Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene is a French term which means 'put into the scene'. The Mise-en-scene can greatly determine the genre of a film and gives the film it's style. Mise-en-scene is the the use of:

• Costume/Makeup - This conveys a characters personality or status and signifies these differences between characters. Using costume you can easily identify the era which a film is set and also how the character wants to be perceived and their attitude. Costume in Thriller films usually depends on the sub-genre such as: crime-thrillers may have detectives or police in uniforms while psychological-thrillers may have characters dressed in every day clothes to show their normality on the outside contrasting with their abnormal minds.

Shutter Island (2010)

• Lighting - Three point lighting is the arrangement of key, fill, and backlight to provide even illumination of a scene and as a result is the most commonly used lighting scheme. The light comes from three different directions which provides the subject with a sense of depth in the frame.  High-key lighting involves the fill lighting to be increased to the same level as the key lighting which creates even illumination and causes the scene to look bright and soft. Low-key lighting is opposite to high-key lighting. The fill light is at a very low level causing many shadows and is commonly used in film noir. For use in a Thriller film, either three point lighting or low-key lighting would be most appropriate. This is because lighting can drastically change the mood of a scene and the typical lighting for a Thriller is darker with more shadows creating an eerie and intense atmosphere.

• Actors - An actor must be able to express the emotions of their character in a way they would naturally express their own emotions. The acting in crucial to whether the audience understands the plot of the film and makes it realistic while the emotional input must effect the audience so the audience will connect emotionally and feel as the character does. Actors can develop a star persona which means they play a similar role in each film (e.g. Leonardo DiCaprio in films such as 'The Departed' (2006) and 'Shutter Island' (2010) where he plays an American cop solving a crime).

The Departed (2006)

• Props - Props are important as they can show a characters personality or class and can give clues to how the plot will turn out. Props are crucial to make up a realistic setting in a film and in Thriller films, this can be shown by weapons or badges in crime-thrillers and crosses or the Bible in religious-thrillers.

The Omen (1976)

• Setting - Setting creates a sense of place, determines the mood of a scene and the characters emotional state of mind. It can be fabricated inside of a studio as an authentic reconstruction or as a completely fictional world and it can also be filmed on location. Conventional thriller settings are dark streets, abandoned buildings or police stations.