Deconstruction: Mise-en-scene in Possession Horror Films

Deconstruction: Mise-en-scene in Possession Horror Films

 I deconstructed the different mise-en-scene used on the actor to create a convincing character in The Grudge. I looked at the costume, make-up and hair of the character to be able to create a better example on the actor in our film opening.

The Grudge

The Grudge uses a young girl character. The character is not one that is seen a lot during the film. Due to the back story of the film, the character is less effected by dirt and mud. There is no one else in the film with interesting costume, so I focused on the character in which we are planning to have in our film opening.

Costume:



• The dress on this character is pristine, long and white and contrasting comparison to dresses in other possession horror films.
• The dress is worn with tights and there is no rips or tears, creating more of a perfect, untouched 'innocent' look. 
• This dress is obviously a night dress and therefore highlights vulnerability, which contrasts to the possession of  the character but conforms to the age of the actor.

 

Make-up:

 

 

 

The make-up on the young character is quite graphic.

• The characters face is very pale, an easy effect done with white face paint and therefore easy for us to recreate in our film opening.
• She has blood running from her eyes and hairline which makes the close-up of the character's face more intense and scarier. We can recreate this look with fake blood. We would have to experiment with this look as we want to make it look believable and have a good cinematic effect, if this make-up is filmed, lighted or applied badly it could ruin the desired look.

Hair:
 

• The character's hair is less messy and dirty than similar characters in other possession horror films.
• Her hair is parted in the centre and the only hairs out of the place are the few over her forehead, allowing her face to be completely on show, not hiding of the characters features. We could use this in our film opening although we want to keep a sense of mystery and enigma, so using the other use of hair would suit our film opening style better.

Evaluation

• The character in The Grudge is different to the girl in our film opening which means that some of the mise-en-scene will be different i.e. we wont use a pristine dress as our character has a different 'back story'.
• We are not planning for our film opening to include gore, so we won't use the large blood effect with the make-up but we will use the pale face used throughout The Grudge.