How tension is created in an opening thriller from a sequence made last year

 opening scene to stranger by Saskia and Freya 

- Me and Saskia did a joint presentation analysing an opening sequence through camera, sound, editing and Mise-En-Scene.

Mise-En-Scene of a film poster

 How does the Mise-En-scene and camera angle composition within the poster communicate concepts and connotations to the audience? 

This is a film poster from the movie baby driver, The use of Mise-En-scene in this such as costume helps communicate the concept and connotations of the movie to the audience. For example, the man in the top left is wearing a suit which suggests he is a wealthy and hardworking man. This contradicts the rest of the characters in the poster as they are all wearing more casual costumes such as jackets and shirts, this could imply that they are all below this man social status wise maybe suggesting to the audience that he is the boss of them or some of them. There are also two pictures of different female characters wearing very different costumes, in the top image she is wearing a maid outfit to then wearing a pink fluffy jacket and a what looks like diamond necklace. This could suggest to the audience that they have very different lives, one more ’normal’, simple and one more glamorous, chaotic. 

The props used in the poster also tell the audience a lot about the movie such as the use of guns. One is a large gun held by an aggressive looking man. The gun gives connotations that there is going to be violence included in the movie such as death or death threats, the man's facial expressions also further exaggerate this. The other gun presented is a shot gun held by the woman who is wearing a more glamorous costume. This tells the audience that she is some sort of killer or has done bad things which is subverting her from the stereotypical female expectation as she would be expected to be fearful and not aggressive. The man on the bottom left also seems to be holding up some sort of gang sign or representing a gun, this also suggest to the audience that something illegal may also occur suggesting action and drama. Lastly for props the boy in the top middle is wearing headphones and glasses, this gives the audience a pre-assumption that he is laid back and does not have much care in the world. The headphones also emphasise that he is really into music and maybe uses it to help him get through life which could suggest that’s a main- focus in the film.  

The character positioning on the poster tells the audience a lot about who is the main character and is most prominent in the movie. For example, the boy with the glasses and headphones is right at the top and he is the biggest in the photo making the audience get drawn towards him suggesting most of the plot is based on him, the rest of the characters get smaller and go down the page showing who are the more important and less important characters, and who the main characters of the movie are going to be.  

The location on the poster is showing a car driving fast down a motor way going away from a city using an establishing shot, this suggests and shows clearly to the audience that it’s an action movie where people are escaping or running away from someone or something creating a tense atmosphere.   

Mid shots are used for the characters on the poster, this shows the emotions and facial expressions of them clearly helping the audience understand what type of characters they are. For example, the man in the red jacket on the bottom left has a very stern focused face which suggests that he is scary giving connotations that he may be violent and the girl in the maid outfit has very confident facial expressions suggesting to the audience that she is maybe
fearless and or powerful.  

The poster as a whole gives off an action packed and fast paced tone due to the fast car, guns and facial expressions of the characters. Maybe with some slight humour involved hence the pink background as pink has connotations of being light and happy whereas if it was black the audience would think it was a completely dark and scary action film.