Mise-en-Scene has 5 elements; settings and iconography, Costume, hair and make up, facial expressions and Body Language, Lighting and color and lastly positioning of characters/objects within the frame. Mise-en-Scene is used to give the audience a better understanding of what is going on within the film and it also gives the audience a better understanding of who is the bad and good guy but also lets the audience judge the characters.
The prom is set within a hotel and the lights get cut by the policeman, this creates an eerie suspense as the hotel is a big place and nobody knows where the killer is at this point, then when the lights have been cut the audience expect the killer to come out and attack. The iconography used was a fire extinguisher which was used by the killer to enter the room where his victim is also he has a knife. This lets the audience know thats he is a killer and wants to kill the girl. After the girl has escaped the policeman comes in with his gun to try and apprehend the killer but instead finds another dead body. Thriller films use these types of settings and iconography to create an eerie atmosphere.
All the young people who are having their prom at the hotel are wearing long ball gowns and tuxedos with corsages they were all bright colors and the policeman are dressed in suits which were also bright colors. However the killer is dressed in casual dark clothes with a baseball hat on, this shows the audience who is the killer and who are not. This is used within thriller films so the audience can tell apart each character and at the same time judge them.
Facial Expressions and Body Language changes throughout this scene first Donna shows happy facial expressions and body language it's also expressions of being free and not having a care in the world. But then when the killer tires to attack her she has worried and angry facial expressions and her body language is almost cowardly and submissive to the killer as she believes she cannot beat him and she believes she will almost certainly die. However the killers facial expression is ecstasy as he is happy he has got Donna alone and that he is going to kill her. But when Donna gets away from him and is on the other side of the door he looks worried almost like he thinks she got away. His body language is however is more dominant than than Donna's and this shows the audience he is the more violent and stronger out of the two. Thrillers use this to show who is weaker and stronger out of the characters and also who is more dominant.
Donna is in the middle of the screen when she is looking for the present her mum gave her and the killer sneaks up behind her this shows the audience that Donna is helpless
Your post on mise-en-scene shows some understanding of this micro element. You have identified some of the points well and you have also included some examples to support the points that you are making. However, at times you have over explained the narrative and you have not considered the purpose or conventions of the scene. This needs to be changed so that your analysis is more detailed. Also consider the PEER format too a
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