Mise en scene

Straightaway as a group we decided that the overall genre that we would cover would be horror. Whilst we were developing our knowledge on the genre to find out what sub-genre we would choose, we learnt about the different aspects of cinematography that make up an effective horror film.
Mise-en scene is a highly important aspect of making a good horror film,

Costume, Hair and Make-Up:
This makes up an important part of the characters overall display to the audience, through the use of these three areas a characters personality can be shown without them even having to open their mouths. It can also explain the idea behind the story, for example in American Psycho when Patrick Bateman kills Paul Allen, the make up after he takes off the rain coat depicts him as a split personality character.
In this shot of Bateman, the blood and his messy hair on the right side of his face shows his killer side of his personality. In this way, the idea of the movie is reflected as the film never concludes whether he in fact committed the crimes or he just believes that he did. The make up and hair used here is effective in achieving Bateman's crazed and psychotic look, whilst still allowing the audience to see that there is a split chance that this is in his mind.



Settings and Props:
Different props and settings can be used for specific genres e.g.: an axe murderer in an abandoned shack in the country side makes for a perfect slasher horror. Furthering on with the theme of American Psycho, there is a scene where the different men in the office are showing off their new business cards. The business cards are analysed each time and the intensity that the men compare and compete for the best business card helps to present the characters in the film with regards to their personalities.

Facial Expressions and Body Language:
The characters facial expressions and the way they use their body language heavily impacts the tone of their appearance and can allow the audience to connect/understand the true personality of the character, or sometimes e.g.: in a horror, the idea may be the lack of facial expressions and body language which can also tell us about a character.

Facial expressions can convey a range of emotions better than most over techniques. In this .gif from Quarantine, the character shows fear and desperation as she is dragged away, through the scrunched up and screaming facial expression and her arms reaching out for something to grab to hold onto.

Bateman's dancing before killing Paul Allen displays his madness and erratic behaviour. The body language here is used to contrast against the act of murder about to occur, which is horrific and bloody as this little dance makes it almost seem humorous.This further conveys the point that Bateman is a psycho and not of sound mind.




Lighting and colour:

Lighting and colour can be used to express a certain atmosphere and create tension and suspense in the horror genre.
In Resident Evil, the RedQueen is displayed in red light in front of a dark and blurred background. This is to make her more profound in the shot and to create the tension between her and the characters she is speaking to (project Alice).
Lighting provides the means to make a character stand out more or to seem more insignificant, it allows the characters to further present their personalities e.g.: a killer or a criminal in a film may have the fill light dimmed out more to show half of their faces in darkness to reflect the inner characters personality.
Colour allows us to explore a range of presentations of a character. In the .gif out of Resident Evil, the RedQueen, being red can reflect overtones of evil and deceit, allowing us to have our view of her before she needs to say or do anything else. Contrastingly, a character may be presented in all bright colours and be shown to be an image of purity. Angelic figures within films are often presented with bright white lights behind them and a strong tri-light on themselves, they also have bright white clothing on to reflect the innocence and purity of the character.




Galadriel from Lord of The Rings is shown to be this innocent, angelic figure dressed all in white with a bright shiny crown. Her clothing reflects the personality that we are supposed to see of her and then the lighting further expresses this as it shines from behind and onto her to keep her as the bright character in the shot.




Position of Characters/Objects Within the Scene:

The positioning of characters in the scene allows us to engage and evaluate the characters. In the opening scene from The Ring, the two girls are on/by the bed and are planning on watching a film. By being around the bed we view these girls as innocent, with the greatest aura of innocence coming from the girl who is lying on the bed swinging her legs behind her. This innocence can be contrasted with the idea of what film they are talking about and indeed with what happens to the people who have watched it.