Setting and iconography
For my opening sequence, the setting I would use for the main scene when the main character is about to commit suicide; to have her stand on a bridge which represents the danger she is about to put herself in to her death. The iconography for this sequence I think would be effective as it would include all things that are conventional towards thriller films, for example,the iconography of a weapon would be a knife, in which was the most popular question towards the question that was asked 'What is your favourite weapon used by the antagonist?' As there would be a nearby death involved, we would supply bricks for the protagonist. By using bricks, will represent how desperate this girl is as she believes the only way to get out of her situation is to end her life. This makes the audience sympathise with her and she is the typical female victim in a dangerous situation.
Lighting and colour
For my opening sequence, lighting and colour will be used throughout the sequence to set the mood of the scene. The main scenes will include a dark and isolated atmosphere alongside with low key lighting (conventional towards a thriller film.) these dark, mysterious colour will be used during all flashbacks to represent to the audience of a past event without actually using dialogue to show this. I think this will be effective as it will show the audience how much the past has affected her to the extent of having to end her life as the only way out. During one of the flashbacks, while she is in her home watching a film, low key lighting will be used with only the light from the television source to show her facial expressions and body language. Using natural lighting will inform the audience that she could potentially be in danger. The next flashback will be in the forest, and will use only natural lighting, so will be quite light but will then suggest towards the audience that she is endangered wherever she goes. Shadows will be used at an effective technique to indicate towards the audience that something is following her. Low key lighting will also be used in the flashback of the alley way, which will isolate the surroundings as it will be a dark area, and will focus on the facial expression that is shown when she thinks she is in danger.
Body language and facial features
During the main scene, when Brittany, the victim, is on the bridge about to commit suicide; her facial expressions show that she is scared and on edge. Her body language is be quite tight to show the lack of confidence is stranger has given her. She starts to have doubts on whether she should jump or not, which is why straight after that scene, it goes to her flashbacks towards why she even thought of such a thing in the first place. There will be a lot of loud breathing involved, to show the victim cannot handle the situation any longer. The antagonist will stand very broadly throughout the whole of the sequence, to give an impression in the audience that he is confident, powerful and strong. These are conventional towards a thriller as it is going to show the typical female in danger victim, alongside with the male, strong antagonist.
Mise en scene is very important for a thriller film as this topic varies around a range of methods: settings and iconography, costume, hair and makeup, facial expressions, body language, lighting, colour and the positioning of the characters. All of these things help to personalise a certain character to help the audience discover what they are like, helping to provide a denotation of a certain character or the surroundings.
An example of a successful roller film using the mise-en-scene of triangle formation is the film 'Sin City,'
As it uses dark tones to show the reader that their is sadness towards the scene. Most of the scenes are mainly set in a dark, old house with misty windows. In my interpretation, this was used to represent a confusing topic, and that no one can understand unless they are the ones experiencing the scenario. One of the characters body language is her with cross arms, to show she wishes to keep thoughts and secrets to herself. The back lighting of this particular scene is the lighting inside of the house. The key lighting is on the right side of the set to show the main characters facial expressions. The filler lighting blurred out some of the background objects to help he audience focus only upon the characters and their expressions to certain things.These types of lighting play a role in triangle formation.
This post demonstrates some planning techniques. It is clear to see your ideas and the ways in which you would like to demonstrate the conventions of a thriller in your sequence, but further identification of the mise-en-scene is needed and this is because you still need to complete some of the elements.
ReplyDeleteTo develop this post, you need to include images to support the points that you have made and also aim to explain how your mise-en-scene will help to build a relationship with your target audience.
Finally aim to include points on costumes and character positioning to complete this post.