Mise en scene in Thrillers

Film noir mise en scene from emilyore

Camera-work in Thrillers (Psycho Alfred Hitchcock 1960)

To analyse lighting in thrillers, I used the film Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock. The scene I'm using is just after Marion has left her boyfriend and instead of going to work she has taken some money from her boss and is driving away from the city. Through this scene Marion is worried someone might be following her and this anxiety is shown through the use of chiaroscuro lighting. 

In the shot below, Hitchcock uses a zoom shot of Marion's face to show the close up shot of her face to explain her emotions and the details on her face which reflect the tension in the scene. Her make-up is very fierce with the bold eyeliner and mascara to accentuate her eyes and how they react with the conversation in the background and the cars on the road. Her bold red lipstick suggests she is a  promiscuous and slutty character. This is shown by the way the man crossing the road smiles at her and implies she is dangerous which creates tension for the audience, as they know she will die because of conventions in thrillers. In the scene, she bites her lip often which connotes the agitation she has with the slow traffic and the suspense it builds by moving slowly. As the conversation continues her thick, bold eyebrows are the main focus of the scene. They move like she is reacting to the conversation, however the voices are only in her head. This anxiety is shown because it is a mystery on when this conversation is happening and whether she is just making it up. This creates tension because the anxiety of not knowing makes it more suspenseful and mysterious.

The chiaroscuro lighting used in the shot below shows Marion driving at night by herself. This use of lighting tries to highlight her face and reactions to what is happening in her life, present time. The dark corners and spaces create an internal frame to force you into looking at her emotions. The fuzzy shadows created by the steering wheel show the use of common conventions in thrillers used to accent her features, but also show her two sides. Her innocent scared side of being alone at night and a promiscuous lady who likes to sleep with married men. By using the high contrast of blacks and whites, it intensifies the theme of danger because she is driving at night alone and although she is a profligate woman, she shows a sense of innocence by being and acting scared while alone at night. The blurred background of the rear window of the car implies that she is trapped in the car and isolated from the rest of the world. This constriction highlights the suspense of Marion getting to safety and away from the deadly darkness of the never ending roads. 

The use of music also creates a tense scene. It co-insides with the narration of the diegetic conversation which is being played over the scene of Marion driving because when the conversation gets heightened the music gets more intense and louder. The non diegetic sound is of violins. This type of music is very interpolating and allows you to become submersed in what's happening in the scene. The music is full of fear and worry. She realises she is not in a safe place so the music reflects her raw emotions and how she realises she is exposed to the elements.

Independant Study into Film Noir: Setting and Costume, and German Expressionism

Film Noir: Settings & Costume and German Expressionism from emilyore

The Purpose of The Opening Sequence of a Thriller

The purpose:

- Setting the scene (time and place)

- Introducing the characters- or not to make it more mysterious

- Showing a murder- start of investigation (crime thriller)

- Showing a dream/flashback

- To engage the audience 

- Introduces the theme

- Sets the tone/atmosphere

Chosen scene for analysis: Opening scene of Inception (2010)

       Analysis of screenshots:

Very powerful music starts of the scene and connotes the power of the waves as they crash into each other. It also creates a sense of destruction and forcefulness which suggests the type of world we are about to be immersed in. As you see Cobb (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) in a canted mid shot for the first time, he is lying on a beach covered in dirt and sand. This shot creates confusion because in the viewers head, a person who is very rough and possibly a criminal or a person who is running away from something. We are then interpolated into a flashback of Cobb's, of him at a beach of him as a child.We can't tell it is a flashback the first time because their isn't a distinct difference between the two shots and they are linked because they are both on a beach, which makes it seem more real that the children in the flashback because they could have been on the beach with him. 

By showing this scene of him in the real life and his flashback, it raises questions about him as a character, his past and why he is lying on the beach. The genre of the film is introduced when the soldier/officer finds a gun stuffed into Cobb's trousers. Although it is only one part of the iconography, it still implies that this film will have some action or crime involved. 

Our first establishing shot is of the cliffs from the beach. In the shot, the rocks and cliffs are very rugged and symbolises danger and the risk of entering this land. To get a sense of where we are, the oriental styled building suggests that this beach is located somewhere in Asia, like China or Japan. To support this idea of where we are, the next scene creates a language barrier with the audience. The words spoken are in a native tongue and makes the viewer seem disorientated and confused because they do not understand the language. Although there are subtitles on the screen, it still makes the viewer seemed distanced from these characters. Although this shot is during the day, the dark, low key lighting from the rocks and building create a mirrored image from the blue sky. It shows that through the perfect painted picture of the beach, there is always danger and mystery somewhere.



The reflections from the lights on to the many shiny or mirror-like surfaces in the room, create a sense of structure because of the rows of lights, however it is very overwhelming and in a way, sucks you into the room situated in the frame. The low key lighting with non diegetic lighting creates disorientation because the audience doesn't know which is the reflected surface or the real thing. It shows the audience that this villain could be shown as either a normal person or the bad guy. His real personality is hidden through false lies which makes the characters and the audience feel unsure of his true nature. The internal framing of the open door centres your attention around the man with his back to us. Because he is sitting down, it makes him the most important because the rest are standing up. He also seems the oldest which makes him more of an authoritative figure and the fact that the officers are reporting what and who they found on the beach. The intimidation of the old man to Cobb again connotes the genre of a thriller. Intimidation is used to make Cobb seem smaller, and seeing as he is slouched over the table it makes him small. The old man seems to be the villain and through intimidation, it makes himself seem more powerful. 

The sub genres of thrillers and how they create tense and suspension

Evaluation of preliminary task

Evaluation of Preliminary task

During the preliminary task, I learnt how to edit videos on the software Premier pro. I also learnt how to incorporate sound over the top of a clip and add transitions like fade to black. I have also learnt how to stick to the 180 degree rule and where to position lighting to change the mood of the scene.

For the planning of the task, as a group we thought about the main conversation and what would be in it. We brainstormed our ideas on a mind map and also explored different costumes settings and characters. We planned a storyboard for the types of shots and how angles would be used to create a certain atmosphere. Our final idea was a confrontation of two girls who appeared to be witches. By doing this we were able to play around with the idea that they could move things without touching them. To film our shot reverse shot, we filmed the whole scene from one angle and then again at a different angle, both angles near the characters so similar to an over the shoulder shot. Then in the editing process, we cut from one to another to create the shot reverse shot. To create a tracking shot, we tried using a tripod but the shot we wanted to create was a mid shot of shoes walking to the room. So we used a handheld camera to get the right angle and then curved the tracking shot round. This did cause slight shakiness but visualised the tension being built.

We used this close up shot to hide the rest of the setting to make it more mysterious, it also adds suspense because the door knob turns slowly and makes the viewer agitated. The low key lighting increases suspension and non diegetic lighting makes it unsettling because you do not know what is creating the light, (it could be a fire, normal lamp, or magic.)

 The canted angle shot of Lauren’s face gives a disconcerting feel to the scene. It disorientates the viewer because of the jagged angle. She is leaving a black scene in the background and coming into a new well lit room. This could imply that she is leaving her darkness/morose past behind but it could also suggest that she is a dangerous person because the dark lighting and her black clothing could represent her personality. 

This low down mid shot makes Lauren seem extremely tall and intimidating, like a giant is walking past. It creates an uneasy atmosphere because from the past shot you can tell Lauren is angry. Even the way she walks firmly and upright hints at her attitude. The pan allows the editing to become slower and create more suspense when knowing where Lauren will end up. 

To make our video more interesting we used the idea of magic. By the door knob turning by itself and the chair moving on its, own it creates a supernatural feeling to the scene and makes it seem alien to us as a viewer but exciting at the same time. Our story was on the confrontation of two witches and how one had violated the treaty of where they should live. Although this is a fantasy story line, it appeals to young girls who are into the fantasy of things that are make-believe. Although the scene is hostile, it makes it obvious that they are angry with each other.

In a way, it does not represent social groups in any way. Although the witches are being played by teenagers, it only represents female teenagers in a negative way to show that we get into quarrels and arguments with each other regularly. To create a dark, tense scene we used low key lighting with certain lights illuminating their faces to make it more prominent. The close up and mid shots accentuate their emotions and feelings.

In the clip, the 180 degree rule is shown. The 180 degree rule is an imaginary line when filming a conversation of two people facing each other. It stops the camera from going past that line and making the scene become confusing from two different sides of the conversation. Instead, it allows the camera to use multiple angles to have an establishing shot of the conversation or over the shoulder shots to create a shot reverse shot.

I have gained a lot of knowledge when it comes to editing. I now know how to drag and drop clips I want to use onto the cutting board. I know how to use just the sound or just the video from that clip and I know how to cut or extend the clip to make it fit into the scene. I know how to make an ‘L’ cut to allow the scene to move smoother from one shot to another and I know how to add transitions to again make the whole scene flow better. I feel like I would need to improve when it comes to editing the sound to make it sound different and I would also like to know how to add music into the scene and how to fade it in and out when dialogue happens.

When it comes to the technology, our group seemed to have some problems. The battery of the camcorder we were using wouldn't more than 5 mins so it took a long time to figure out that we could still record with it charging. Also because of the simplicity of the camcorders we were provided with, we did not know when it was recording or not so some of the scenes we thought we shot were in fact all the out-takes and behind the scenes of us changing to the next shot. We overcame that by using different shots to create the same effect, for example, instead of using the over the shoulder shots which didn't record, we used mid shots from roughly 45 degrees. Next time we record, we will make sure everything is recording at the right time and we will double check everything did record and in the right format.

In conclusion, I feel like our strengths were the creativity of making the magic happens. Although it took time it paid off and looked good. My favourite shot is the door knob because it is creative and allows the suspense and excitement of the location to increase because the rest of the scene is black and mysterious. The weakness are that the variety of shots was not as vast as we wanted it to be, but when it comes to our real thriller opening we will be more careful about the storing of recordings and we will then have the variety we wanted with the preliminary material. Also as a weakness, although we were going for the style of low key lighting, there was not enough natural light to make the scene not grainy. Next time, we will film in the day time and make the scene darker to feel more low key. To make the shoot more purposeful and efficient, we will make a shooting plan to show which shots we are doing in which order and what costumes and props and equipment we will need for that setting and scene.