Planning mise - en scene - Miss Georgiou

Setting and iconography: 

 The main scene within our opening sequence will take place on an isolated bridge in a public yet deserted place at around dusk as our victim is about to attempt suicide. Having the scene set a later stage through out the day as well as in an empty location creating more mystery to the scenario, also there are no witnesses to stop the antagonist or to report him afterwards therefore making it appear that our villain is able to attack Brittany (our victim) in the ways which is suggested and even worse possibly completely get away with it. The effect of Brittany appearing to be completely alone furthermore elaborates how vulnerable she is and emphasises the fear we feel for the victim.  This  will be the main focus throughout the sequence The iconography within our scene will obtain a knife as our potential murders weapon of choice, bricks, the river  and bridge showing the likely hood of her death or, even any death within the sequence, the typical clothing of a teenager for instance a hoody this will be done in an attempt to emphasis her age and make her further relate-able to people of that generation as well as to make her venerability more apparent as young girls at that age are said to be at a more likely risk of becoming a target to such a threat for reasons such as they are seen to be less physically strong etc.

Within our film we be will be exploiting the usage of flashbacks we will be doing this in order to highlight how long these chain of events have been going on for hence indicating how much of an effect it could really have had on our victim as well as adding furthermore to the idea that our antagonist is willing to go further than the 'normal person' with his obsession as he has been doing so for a while and all of this little things connected become even creepier and suggest they he may go even further and course her serious harm. One of our flashbacks will show Brittany at home appearing to be alone watching someone on TV we considered the idea of he watching another thriller film however we decided after talking to our teacher Miss Georgiou that this idea was perhaps a bit tacky and could appear that we were trying to make our thriller too much like other thrillers such a the scream series. So we opted to have her watching something rather 'innocent' so to contrast the fact that it appears that Brittany is being watching. Another one of our flashbacks showcases Brittany walking along a path way when she hears footsteps she looks frightened indicating to the audience that she fears this is the man she thinks is stalking her however as they run past we realise this person is just your typical every day jogger and not of threat. This is a crucial scene which I fought to have in our film as it makes the film more interesting/ confusing/ intense as the audience is unsure whether what they are being shown is the truth or simply what is happening from Brittany's pov.

The lighting in this sense with be fairly dark creating an intense and eerily vibe however it will still be light enough for it to past as a not to late stage in the day this makes the antagonist appear more powerful as he is able to do such things at an earlier stage in the day it makes them appear more fearless and capable.

The costumes our characters will be wearing play a major part in the film as they help the audience to indicate their roles, for instance villain Steve shall be dressed in a rather secretive costume sticking to as much black as possible, black is a good colour to dress our antagonist in as it is often paired with trouble and danger the colour itself can often indicate to audiences that there is trouble about to occur as it is such a dark colour it suggests to the audience that this will be a rather dark character. Many people claim to be afraid of the dark which is often paired with the colour black hence many viewers shall find the a character dressed as darkly as possible to be someone that they should feel afraid of. The characters dress will also help with the affect of him having a hidden identity, black can also be viewed as a rather secretive colour which does give much away. Wore as we want Steve to wear it it can be quite covering for instance it doesn't tell us anything about who he may be or what he may be like in his every day life, the audience is unable to guess from his appearance what job he may do, what he family life is like, his culture/ background etc. This continues the theme of the antagonist being someone that we know nothing about other than his sick obsession with Brittany this makes him all the more frightening as he could be absolutely anyone and Brittany would be none the wiser.

If you picture the character/characters '-A' from ABC'S series 'Pretty little lairs' that is the sort of effect we want the character of Steve to have on the audience by dressing in a similar way, when watching the show many audience member's are freaked out by the antics of this character or characters. One of the scariest things is that through the beginning of the show many audience members were unsure if -A was just one person or not after all so little was given away about them from their appearance all that was recongisable about them was the distinctive black dress. Having our character dress this way makes them even scarier as a stalker as if the audience was to know who this person was they wouldn't be so scary as this wouldn't have this power over the audience. Think back to a time when you've watched a known character watch/follow another imagine how much scarier that would have been if you was pondering who it may be that was watching them. The fact that this character is unknown also makes them scarier as viewers are unable to make an educated guess or assume what it is that they are capable of or how far they are likely to go.

Often throughout films of the thriller genre the antagonist or antagonists are dressed in a way which not only sets them out as the 'villain' but also provides them with further fear from the use of having a hidden identity hence being conventional to a thriller as this technique is often used within thrillers for it's added fear factor. As well as becoming distinctive and remember-able to that character. Often within films with cult followings having distinctive dressing is used this is a good way for audience members to recognise the film individually and not just see it as another film of the genre. 

Here are some examples:

'Ghost face' from the Scream series

The masked killer from Valentine

Serial killer from my bloody valentine 

The 'fisherman' from I know what you did last summer

Brittany herself will be dressed as the average teenage girl would, for the scene at the bridge Brittany will be dressed in a hoodie not only does this symbolism average teenage dress but it is also a useful piece of costume for the script as apart of Brittany's attempt at suicide she plans to place bricks inside her hoody's pockets to force her to drown in the river below. Having Brittany dress in a rather universal manner helps to make her more appealing to the general audience as she is someone that more people will be finding themselves able to relate to quicker. As well as keeping her dress typical to that of the ordinary teenage girl so that she appears more likable hence gaining further sympathy I plan to also have her dressed in clothes which are quite 'innocent' appearing for instance she won't wear anything particularly revealing showcasing her sweetness. If this was to happen to someone behaving rather promiscuously then often audience members tend to lose sorrow on the victims behalf as they find themselves going off of the character. It is seen as overly typical to have a promiscuous victim within the thriller genre often people just assume their death as coming the minute the character is introduced and little relationship is formed. Creating a relationship between the audience and the victim or protagonist so to help them have a better understanding for them is good hence they shall be rooting for them more but it is also a convention to a thriller as often within the genre this technique is displayed for the audience to be able to relate to the characters more so and therefore feel even more suspense when hoping for them to do well and come out okay of certain situations.

Carol our protagonist will be dressed as comfy appearing clothes, for instance a nice jumper or cardigan as this will make her seem rather warming and cosy, we want her to seem as nice as possible to make her best attempts to help Brittany seem as believable as possible. We want Carol to come across as the nicest person in the world, you couldn't get any nicer than she is which is an aspect of her personality which we have to keep up throughout her portrayal even in her clothes, if she was to wear a nasty slogan t shirt than the audience would view this as her not being as nice as she is trying to seem.

Brittany's facial expression will be the most important of all the characters. Brittany is the character that for the most part the audience will feel the biggest emotional relationship with. Watching Brittany face change as she is experiencing different elements of the thriller will play on the audiences heart strings as they watch her struggle through pain feeling sorry for her and wanting better for her.

Our protagonist's facial expressions shall also be important as we want the audience to see Carol as this perfectly nice human being hence her face as well as every other aspect shown of her needs to suggest this. We will show her smiling sweetly  at Brittany displaying the facial movements of someone trying their best to be comforting.

The body language of the antagonist is key, we need him to come across as intimidating for the portrayal of Steve to work and to have him appear as frightening as he needs to. The actor portraying this role shall have to stand broad and tall as well as rather frightening and intimidating they should stand as though ready to attack at any given moment.

Our antagonist shall we displaying body language suggesting that it is okay for Brittany to warm into her and feel safe around her. For instance putting an arm around Brittany and sort of cuddling into her etc making her seem as friendly as possible. We will have Carol positioned in rather close to Brittany showing that she truly does care for her.

Brittany has to be shown as looking rather fragile especially compared to the antagonist. She needs to look weak and innocent and unable to fight this incredibly empowering man that should seem to be towering down over her. This would be conventional to the thriller genre as throughout films of the genre the victim or protagonist is showed to be weaker or at a lost to the antagonist so to make them appear more powerful/frightening and make the situation more intense and scary building upon the suspense.