lighting also has connotations of fear as the colour black, is associated with death. By using black and a series of dark colours the audience, then sense that something frightening is going to take place, and are then in suspense and on the edge of their seat waiting for that scene to take place.
Costume
The characters clothing at this point is vivid due to him being drenched in water. The clothing however we would imagine is relatable to the setting of the film which is suburbia. By seeing the clothes are clung onto the main character we can emphasise just how much water is in there and the un-comfort the character must be feeling. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the audience relating to the character makes whatever happen to the character have more of an impact. If they feel that as an audience member that they can relate to the character, ie, from their clothing, they begin to place themselves within that characters shoes, due to the similarity they feel. This then means the audience feel as if they have a connection or a relationship with the character, and thus the film causing, engagement and the audience being impressed with the film as a whole.
Facial Expressions and Body Language
As the boy is approaching the killer we see from his facial expression that he is afraid of what is about to take place. This is shown through no use of verbal communication yet, identifies how the character is feeling. Facial expressions from victims within a thriller is conventional to the genre as it allows us as an audience to see exactly how they are feeling without them saying it. Furthermore, when the killer is slightly smiling, it shows us as an audience just how sinister this character is, and thus makes us fear him and his potential more. This is also conventional to the genre as, we are then more afraid of the killer which, is the purpose of the genre. Body language is also used to display to the audience how a character is feeling or their status. For example, the boy posture isn't very high at the beginning of the clip, connoting his afraid, but, his posture extends towards the ending of the clip, when the killer is appeared to have been taken off. This shows us as audience that the victim no longer feels afraid of the upcoming events, which, is conventional to the thriller genre, as the audience are always meant to know first handedly how the main character is feeling.
Positioning Of Characters
At the end of the clip the killer is place within the hole and is seen lying there with a knife dug into him, and blood on his body and surroundings. The reason for the character being positioned like this is to show the audience, that he is now weaker and is inferior to the other characters who are standing above him. This allows the audience to see and identify who is now of a higher status, and to notice the shift in the film, as prior the killer was positioned higher than the other characters, showing his matter of importance and stance. By positioning characters in certain places, the audience can see the status of the audience, and their dominance over the scene. For example: when the boys back is to the audience and the killer is facing forward, we are presented that, the killer is who we should be looking at and giving our attention towards as, the boy is blocking our view of him. By doing this the audience knows where to look at what time, and then can infer the reasoning for this.
In conclusion the use of mise-en-scene within a thriller film overall, gives the film more excitement, tension and suspense filled atmospheres. The elements are crucial to any production of a thriller film and are to be taken into account in the creation of my very own. By including these elements I will be including conventions of the thriller genre, and be making sure that my thriller is fit for the right purpose, of reaching out to my target audience.
