Research: Mise en scene: setting and iconography - Mrs. Quinlan

What is setting and iconography and why is it important?
Setting and iconography are a part of mise en scene. Iconography is an object with a significance to the scene that adds on to character representation. The choice of iconography is very important for a scene as it gives connotations and helps them infer the coming events in the in the approaching scene. On the other hand setting is where the scene is set. Setting changes according to the genre of the movie, the scene, and the characters personality traits. If it was a chaotic scene like a car chase; it’s usually set in busy cities and urban locations which are places with a lot of glamorous lights. whereas war or battle scenes are usually set in battle grounds which are usually rural battle fields isolated from the rest of the world.

                          

                                 psycho shower scene (1960)

The shower scene in psycho is a very good example as the ‘knife’ tells the audience that it is about to cause mayhem and kill the damsel in distress. Also the way the antagonist was holding the knife was very important as it was clear that he wasn’t just showing her the knife but was in fact the too kill her.

                                            Silence Of The Lambs(1988)

Moreover In 'Silence of the lambs,' the mask covering only the characters mouth is very significant as it indicates to the audience that the danger lies within his mouth. It also creates fear for the audience as it is an unusual mask that hasn't been seen before which proves that the character is an antagonist that with traits that hadn't been seen before.



common conventional settings for thriller films:

Isolated areas:


The setting for 'Saw' is a conventional thriller setting as it is an isolated area far from society, so the victims are never found. Also the setting is a dirty cubical which is an unusual choice and gives connotations into the Antagonists state of mind as it is clearly shown that a lot of thought has gone through picking the setting. This also shows the antagonist has been planning his act for a long time.

Forests:

'The Revenant' is an action thriller movie, so it conventional for it to be set in a rural forest. Forest are used in many thriller movies as it naturally connotes fear to the audience. However the forest needs to be accompanied with low key lighting to indicate danger, however, the character being alone in a forest with the iconography gun, makes the audience feel scared for the character as they don't know what's awaiting him.

A Church:



The film 'The rite' was set in a church which tells the audience its a religious thriller. Although some people may feel at home in church with the help of other mise en scene techniques including sound and lighting, a church can cause fear, dismay, and horror upon the characters as religion can also connote dead people and the devil.


conclusion:
In conclusion I intend to use isolated rooms with low key lighting to create an uneasy feeling for the audience. This will connote the themes and genre of my thriller movie before the audience has watched it