Premliminary Mise En Scene Analysis

In this post i am going to analyse the use of mise en scene from stills taken from films. To look at an overview of all of the elements of mise en scene please refer to my previous post.

Brewster Mcloud:

The still which you can see above was taken from the film Brewster Mcloud. The first element which i can draw from this example is the setting, by looking at the characters surroundings i can tell that he is in school environment. The key indicator of this is the diagrams drawn on the chalkboard behind him. The props around the room indicate the man is a professor of ornithology, this is due to the skeletons and stuffed birds sitting on pieces of furniture around the room such as his desk. Another element of mise en scene which i can take from this is performance. By looking at how the professor is hunched over his desk i can determine that they may be frustrated with a student for some reason. By placing the professor in the middle of the frame the director has managed to create a balanced composition as there is an even amount of negative space on either side of the professor. It also draws our attention to the character as he is the dominant element in the composition. The lighting has been set up so that it looks like there is light coming through a window from behind the camera. In order to do this the producers would have had to use an artificial light source otherwise there would have been a shadow cast onto the professor and the chalkboard which would have ruined the shot.

Star Wars:

The first point i am going to make about this still is the composition. The robot has been placed in the middle of the composition with relatively even negative space on either side of him meaning that it is a balanced composition. By placing the robot in the middle of a bare desert environment it draws your attention to the robot as they are dominant within the frame. By studying the surrounding environment of the robot i can see that it is a desert of some sort which looks quite dry and empty. This can help to establish setting however from seeing star wars before i know that a whole range of different locations were used. My next point brings me onto the element of props or maybe not in this case. The robot which you see in the still was actually a character with a role in the film however the robot was merely just a suit which an actor wore so the suit should be determined as a prop but the actor and the costume is definitively a character.

Elements Of Mise En Scene

To begin this post i am going to list the elements which make up mise en scene. Mise en scene is one of the most important factors to consider when producing a film or tv show as they are the basics of what you will be filming. The elements of mise en scene are as follows:

• Composition

• The composition is the distribution of elements within the frame.
• The composition will either be balanced or imbalanced.

•  Framing

• The framing is the selection or deselection of elements within the composition.

•  Lighting

• There are three main types of lighting:

1. High Key Lighting - This is when there is few shadows in the shot and the scene will be lit with artificial lighting.  
2. Low Key Lighting - This is when the shot will include more shadows then light bringing a darker perspective to the composition. 
3. Naturalistic Lighting - This is when the scene will be lit mostly with natural light although in some cases artificial lighting will be used. 

• Performance

• There also three main in parts to the element of performance:

1. Body Language - This is made up of the posture and movement of the actor/actress cast in the role.
2. Facial Expression - The facial expression of the actor/actress who is playing the part can tell us about the mood and character type which they are trying to portray.
3. Voice - The are different parts of the actors/actresses voice which can help to indicate the character they are playing. 

• Costumes, Setting And Props

•  These three elements all work together to establish certain factors in tv and film. These factors are:

1. Character Info
2. Period/Era
3. Status, Gender and Age
4. Verisimilitude (How real a tv show or film is) 

For the next part of this post i am going to provide an example of each of the elements in mise en scene. These examples will be stills taken from movies produced in a range of different eras. I used www.film-grab.com as a source for my stills. This site is a good source of film stills as it provides a wide range from different eras and genres.

Composition:

Balanced Composition:

This composition is balanced as the producers have organised the scene so that the subject is what the audience are focused on. They are placed in the middle of the frame this means that there is not much negative space on either side of them.

Unbalanced Composition:

In this composition our focus is drawn to the man on the right however there is much more negative space meaning that it is an unbalanced composition. The main elements of the scene are distributed to the right of the frame which also shows how it is unbalanced.

Framing:

This shot is framed so that we are focused on the characters face. The scar provides us a clue into his dark past and his tormented facial expression gives us an insight into the despair riddled-world of the character he is portraying.

Lighting:

High Key Lighting:

High key lighting has been used to fully light the subject so that the subject is dominating the shot. Some common genres which high key lighting is used a lot in is Hollywood musicals and comedies such as The Wizard Of OZ and others from that era.

Low Key Lighting:

The use of low key lighting in the still provides a dark an mysterious mood to the shots, this alongside the characters expression leaves us curious as to what situation he might be caught up in.

Naturalistic Lighting:

The use of naturalistic lighting in this photo helps to improve the verisimilitude of the shot. This shot looks like it is all natural lighting and no artificial but they would've had to have waited until the lighting conditions were perfect to achieve the correct shot.

Performance: 

The first thing that you draw from this still is the outraged facial expression which he is showing. Also the finger pointed at the camera adds to the effect he is trying to portray.

Costume, Setting And Props:

Costume:

Although the costume is not very clear i am able to tell that he is wearing a policeman's uniform. This provides us clues about what role he is playing along with the facial expression and he blood stained shirt leaves us curious as to what might have happened.

Setting:

This shot establishes the location as we can clearly tell the surrounding environment of the location which in this case is a dry, desolate environment, these are factors commonly associated with the planet mars. The still which this film has been taken from is The Last Days On Mars. 

Props:

The prop which I'm am going to be analysing in this case is the car. Due to the fact that this  is an old car, we can tell that the film is set in a different era than the one we are in today; however the film could have been produced in the era which those cars were manufactured so that would be the reason for them using the car.

Opening Sequence Analysis: Narrative And Genre

In this post i am going to establish characteristics of a thriller film based on three opening sequences of a thriller.

First Opening Sequence (Inception) :

In this opening sequence one of the main factors that is established is that there is going to be scenes of action in the film. The producers have made the opening sequence to entice the viewer into the film without revealing to much of the plot. For example we already know who the main characters are going to be by how much they are focused on and also we know that it is going to be based around a dream context.

Second Opening Sequence (The Dark Knight) :

In this opening sequence the producers do not fully establish who the characters are going to be in the film however they provide the viewer with a idea as to what the film is going to be based upon. In this case i can presume as a viewer that the film is going to be based around crime as this is what the main focus of the opening sequence is however the producers have left me wondering who this mysterious 'Joker' character is. This leaves me wanting to find out and therefore draws the audience into the plot of the film.

Opening Sequence 3 (Children Of Men) :

From this opening sequence the producers establish when the film is set which is in 2027. Also by focusing on the man who buys the coffee they establish who the protagonist is going to be from the beginning. The bomb exploding gives us an idea of how the world has deteriorated in the future. I find that the news story provides us with a slight insight into the plot without revealing too much. It does this by showing the headline as saying the youngest person in the world has died. This leaves us curious as to why this is as the youngest person was 18 years old. In some ways this can be interpreted as a narrative hook. By using natural light and cool tones the producers have managed to create a darker mood in this opening sequence.

Thriller Sub-Genres

In this post i am going to be providing you examples of different sub genres of thriller films. There are many different sub-genres of thrillers although some of these could be considered as hybrid genres as opposed to sub-genres.

Action Thriller:

Action thrillers generally have a hero centred around the narrative, they will also include lots of action and excitement. Often crime will sometimes come into it but the crime is not as prominent as action.

Conspiracy Thriller:

Only the hero will know the truth about a particular person or other situation. The hero will then need to prove it to everyone else involved before disaster strikes.

Supernatural Thrillers:

These are very similar to horror films however they are not as violent. The character has some sort of supernatural power that must be called upon. You will often have the protagonist battling a evil paranormal force of placed in a situation controlled by an other worldy force beyond their reach.

Crime Thriller:

These films usually focus on a criminal or criminals dealing with a successful or failed crime and the results of the crime which they have committed, The crime which would usually be involved would be robberies, murders, double crosses or another one.

Thriller Conventions Trailer Analysis

In this post i am going to be highlighting the conventions of a thriller from the trailer of two movies.

Thriller 1: Good People (2014)

The film Good People is about a couple struggling with money problems who are drawn into a mystery of crime when they find their tenants dead body. This along with the £220,000 they find stashed in his ceiling leaves them wondering what this person had gotten themselves into. The first convention i can draw from the trailer is the use of music to build up tension and suspense. The use  This is commonly used by the producer to draw in the audience of their film. The next convention i have taken from this film is the use of quick cut scenes, this is another technique which can be used to build up suspense in the trailer. The other convention i have found is the weather which is used in the film. Although this is not an obvious convention you will find that it always seems to be overcast providing a darker mood to the film. Due to not seeing this film it is hard to identify some of the other conventions used in the film but the trailer does hint at them.

Thriller 2: The Bourne Identity (2002)

The next analysis i am going to do is going to be of The Bourne Identity. This is a film about a man who can not remember anything from two weeks ago however he has good fitting skills and "can disappear". The first convention which i took from the trailer was the enigma of this film, in this case it is the true identity of the main character. This is what he is trying to find out. Another convention which i noticed is that there were a few fighting scenes in the trailer. This is another convention of Thriller films. The producer did not overload the trailer with these fight scenes as that could have revealed too much to the audience. The use of minimal fight scenes can bring a wider range of audience into the viewing audience of the film as they may be more interested in an action film as opposed to a mystery. Another convention in this trailer is the use of fast paced music to build up the tension in the trailer. 

Thriller Conventions

Below i am going to provide you with a list of thriller conventions. A convention is a widely recognised way of doing something.

The different conventions of a thriller are:

• Low key lighting
• Quick Cuts
• Shadows
• Tension Music
• Changes In Angles
• Montage Of Shots
• Chase Scenes
• It Will Revolve Around An Investigation Of An Enigma
• Only The Hero Can Solve The Enigma

There are also conventional characters included in thriller, these are slightly different to Vladimir Propps character types:

• The Hero
• The Villain (Sometimes An Organisation)
• The Innocent Victims
• Characters With Dark Pasts
• Psychotic Individuals
• Terrorists
• Private Eyes And Spies

These are common character types associated with thrillers but they will be some which are different in particular films.

Thriller Moodboard

Iconography of the thriller genre from emmaguyot

Opening Sequence Pros And Cons

Pros:

• Resources should be easy to source
• Needs no budget to do it.

Cons:

• Finding cast actors such as the laptop user.
• Fitting in all of the shots into the opening sequence time of 2 mins.
• Editing the shots so they transition well together.
• Relying on the correct weather for the day of filming.
• Shooting the different scenes such as the one on the tube.
• Where are we going to shoot in terms of cutting between shots.
• Finding a place where not many people so that they do not interrupt or ruin filming.

Opening Sequence Ideas

In this post i am going to bullet point the opening sequence of my thriller. A laptop with secret information is stolen.

• It is going to be overcast and cold weather with the laptop user in a park or other public place dressed in casual clothing.
• The thief is going to be dress in all black with a tracksuit and a hoodie. There are going to be no camera shots of his face.
• The thief will be filmed walking along a path in the park when he sees the laptop user sitting on a bench up ahead. 
• The thief comes alongside the laptop user and grabs it. He gets away after being chased by the laptop user for a short while.
• The thief then gets on a tube with a shot of him getting on a tube and the train leaving.
• The next scene will be the thief deleting files from the laptop. Shot of the screen and the thief will miss a file titled Government Conspiracy
• Titles start with text over layed on a montage of location shots. Montage shots will be shot with focused being adjusted.

Story Idea Synopsis

Synopsis:

James is just an ordinary guy who gets on with his life without getting in anyones way. That all changed when he bought a laptop off ebay. James was exploring his new laptop when he finds an encrypted file in the operating system. James rings his friend CJ who says he can unlock it. After uncovering the information on the laptop bad things start to happen to james. He constantly has to stay one step ahead of a criminal organisation whilst trying to figure out what the government has got themselves into. After dodging hitmen for a number of weeks  James manages to get on a flight to america but is that the end of his troubles...