Research into miss-en-scene-Miss Georgiou

Mise en scene

Mise en scene is what is put in the scene. The five elements of Mise en scene are, setting & iconography, costume, hair & make up, facial expressions & body language, lighting & colour and positioning of characters/objects within the frame. The mise en scene is important to make the rest of the elements of the film effective. During the film Muma the mise en scene is used to set the scene, create suspense and to give the audience an indication of the personality of the man.

Muma (finding the girls)


In Muma the scene when he finds the girls, the setting is in a abandon cabin this create a sense of being alone, the cabin is located in the forest. In relation to the audience the location makes you assume that if he gets into trouble no one will be able to find him. At the begining of the scene it is filmed from inside the cabin, as he opens the door, so the audience see the forest behind him; this is important as it shows the audience the cabin is located in the middle of nowhere which creates suspence. Also the iconography, the torch the man uses once he comes into the cabin. This highlights that it is very dark in the cabin, so there is a lot of dark spots for things to hide. This creates the fear factor as the audience are waiting for something to happen.

The costume, hair & make up acts as an instant indicator to the characters personality, satus and also tells the audience what time the film is set in. The man in this scene is wearing a jacket and a hat which connotes that the weather is cold. Also the white bread indicators that the character is quite old  also the beard is white which represents innocence, this suggests that he could be vulnerable,or over run by the antagonist. This makes the audience feel worried for the man, it also builds more tension as the audience wonder if he will be able to defend himself.



Facial expression and body language both show how a character is feeling or there attitude. In this case the man facial expression as he sees the girls, is a mix between shocked, this gives a clear indication to the audience that the man is scared of the girls. This creates the shock factor which is key for a thriller film to have. The body language of the man is timid, which suggests he is uncomfortable in this cabin. Therefor the audience know that something might jump out.



Lighting and colour can be used to highlight importance or create a certain scene i.e mysterious being dark and gloomy. In the cabin there is low key lighting which makes parts of the cabin unknown because it is so dark, this suggests that there could be someone hiding there, which builds tension and suggests that there could be a shock soon. also all the colours being quite dark and black suggests that no one is welcome to come in the cabin, also shows that it is abandoned, this gives the audience a understanding that the man is quite brave. The audience then care about the man and want him to survive this situation.



In conclusion i think the mise en scene is used very effectively to show the conventions of a thriller film, the dark shadows created in the cabin, the mans appearance and more. Overall the mis en scene made the film have; suspense, shock, surprise and tension which made the film gripping and exciting.