Research into mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene is an expression used to describe the design aspects of a theatre or film production, which essentially means a visual theme or telling a story both in visually artful ways through storyboarding,cinematography and stage design, and in poetically artful ways through direction. (source:wikipedia)

In this scene there is there is a vast contrast of lighting, there is evidence of this at 0:10 in the video link above. The most important feature of this scene would be the flashlight in the characters hand, the light from the flashlight shows that the characters is frantically running throughout the forest in a scared manor as the light is constantly moving in different directions. There is also a large amount of low key lighting here which helps to emphasise the light from the torch further as it is the only beam of light that the audience recognises.These techniques ensure that the audience really feel a sense of suspense as they are clearly quite oblivious to the situation due to the darkness however the torch gives them a glimpse of the emotions of the character and intensity of the situation.The beam of light may not seen as very conventional however the use of low key lighting will be viewed as very conventional as it is used in almost all films within in the thriller genre and also helps to create more suspense and tension which is a key elements in thriller films.

The killer has a very stereotypical costume as he is wearing a a hockey mask  at 2:04 in the clip when the killer has appeared behind Trent. In most thriller films the identity of the killer is concealed as this adds an element of mystery to the character. Although we cannot see it in that specific scene the character is also wearing baggy dark clothes which adds to the mystery as we the audience also little knowledge of the physical attributes however we are able to see the character is tall enough to tower over the victims of the film adding to the superiority and image of the killer. The costumes of the victims in this case would be regarded as normal attire which is done on purpose as this creates a stronger relationship between the audience and character which is due to the fact that the audience can relate as the characters are portrayed as normal people like the audience members watching.That relationship also highlights the emotions during that scene further as they audience now has a stronger connection with the characters and most probably feel that it is a situation that they could be in themselves, so it is a very effective tool to convey emotions further.
The choice of costume for both the antagonist and victim would be regarded as conventional as many other films use the same technique of normal clothes for the victims and more obscure or concealing clothes for the antagonist as like we previously said the normal clothes help the audience relate better and the obscure clothing for the antagonist shows he/she is an outsider per se.  

The scene chosen is quite frantic as the characters are constantly running from something however it does stop at one point when Trent almost gets run over.At the beginning of the clip a dead body drops onto the top of the car, Trent and the female character next to him start to scream and show many signs of being horrified as they frantically stumble into the forest trying to get away as far as possible, they both look horrified and extremely frightened at what they have just seen.This allows the audience to relate the same emotions with the characters as if they see the characters frighten it will also create the audience to feel this way.Body language and facial expression do not necessarily have any conventions related to them however there a type of body language and facial expression that could be related to thriller films for example in scenes where suspense is being built the character needs to have anxious facial expressions and seem hesitant in their body language which will ultimately make the audience feel the same way.




The general setting of this whole scene is very dark, gloomy and obscure. The majority of the scene is set in a forest type area with only the moon light and a single torch.This makes the events more shocking as the viewer is just as unknowing as the characters as they also cannot see what is about to happen. However in other scenes of the movie there must be a contrast of low key lighting and bright lighting in order for the use of low key lighting to be most effective as it is the sudden change in light which makes the unknown less apparent and like previously mentioned helps various elements like the torch stand out further.This type of setting would be regarded as conventional as most if not all thriller films have scenes very similar to this one in terms of lighting and the setting as this key of lighting is essential in creating the three elements of a thriller.

In this particular scene Trent is being held up by the killer the positioning of the two characters shows the audiences clearly what is happening which in this instance is Trent being violently killed. The knife has gone directly through Trent in direct sight of the audience. This allows the audience to experience the elements of surprise, suspense and shock more as they have been kept in the dark for most of the scene but now they are able to see exactly what is going on which is a good example of contrasting lighting used in certain scenes to create different emotions.The positioning of the characters can not exactly be considered as conventional as there are no conventional positions for characters however the emotions and the aim of the positioning of the characters can be considered conventional, for example as i previously mentioned the main for this type of positioning is that the audience now has a clear sight of the situation which could not be seen throughout this scene this caused a sudden shock for the audience as they could suddenly see the situation, this created a vast amount of shock and surprise which is are key elements for thriller films.

The research i have conducted on mise en scene will ultimately prove to be very valuable when it comes to creating my own opening scene as i will want to make my production as conventional as possible in terms of mise en scene , so i should refer back to the thriller films have previously mentioned and try to take conventions from them however i should also make sure that i add my own creative edge to ensure that it does not seem like the various elements have been copied