Thriller - Mise-En-Scene

Thriller’s genre is very based around horror therefore we need to look at the thriller associations around the various micro-elements of mise-en-scene. This genre is very closely associated with every genre. I am going to talk about what makes a thriller what it is with mise-en-scene.

Costume & Make-Up
Costume isn’t very much different until the genre of the film has a sub category such as psychological or horror. In Psychological-thrillers, The Dark Knight is used as a prime example for the character of ‘The Joker’. His costume is very eccentric with odd colours on his clothing, using a pearlescent purple to define his jacket and a green waistcoat. The make-up on the face too shows the scars that The Joker has dealt with in his life. His red paint on his lips for example show his stars of what they once was, the make-up shows his scars to be a major influence on his life. His eyes are both black, which could suggest his tough violent contact or show that he is mentally ill, thus him being a sociopath. His pale face suggests him being ill too. His hair is in tiny locks that show his lack of cleansing himself. It shows that he gives a little care for his appearance and that his social status is unclear from the change in expensive clothing wear to his hygiene.

Setting 
The setting isn’t much to talk about, however in common films the scene can either be one of these states:

• Mistiness
• Bright shining lights in the low key lighting
• Minimal lighting in the scene to show props
• Ruins - Architecturally beautiful buildings are crippled into a mess with grass growing off it.

Lighting 
Lighting is low key, creating shadows on people’s body and it could possibly also create a silhouette. This creates an emphasis on mysterious characters or objects, this is good as it creates suspense and tension. In my opinion it also causes discomfort to the viewer because it requires more focus to know what is happening in the dark. Films such as Psycho do this when the person comes out ready to stab Janet. This is very closely themed with horror though, although creating the mysterious element can be taken in many different ways, for revealing a character in Drama. Lighting is dark mainly because of the thrill of surprises. For films such as the Batman trilogy, they use a lot of dark scenes to compliment the character. For close up shots, a dark element is introduced into one side of the face, as it reveals the character in a different light. The shots shown below are examples of this being used.

Props
The common theme in props for thrillers include the following:

• Guns
• Money
• Battery powered torches
• Masks
• Meat cleavers

This is used because of these items suggest power. Power is an authoritarian stance inside thriller because of the clear threat with all the weapons. The money is also a stance as it creates the class between the poor and the rich between thriller movies