Study of Mise-en-scene in Thriller Films

Mise-en-Scene is a French term meaning: ‘what is put into a scene or frame’. It can also be defined as the arrangement of scenery and elements to represent the place where a film is enacted. The composition of Mise en scene within film, provide an indication of genre and we as an audience can begin to recognise these set conventions.

Lighting & Colour -  The way lighting is display within a film or scene is a big indication of genre. Thrillers often use low-key lighting because it creates suspense and an enigmatic atmosphere. Whereas genres such as romantic comedies would tend to use high key lighting to produce the atmosphere of romance and love. Colour is key convention, which comes parallel to lighting as we associate emotions and thoughts with different colours.

Black - Darkness/Evil
White – Purity
Green – Envy
Red- Love/Lust/ anger/danger
Blue- Cold/ sadness/ depression
Yellow- sunshine/ happiness

Setting And Props - The setting relates to location. For example, the typical conventions of thriller film settings would be a dark warehouse or haunted house. Depending on the props used, these objects can help determine the narrative, identity of character and genre.

Facial expressions and Body Language -  By the use of these elements, the emotion of characters can be conveyed. Non-verbal communication such as this, helps the audience to assume characteristics about the character and how they are feeling by not being directly told. For example, if a character is scared we can tell by their proximity to the object/person.

Costumes and Make-up/Hair - The use of costume and makeup allow actors to appear lifelike, because how we present the character reflects on how the audience perceive them. Choices of costume and makeup can create a conventional thriller character; i.e. omission of 'glamorous lipstick' and instead pale makeup will make them look dead. If you want to show a woman fearful and in tears, smudged make up can be used to display her emotions. Costumes can carry certain connotations, including the emotions of the character display by colour.

Position of characters and objectives in a frame -  The way characters are positioned within a frame can tell the audience a lot about the character. levels of supremacy can be identified (asserted by Prevelance in editing), by how characters are centred and angled. In murder scenes, the killer is the dominate character, whilst the victim is the minor character. This can be displayed by staging and levels of the characters.

Study of Mise-en-scene within 'Se7en'.

At the beginning of the view there is a shot of Morgan Freeman in his house. The character's tidy and decorated house, showing him as somebody who takes pride in the appearance of his home. This is a complete contrast to the the typical thriller setting which often starts off within a dark and gloomy setting. His clothing portrays him as the stereotypical smartly dressed detective, including a trench coat and hat. This ultimately portrays the basis of the narrative, with emphasis pus his career immediately and that the film will be based around solving murder mysteries and other crimes.

We meet the other detective within the scene, Brad Pitt, who is a contrast to Morgan Freeman, as he is young, a lot more relaxed, and has a cheeky attitude, whilst Morgan remains a lot more serious. Brad Pitt has an individual detective costume of a leather jacket and more casual clothes, which goes against the stereotype that Morgan upholds.Through the mise-en-scene you can tell that the two policemen are binary opposites. As Brad Pitt is the trendy cop with a unique costume and attitude, which is emphasized by him chewing gum. Pairing these two characters together creates conflict, thus one could be referred to a protagonist and the other as an antagonist. These contrasting characters at the beginning create an enigma, to interest the audiences to see the further complications. 

The house that the crime took place in appears smokey, undecorated and has a gloomy, enigmatic aspect about it. This suggests that something terrible happened there and conforms to the stereotype of thriller settings. The two detectives then leave the house and walk into the typical urban city. This gives the audience an idea of the location, highlighting that it is based around the poorer areas of a city in America, with heavy rain pouring down in a lower class, urban city. Ultimately the onomatopoeic, 'pitter patter' of rain has dark connotations and infers that this narrative is going to become much darker, in the hope of solving the criminal activity.