Research into Mise-en-Scene - Miss Georgiou

Research into Mise-en-Scene

Mise-en-scene means, the assortment of scenery and stage properties in a play. Mise-en-scene consists of 5 elements, which are; Positioning of characters, Setting and iconography, Lighting and colour, Costume, Hair and Make up and Facial expression and Body language. The scene i have chosen to analyse is from the film "Orphan". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDWTQajOiuw

Costume, hair and make-up/Colour - 0:25

Mise-en-scene can be seen in the film Orphan, through Colour/Costume, hair and make-up. The audience can see this when the Esther is trying to kill the mother on top of an isolated frozen lake. The audience can see that Esther was wearing an all black attire, which shows the audience that she is sinister because she is wearing the colour black which symbolises death, which the audience can connote forbade that death is upon one of the characters. Another thing is that, on Esther's face is blood, this could also symbolise pain and death through the colour red, because the colour red is usually associated with blood and demise. This is conventional to a thriller film because the colours help the audience to know who the antagonist is, and also the audience can foreshadow an evil sense by the use of the colours black and red.

Setting and Iconography - 0:49

Iconography and setting can be seen in the Orphan when the audience see Esther holding a knife whilst attempting to stab the mother, who are both on top of a completely frozen lake, in the middle of a forrest. The knife tells the audience that Esther is sinister because she is holding a sharp object which she plans to kill with. Also the isolated lake could build up a lot of suspense which will keep the audience questioning what will happen next. This is conventional to a thriller because the audience expect there to be a weapon which is used upon the protagonist to cause their death. Also the audience expect to see an isolated forrest where no one can hear the mothers screams, in favour of the antagonist which has the protagonist at a disadvantage. The audience then start to feel sympathy towards the mother as it could be her last breath whilst fighting for survival.

Positioning of characters - 0:55 

Positioning of characters and Facial expression can be seen in the Orphan. This is evident when the audience watch Esther sitting on top of the mother with a knife in her hand trying to stab her. This shows the audience that Esther is more dominant and powerful than the mother because she is overpowering the mother by having her helplessly defenceless on the floor whist Esther is threatening to end her life. Also the facial expression on Esther's face shows her anger towards the mother and how much she wants to kill her as she is shown screaming. While on the other hand, the mother's facial expression is of her crying and pleading for help as she is hopelessly inferior on the floor. This is conventional to a thriller film because the audience can clearly see the difference in power between the antagonist and the protagonist, which leaves the audience engaged in the film and wanting to know how and if the protagonist will win.

Facial expression and body language - 2:54

Facial expression and body language can be seen in the Orphan. This is evident when the audience watch the mother finally defeat and kill Esther then runs and hugs her daughter in relief. This shows the audience that the mother is overwhelmingly happy that she has finally killed Esther and her daughter is safe as she is hugging her daughter and crying in relief that she will never have to deal with Esther and her sinister side again. This is conventional to a thriller film because the fear of death and pain has vanished from the film as it nears towards the end which gives the audience a happy ending. The audience can now build a relationship with the mother and her family because they have experienced her tragic story and can sympathise for her.


Overall, I think that the use of mine-en-scene in the film Orphan was very effective towards the audience in making them engaged and excited while watching the film. The research that I have just made will guide and help me when creating my own thriller as it has shown me various different techniques of mine-en-scene which i can use to portray many different meanings. In my thriller I will hopefully include all 5 elements of mise-en-scene into my thriller, but if that is not done then I will most definitely include; Facial expression and body language, Costume hair and make-up and positioning of characters. This is because i believe that these 3 elements are the most important out of the 5 in order to creating a suspenseful tense thriller which will excite and uplift the audience, whilst also scaring them.