Media

1. Mise-en-scene in thriller films.
Thriller films use the aspects of mise-en-scene in their own way as they make most of their
settings more dark and dim to let the audience know that it is serious. Another thing that the
thriller genre does good with mise-en-scene is the props that are used are able to provide shock
factor for the audience, things like: guns, knives and other sorts of weapons are used in thriller
films, some of these props are also useful for thriller because in the scenes that use these props
they make it more intense but can also be used for the suspense part of thriller because you
may hear a gunshot but not see it on screen, this creates the effect that when you see the gun
you know what happened. Also these props can be used to show character as people with a
knife or pistol may be seen as a side character but people with assault rifles or sub machine
guns may be seen as more controlling and lets the audience know that they have the power.
Another part of mise-en-scene is the fact that costume and make-up can be used to develop
character in a thriller as the main antagonist may wear black or red as these colours are
normally used to signify danger and power, yet if they had something like white and black that
may show that they have a side of them that the audience does not know about. The main
character can also be learnt about just by looking at them as if they wear things like blue or
green they may be seen as calmcharacters but if they wear a white suit with a red tie, this may
show that on the outside they are pure and innocent but on the inside are more sinister. Also
much like the Joker from the Dark Knight how he has make-up on this helps to make the
audience know how his character is after seeing his face and hearing his name as it is sort of
clownish hense the name The Joker.
Another key part of mise-en-scene in thriller is the body language of the characters, some of
the characters are able to be made more significant through body language as the way that
they stand can show if they are able to be the main character or main villain, if a character is
stood straight backed with his arms folded they may be in power and can show if they are
waiting for something, but if you include facial expressions then it can be portrayed differently
as if the character is still stood straight back and looking up it shows that they are patient but if
they are looking down while standing like this it shows that they may be more impatient and
stubborn.
The last way that mise-en-scene is used in thriller is by the positioning of characters in a frame,
if the main character is in the centre frame and the main villain is at the edge of the frame this
could be used to show that the main character has finally got the villain backed against a wall if
the villain is slightly off the screen but if he is slightly further into the frame it may suggest that
they have a chance to get away.