Mise-en-scène

Mise- en - scene makes up the main elements that adorn any scene, whether from a thriller or not. The components of Mise-en-scene are broken down into six main areas which can be remembered using the word C.L.A.M.P.S.

C ostume L ighting A cting M ake up P ositioning S et   

Costume

The main antagonist from Die Hard

Costume is a very important part of any thriller film, costume can help the director to portray things about the nature of the character, their status , their class, their job or personality among other things. Within the thriller genre, costumes apart from connoting the time period it is set in, and other things such as wealth and status are used to connote whether a character is a protagonist or an antagonist. For example, if a character is shown to be only wearing black then the director has already identified that character as being an antagonist to the audience without the use of any dialogue, this is the same regarding protagonists and the colour white. Moreover, the director may choose to take advantage of colour association for example, a character all in red may be associated with danger, passion or lust. Within the image of Alan Rickman in 'Die Hard' he is easily identified as the antagonist due to his black suit and dark red tie - black connoting death and red associated with blood and danger. 

Equally this image portrays Bruce Willis starring in the same film, 'Die Hard'. Again the audience swiftly identifies Willis as the protagonist as he is wearing a white vest, white connoting goodness, purity, light and hope.

Lighting


Traditionally most thriller films will use low - key lighting as is shown in the accompanying image, it is effective in creating a dark, intense feel to a scene, low-key lighting also often gives a shot a greyish hue which contributes to creating a sinister and foreboding atmosphere to the scene. Moreover, low-key lighting enables the director to keep the audience slightly disorientated and therefore can increase the element of surprise and tension. 


Acting


Acting is arguably the most influential element of mise- en - scene as the acting, through body language, dialogue and facial expression sets the over all tone of the entire film. Within the Thriller genre, lots of close -ups are used to enable the audience to see the characters' facial expression/ reaction which builds tension and suspense for the audience. For example, the accompanying picture shows how facial expression can convey a tone or emotion to the audience, as the characters' evil expression ensures that the audience fear him and gives a strong sense of foreboding that he may harm other characters. 



M ake up 

The Joker from the Batman series is a prime example of how make up can be used effectively to invoke a reaction from the audience, he is associated with the sinister clown - like make up and therefore becomes an object of fear through the way that he is presented. Make - up can be used within the thriller genre to portray a variety of things such as class, age, social status and the personality of the character. Colour association is a major part of make - up within films, for example the colour red carries connotations with danger, blood, death but also passion or love. 

 P ositioning

The positioning of a character within a shot is incredibly important. Where a character or object is placed tells the audience much about them and their importance to the scene. The position of a character within a shot can also indicate much about their representation and stereotypes, for example within this image the woman is further forward in the shot, only her torso is shown whereas the threatening character behind is in full view, his whole body is shown including his powerful stance, connoting that he is inferior to the smaller, weaker woman. 


S et 

The set and props of a film tell the audience much in regards to location, country it is set in, time period, wealth of the character and more. The props and set also help contribute to the tone of the film and create, in the case of most thrillers a tense atmosphere. For example, the image to the right depicts an empty warehouse with soldiers and guns - making the audience wonder whether the set is in fact some kind of army base. The set of a film is crucial, as are the props - as typical iconography of the thriller genre such as guns and knives - help the audience to identify the film they are watching as a thriller. 



Sources: Google images, www.slideshare.com, www.elementsofcinema.com, collegefilmandmediastudies.com