Mise en scene

Mise en scene is a french term meaning "in the scene or frame". Elements of mise en scene include:

• Lighting
• Costumes
• Props
• Setting
• Positioning of objects and characters
• Acting 

A simpler term of mise en scene is that it refers to everything that appears before the camera, including all of the above. Mise en scene is a good way to analyse scenes in movies, as you can infer a lot from scenes by the objects in them, the expressions and acting from the actors, and the setting. For example the body language of an actor allows the audience to infer what kind of mood they are in e.g nervous or scared.

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown was released in 2011 and directed by Jaume Collet-Sara. it is the story of Dr Martin Harris, who, after a car crash, loses his memory and finds that someone has taken his identity. The mcguffin that drives this story is the biotechnology summit that he has to attend, and the world food crisis which the biotechnology summit is about.

There are various scenes that have thriller aspects in 'unknown', but one scene that stands out in particular is the scene where Martin harris is tied to a hospital bed and is attempted to be killed by an assassin. As the assassin leaves the room we see Marin Harris reach for a pair of scissors, Martin is straining for the scissors and is cutting his hand in the process. This is a tense scene because it is unclear to the audience whether or not Martin Harris will reach the scissors in time. however as the assassin re enters the room it is clear to the audience that Martin Harris does have the scissors, and he soon escapes.

Another tense scene is the car chase scene. The car chase scene has elements of fast paced editing, this is so that it matches the chaos of the action that is happening on screen. The fast paced editing may also give the audience a sense of speed, this is to show how fast the cars are driving and how frantic it is for Martin Harris.

A thriller convention in unknown, similar to the convention used in Alfred Hitchcock's work, is the convention of a resourceful hero who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains. Despite the fact that he has had his identity stolen and is being chased by assassins and the police, Martin Harris still uses his wits and quick decision making to thwart the assassination plants of the villains.

Another thriller convention used in unknown is red herrings. Throughout the film we see that Martin Harris is attempting to save his wife liz, who he believes is being forced against her will to co operate with the assassins. however the audience later finds out that liz is an assassin herself, and her partner was Martin Harris, who was an assassin before he lost his memory.

Thriller Shotlist draft

This is the first draft of shot types we will use in our thriller 'gone'.

Thriller Storyboard

For our thriller we have designed a brief storyboard, it shows some of the shots we will use as well as the basic premise.

Treatment

Treatment

Treatment

Group Roles Cinematography: Long shot, wide shot, medium shot, close up, extreme close up, point of view, low angle, high angle,tilt, crane shot, tracking shot, over the shoulder shot. (Ausrine) Mise-en-scene:  Costumes; leather jacket 2x, jeans, hooded jumper, heels. Props; metal bar. Location; Central Park, Eastbrook School (alley), Eastbrook School (abandoned room). Make-up; Barbara (dangerous) dark lipstick, long dark hair, heavily made up eyes. (Barbara, Michael, Ross) Sound: Background; birds chirping, forest noises, dramatic music, ident, buzzing noise (room), bang (distraction, all heads turn) (Ross, Michael) Editing: fade in/out, white and black, jump cut. Flashbacks. Match on action. Straight cut. Eye line match. Continuity editing. 180 degree rule. ( Ausrine, Michael, Barbara, Ross)

Title: Gone Tag Line: What would you do?

Synopsis: A couple are ruthlessly split apart and it's up to her to figure out what happened and why it happened. The audience are shown flashbacks to fill in the gaps whilst she uncovers the mystery and is forced to confront him. The twist of events will leave the audience and her on the edge of heir seats.

Key Genre Conventions: Fast paced music Dark clothing; jeans, leather jacket Mysterious murder (brutal) Confession Prop; metal bar, rope, chair Alley, abandoned room Action (chase) Flashbacks to make the tension rise up and then fall again.

2nd production meeting

In this lesson we decided the thriller opening we were going to record. Our thriller opening is called 'gone' and we have started a rough draft of what shot types we will use. we have also started our storyboard for 'gone'

How to film a thriller

How to film a thriller

Camera angles

POV - shows the viewpoint of someone

Close ups/reaction shots

Extreme close up

Shooting through an opening - suggests hidden watcher

Long shot

Shot reverse shot: shows character then shows POV of what they see

Handheld camera shots

Tracking shot

High angle - shows weakness/vulnerability

Editing

Slow editing - shows peacefulness/no danger

Fast editing - quick cuts show panic, puts the audience on edge

Dissolves/fades - cut out long journeys

Music

Diegetic sound - sound heard on screen e.g birds chirping, footsteps - actual sound 

Non diegetic sound - sound heard of screen e.g narrator, soundtrack - commentary sound

sinister sound effects show danger
ominous music
Background sounds (nature) shows

Lighting

Dark lighting
Natural lighting e.g sunlight

Initial ideas

Initial ideas

Here are the initial ideas of our thriller opening. 'Out in the woods' is the story of two friends, one of them goes missing and the friend who is left starts being followed by an unknown person. 'Gone' is the story of a women who wants to get revenge on her boyfriends killer, and 'text 2 kill' is the story of a boy receiving threatening texts from an unknown person. Of all these ideas i think the one we are most likely to do is 'gone'.

1st Production meeting

today we have done our first production meeting, in it we talked about the 3 ideas we had for our thriller opening