Research - Mise en Scene in the Horror Genre

Mise en scene is a French term that means “placing on the stage”, and in film constitutes everything on screen, such as setting, props and dress codes. In horror films, settings are very important to convey the right tone. Typically, settings are isolated, for example the remote farmhouse setting of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Also common in setting is gothic architecture as features of it, for example gargoyles, create an eerie atmosphere. Haunted houses are often gothic.

The Shining

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Props are also important, and are sometimes iconic to the film they feature in, for example Jack Torrance’s axe in The Shining and Leatherface’s chainsaw in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Weapons and blades are very common props, and antagonists often have a signature weapon, such as the knife in the Scream franchise.

Ghostface

Jason Voorhees

Freddy Krueger

Scream also illustrates the importance of dress codes in horror films, as the cape and mask of the antagonist Ghostface has become iconic of not only the film, but the horror genre as a whole. Other iconic costumes in the genre include Jason Voorhees’ hockey mask from the Friday the 13^th franchise, and Freddy Krueger’s hat and striped jumper from the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. This highlights the central role aspects of mise en scene have in making horror antagonists more identifiable, whereas protagonists appear more ordinary and typical. The dress codes and props they interact with are used to make them seem like regular people, meaning viewers can easily relate to them, making the distinguishable villain’s torment of the protagonist scarier.

Lighting is significant in establishing the tone of horror films. Lighting is nearly entirely low key and sometimes chiaroscuro. Interesting lighting effects add to the ambience and intensify the audience’s fear, by making the events more supernatural and other worldly, in the case of supernatural horror films like The Ring. Horror films are occasionally made to look as if they are made up of “found footage”, which affects the mise en scene as picture quality is made grainier, and CCTV like, and shaky handheld camerawork becomes more common. Notable examples of “found footage” horror films include The Blair Witch Project and the Paranormal Activity franchise.