Final Product - Thriller opening by Emily, Blake, Danny and Johnny, showing the theme of split personality

Mise en Scène

Definition
Is an expression used to describe the design aspects of a theatre or film production, which essentially means "visual theme" or "telling a story"—both in visually artful ways through storyboarding, cinematography and stage design. When applied to the cinema genre, Mise en scene refers to everything that is in view of the camera, along with its arrangement, such as composition, props, sets, actors and lighting.


 The visual theme of our opening will include elements of standard life, whilst maintaining an eerie feel about it, following the trend of the thriller films we have looked at for inspiration in our project. We will tailor our opening so that the potential audience would have an idea of what is to be expected in our movie, along with future scenes that could take place. 


How we will incorporate Mise en Scene into our Opening:


Set Design:
We require props such as mirrors within our opening, as such we shall be filming a portion of our opening within suitable environments which are also easily accessible. Our opening will be shot inside through most, if not the entire scene.


Actors: We aren't going to use additional actors from outside of the group or project, mainly due to the fact we only need a key actor to play our 'lead' character, with the exception of another character or so for interactions within the opening. This decision allows us to avoid any complications with our filming, enabling us to complete the filming process with ease.


Costumes: Our thriller opening isn't overly dramatic, as such we don't have a massive need for costumes to enhance the actor's roles, it's a modern day thriller also, meaning that the use of 'normal' clothes would incorporate effectively into the clip. This is another factor that helps ease our filming time, as it eliminates the cost and difficulty in finding specialised costumes.


Composition: The last key component of Mise en Scene is composition. In order to effectively piece together our opening, we have ensured there are certain contrasts that blend into the opening clip as a whole. An example being the colour of clothing used on our main character, where when the mental 'switchover' occurs, the audience would have something to go by as the colour of clothing changes along with the mood of the scene. Considering we mainly have one character on a frame at a time, the task is also relatively easy in getting the scene to feel realistic.

Frame By Frame Analysis: Red Eye Opening Daniel Wilson

1: The very first shot of the movie is the title 'Red Eye' imposed over a black screen. The text is red not only because the title is 'RED eye', but because its connotes danger and suspense, as well as the fact blood is red and is in thrillers.

2: The next shot is a close up shot of an unknown mans hand. The hand is gloved and swiftly takes a wallet that was just recently placed on the table. At the moment, we currently don't know who this man is, but because his hand is gloved, we know that he definitely not someone who lives in the house. Because of this, it immediately builds up the suspense as we want to know who's wallet this is and who the man who stole it is.

 3: The next shot is a long shot of two men loading a box onto a truck. Although the box is thought to have seafood inside, because the shot is dimly lit and is at night, we assume that something sinister is going on. The camera tracks the men for the entire shot, watching their actions the entire way through.

 4: The next shot is a close up shot of a man who is taking the wallet from earlier out of an envelope. We still cant see who this man is, further building the suspense on who is the man and why he needs this particular wallet.






5: The next shot is a extreme close shot panning left to right of photos of someones house. This is were we start to piece together that someone is trying to gather information on someone. We assume that the house belongs to the owner of the wallet and the man who stole it is the one who is getting the information.

6: The final shot is a medium shot of another two men unloading the box from earlier out of the truck. Our suspicions about the contents of it are somewhat confirmed as when the crate is opened, they break away the ice to reveal a locked box. We don't know whats in this box either, which continues the suspense, setting up for the latter part of the movie.

Shot List

Detailed shot list of our film:


- The first shot it a close up tilt shot that pans upwards from the characters feet to face, this helps to establish the character.

- This shot pans from pans to an over the shoulder,  close up shot. This shot therefore establishes the character involved within the film, making the audience want to find out more.

- The third shot pans round towards the left of the character and zooms out from a close up shot to a medium shot as this gives the audience a view of the background and the scene around.

- Within this next shot a close up shot is formed of the main characters face therefore showing the audience his expression and emotion towards the scene.

- A tracking shot is used to see a close up shot of the main characters split personality in shot for.

- A medium  over the shoulder shot introduces other main characters into the perspective

-A high-angled shot is then used to focus on the characters actions from above, to show the tension building.

- Panning shot is used to turn the shot into a medium shot which shows the audience the setting around.

- A medium shot is then used to show the main character and his split personality double walking past each other .

Frame-By-Frame Analysis Of The Sixth Sense - By Johnny Wring

1. In this first frame we are shown a close up of a light bulb slowly getting brighter, in a dark and sketchy basement. This frame alone creates a lot of tension and anxiety amongst the audience. As well as what we see, what we hear adds to the already sketchy atmosphere as well.







 2. In this frame we are introduced to one of the characters in the movie. A close up is used and we can see by her facial expression that something is either wrong or has caught her attention, adding even more to the current atmosphere. As well as this the camera is behind an object, creating a feeling that we the audience are kind of in the background of this scene, secretly watching this character. Like when a killer stalks his victim, just before he strikes.




3. In this frame we are shown a medium shot of the character, holding onto what looks to be like a bottle of wine. However in this frame the character notices something else in the basement and instantly changes her body language, adding again to the current atmosphere. As well as this the lighting used in this scene allows us to see a shadow of the character in the background creating a very tense and sketchy feeling that we tend to see in a lot of thriller films.

4.In this frame we are shown a long shot of the character, in which the camera is positioned again behind an object, making us feel as though we are hidden whilst watching this vulnerable character who is obviously distressed in some way. This scene is great in portraying the characters emotions and current position in the scene. As I said above, from the position of the camera, the character is made to look very vulnerable and alone. You sort of get the damsel in distress feeling from it.



5. This frame calms the atmosphere a little, as we are shown what looks like a child's drawings, creating a feel of innocence and safety.  However you still come across elements of the thriller genre, by the use of the candles in the shot which are blowing around which could suggest a lot to the audience.

Frame-By-Frame Analysis of Inception (Blake Funnell)

The Opening of: Inception

Much like the previous post, I will analyse the opening sequence of Inception in order to gather ideas for when the time comes for our own opening sequence. I chose Inception as it is a recent release, and has already given itself a name as one of the most prominent Thriller Movies of the decade.

1) Our first shot is an establishment shot, giving the audience an immediate idea of where the current scene of the film is likely to be staged - In this case, we can gather it resides on an isle of some sort.
The camera then pans slightly, to follow the flow of the tides, perhaps gripping the audience already with thoughts of what is to be at the end of the shot. However the camera then cuts to the next shot.

2) We then catch a close-up of the lead actor in the film Leonardo Dicaprio. The character he plays has been washed up the moment the shot changes. This leaves the question of how he had gotten their in the first place, which gives the audience something to ponder as the events begin to unfold. In the last seconds of the shot, he glances upward slightly, leading to shot number 3.

3) We then see a simple cut to a mid-shot of Dicaprio's point of view, which shows the beachshore setting along with two children who are playing on the shoreline. Shortly after, the camera cuts slightly closer in, giving the audience the impression of Dicaprio focusing his gaze on the two, who shortly run off afterwards. At this point it is likely the audience are keen on finding out the cause of the two current events. Which open more and more doors throughout the film in its entirety.

4) After the children run away, the shot again simple-cuts back to Dicaprio who is face down in the sand, still exhausted as a man points a gun to his back. This then adds another element to the sequence, and scene. As the close-up of the gun jammed against him gives the thought that he may either be shot, or taken away, due to the connotations of a gun, we can draw that this man is either a soldier or guard of sorts, with his hand on the trigger out of care.

 5) The shot uses a simple-cut to quickly stress the fact that the guard is searching Dicaprio, finding that he is armed with his own gun, this creates an image for Dicaprio's character, that he is involved with a risky profession i.e. a Mercenary of sorts. This shot is extremely quick, as it only requires identification of the gun before its use has expired.

6) The camera quickly cuts to the man, who is dressed as a guard, quickly he calls out to an ally. Upon realising that the washed up man possesses a gun. The shot is placed so that the sunlight is blotted by his figure, emphasising that this man may be dangerous, or threatening - Giving the audience a thought of the situation our main character is in. Is he to be killed? Imprisoned? Use of these shots are frequent in the film, and this one further emphasises it's meaning through the guards stance.

7) The final crucial shot of the opening sequence indicates where the man has been taken. From the subtitles we gather two things, that they are speaking in another language, along with the fact that the man is aware of who he has been brought too as he ''Asked for him by name''. This is where the psychological part of the famed thriller begins to kick in plot wise, as the audience have a limited knowledge of the current situation until events unfold. The camera again, cuts quickly to the setting as this particular sequence is rather hasty in the build up to this point. We can gather that the current environment is expensive, through detailed views of the room, along with the fact that we have a stereotypical 'Boss man' sat in his chair. This ends the opening sequence, and the shot slowly pans inward until an appropriate cut would be used. Overall the final shot reinforces the fact that the audience should be alert if they would wish to follow the film clearly.

 This concludes the opening sequence of 'Inception'. Overall it is successful in it's purpose, as it draws in the audience right from the first shot, making them ponder who this main character is, why is he where he is and what his purpose is with the people on the isle.