2. Mise en scene..
In thriller movies you expect to see a typical setting, you expect the film to be set in a dark and
rural setting, e.g. wooded area, quiet village, or an old mansion in the middle of a country side
and as you can see from the screen shot on the right hand side, which is a screen shot of the
house from ‘ The Woman In black’ , that this follows the typical thriller convention.
They use this as the mise en scene because it helps create the feel of mystery and tension
because you can’t see what is around the corner and you don’t have a wide range of sight due to
the dark setting. Also it helps the audience picture of what could or is going to happen within the
movie judging on what the setting looks like.
3. Camera Angles..
In the movies they use a variety of different camera angles, the conventional camera angles
that are used are:
• Tilting- In thriller movies they use the tilting technique because it makes object appear
taller and bigger than they actually are. This causes fear and intimidation for the
characters and the audience as it will make them feel weak and small.
• Point of view- They also use the point of view shot because it lets the audience have
the perspective of what the character in the movie is seeing. Also they typically use the
point of view of the villain so we can also see the other characters from both points of
view of them, so we can see clearer the expression of the character(s) to help set the
atmosphere and what they think of the villain.
• Mirror shot- The mirror shot is very effective in thriller films because we get to see
what's behind that character. This is a good shot to use in thriller movies because it
creates good tension and makes the film jumpy and more suspense like as you are
expecting something to suddenly appear within the mirror.
• Panning- panning is an effective shot to use within thriller films because it helps set the
scene for the audience because it allows them to see the whole room and what is
around the character. This helps to create suspense and also gives them an idea of the
scale of the setting.
4. Lighting..
In thriller movies they use a lot of dim and dark lighting, this is because this also is another way in
which to cause tension and fear for both the characters in the movie and the audience watching.
They also tend to use black and white lighting effects throughout thriller movies. They do this
because it gives us the sense of whether the character is in a safe zone or danger zone. The use of
the white light suggests the feel of safety because the audience and the character can see where
they’re going and what is around them therefore the character will feel a lot safer within that
environment. It also gives the feel of freedom as you no longer feel trapped. We also associate
harmless people with the colour white which also suggests safety as the character will feel like
they are more likely to be able to trust the other character and they may even help to protect or
help them. However, as well as associating the colour white with safety, we also associate ghosts
with the colour white, this gives us another reason in why the director would use the colour
white in a thriller movie.
The use of the black lighting suggests the feel of danger. This is because the character and the
audience are unable to see the surroundings properly and it makes the character and the
audience feel trapped. Also with the colour black we associate evil, a ‘dark side’ and pain with
someone wearing black. Therefore the use of black is useful and effective to use in a thriller
movie because we can see the difference between the evil and good characters judging by the
colour of clothing or the surroundings in which they are placed throughout the movie.
5. The Others..
This is a convention of a thriller movie because of the setting
of the house, they have set the house in the middle of the
countryside surrounded by woods which gives us the sense
of fear because there is no one located near by. It is also
effective due to the the fact that you cant see it due to the
misty weather, which makes it more mysterious for the
watchers.
In this scene they have made it more mysterious for
the audience because they have covered the objects in
the room with white sheets, which we typically
connect with ghosts. Therefore it creates suspense for
the audience as it makes them uncertain or whether or
not there is someone else in the room with them.
The use of the mirror shot is a convention of a thriller film, the
screenshot shows a good example of how it is used. It is a good
way to use it as it creates suspense for the audience because as
Nicole Kidman’s character looks into the mirror at the door behind
her in the mirror we except something to suddenly pop out from
behind the door.
6. Another way in which The Others has used a typical
convention is the use of the foggy weather. This is a good
mise en scene and effective convention to use because
this also creates tension as we can’t see the surroundings
around the character and we are uncertain on whether
something is going to suddenly appear and therefore
senses danger, fear and uncertainty.
Another effective convention in which they have used within the
film is, the effective use of the character walking up an enclosed
and dark stair case this is a good convention and effect because it
creates the feel of danger and being unsafe because they have used
the use of light effectively as it shows us that the outside is the safer
place to be. It is also effective because it creates the feel of mystery
and tension as we can’t see who the character is and whether they
are evil or not.
This screenshot shows a good use of lightening because it shows us
that the house is unsafe and the outside is safer because they have
made the inside of the house black which indicates danger but the
outside is white which indicates safety. Therefore this is a good use of
the light contrast I was talking about earlier on in the PowerPoint. This
is also reflected upon the characters in this shot and throughout the
movie because they are all wearing black, which tells the viewers that
they are dangerous.
