Reseach into Mise-en-scene - Miss Georgiou

Mise-en-scene is a French term, meaning what is put into a scene or frame.  What put is into the scene frame is made up of visual information in front of the camera.  Mise-en-scene communicates essential information to the audience about setting including the time, place and characters.  Mise-en-scene is made up of  5 particular elements including:

Settings and iconography, costume, hair and make up, facial expressions and body language, lighting and the positioning.

I have decided to analyse SAW 1 - The Awakening in Abandoned bathroom:

The setting is in a dirty, wet, bathroom, later on in clip it shows a dead body surrounded by a pool of blood.  This creates a sense of vulnerability and helps create mystery because it makes the audience wonder how he got there in the first instance.  The fact that the setting is abandoned, it is conventional to the thriller genre as many settings in thriller are in isolated  desolate, abandoned unfamiliar places. Thrillers are normally set up in desolate, secretive places, so that people will not be able to find them easily which creates suspense making audience question if they will escape or not.  The audience can get a general idea of what type of film they are watching.  Sets are either built from scratch or great deal of time is spent to find a setting which already exists.  I believe, the set on saw was built as the placing of bath and toilet had to be a in particular place, in order for it to work.  

Iconography is a term, which is used to describe an object which we are able to see in a scene.  These items can range from props or any object which may be in the setting. These objects may have a significance to the film which can add a meaning to the scene.  In saw, a close up of a gun is shown, this would be related to the thriller genre as guns are what an antagonist would use to kill someone.  This should have the effect of sending shivers down the spine as the audience don't know in what way the gun will be used.  Guns are associated with death as they signify the ideas of murder, brutality, violence and death.  It is a way of introducing the object into the scene, indicating the audience that it may be used later on in the film.  In Saw, the two victims seem to be trapped by chains.  In thrillers, if chains are involved, the chains signify, isolation, restriction and trapped because when people are chained up to something, they are restricted of movement.

Costume refers to what the characters wear, it signifies a character and allows the audience to make assumptions of why they are dressed in that way.  In the Saw clip, it shows the victims in crippled, damp casual clothes showing they are just normal characters.  But there would be a story as to why the clothes seem to be wet and crumpled.  The dead body on the floor, is clothed in a plain white t-shirt and shorts.  This would give the audience the idea that this man is innocent as the white colour gives annotations of purity and innocence.  The director makes the audience believe something which is not true as they find out what happens with the dead man later on in the film.  If characters were wearing normal, casual clothes then the audience would be able to relate because that what they would probably wear on a day to day basis.  However, if a person was wearing all black, this would indicate to the audience that this person was a dark, mysterious character.  Thrillers would generally use more make up because they have to use make up to make bruises or paleness.  The audience don't get a glimpse of the antagonist, as they would expect to see a person wearing dark colours which give off a sinister feel.

Facial expressions are a clear indicator of how someone is feeling.  Changes to somebody's face can lead the audience to make different assumptions e.g. if someone is smiling, the audience would assume the character is happy.  Body language also indicates to the audience how the audience is feeling, for example if a character was clenching his fist, the audience would get the idea that he/she is angry.  In Saw, one of the victims turns on a light switch, as soon as these lights are turned on the other victim is shown with the hands in front of his face.  This shows audience that they are too bright for him, until he gradually adjusts.  His facial expressions is screwed up which also indicates that the light are bright and the audience can relate to this. 

Lighting and colour help to create the mood and atmosphere.  The audiences attention can be guided by lighting an object.  The only lighting which seems to be used in Saw, are the top lights.   This helps create an atmosphere showing the little amount of light around.  The lighting is quite high key as this give it a realistic feel.  

The film maker makes certain  decisions on the positioning of characters and objects, to ensure the audience pays full attention to these details.  A moving body or object which are placed against a stationary background will immediately draw attention as it would in real life.  If characters or objects are positioned evenly within the frame, it will give the frame a balanced feel to the shot.  If characters are shown at just one end of the shot, therefore making the shot look imbalanced.  Film makers can also use positioning to indicate relationships between people.  Although, in Saw, the character are only mainly chained to one particular spot because they are trapped.  But the spacing of the characters indicates that they aren't close but the positioning of the dead body on the floor, gives the audience an idea that the dead man on the floor will be a significant part later on in the film.

In conclusion, mise-en-scene is used to indicate specific things to the audience which includes the five elements.  Iconography can impact the audience by showing showing certain features of a character or object, which can trigger a sense of shock or suspense which is in relevance to the thriller genre.  A setting can create a sense of suspense as the audience may question how they got there, if they have just woken up in an abandoned space where they are confused in that situation.  Costume, hair and make up can is a big element as it tells the audience what the character is like just by how the character themselves looks like.  There are many different ways to light a frame or scene, but particular things are decided to make the audience focus on certain assets.  Decisions of the positioning of characters are carefully thought out to make the audience pay attention to a particular part. This clip has influenced the idea of my own thriller clip, as I can use some of the ideas of showing iconography to show importance in an object and to carefully think of how characters and objects are positioned.