Mise-En-Scene Considerations for Red Room.

Characters:

The protagonist

Played by William Piper

The main character of the film, he is a young go getting office worker, slowly clawing his way up the ladder of success one step at a time. He is not afraid to crush others on the way either. He is tall and clever, however he does have an emotional side, which can be revealed in extreme stressful situations, he considers himself resourceful and thinks he knows best, but all this changes when he hears of his mothers death and enters the Red Room. He has a secret buried past that even his wife Alli does not know of, and unfortunately the events that occur that fateful night in the Red Room drag this past up kicking and screaming.

-ATTIRE:

We had the character wear a suit to symbolise his professional career and his ego. He gels his hair, again reinforcing his ego, this shows him to be a vain man. The black and white suit he wears is designed to show he has conflicting elements of purity and evil inside him. The suit is very much styled to look like he is mourning, and in this case he is, however it also there to help put across to the audience he has subtle sorrows buried deep within. He is mourning something that has happened in his past. This is also reinforced by the scripting choices, especially in the lawyer scene.

The Lawyer

Played by Paul Stratford

He is arrogant and callous, he dresses to show it. This highly successful lawyer has seen his fair share of family tragedies, however he has been linked with the family in question for sometime and therefore has a deeper connection to the main character, as expressed in his un-professional attitude in the lawyer scene, possibly he knows more about the main characters past than he is letting on and he is connected to the story in numerous ways. Supernatural and all.

ATTIRE-

Originally we shot the lawyer scene with a younger actor, but quickly after reviewing the footage we decided it was not up to scratch. We felt a younger actor wouldn't seem as authoritative or sinister as an older actor. And also the character had to seem wise and all knowing which would be hard to achieve with a younger actor. Bourdieu's theory of cultural competence would go against this. People would see an older person as more wise instantly, rather than a younger person.

The Nurse:

Played by Naomi Murphy

The nurse was looking after the main characters mother when she died, she lived in the house and day by day it took hold of her, she was young and naive when she went in and now she comes out possessed and weary. Seemingly leaving in a hurry when the main character arrives and only returning not to offer help, but to cause the main character more pain.

ATTIRE-

The nurse wears a dark overcoat and ties her hair back as she is professional, we chose to use a actress (naomi) with black hair as to give her a more sinister look, this coupled with the black overcoat works really well. We decided convention-wise to make the nurse look slightly old fashioned as this is stereotypical to being negative- witches etc. Also we wanted the nurse to appear despite being young, to have some sort of timeless supernatural powers.

THE PROPS:

The car:

The main characters car is old and beat up, which indicates despite his wishes he is still not where he wants to be, it also shows him to have humility. The car is a very important prop in the film as it transports the character to the place the frighting events take place in the film. It also should be noted the car is red, which helps us connect the main character to the read room, and to give the audience the impression that perhaps the character is more bonded to this room that anyone knows.

The Torch:

The torch is the most important prop in the film, it pushes the narrative forwards on several occasions and is the characters soul friend in the film. Technically it is used to create some interesting effects such as the neck grab scene. It is a 4 cell LED torch which casts a cold blue beam, which helps keep the rooms cold and hostile. Keeping to the conventions of the horror genre.

The photos:

The photos on the wall are a macguffin designed to push narrative. They offer the viewer some explanation to the main characters relationship with his late mother. All photos on the wall have the main characters face scratched out. Similarly to the book below .v.

The Photo Album/Book:
This is another macguffin designed to trigger the events in the Red Room, when he looks at it the supernatural starts occurring. It is the turning point in the film.

The Self Running Sink:

The self running sink is conventional to the horror genre, the idea of taps turning themselves on has been used for decades, recently seen in "Paranormal Activity" It is designed to give the audience some idea the house is not what it seems. The blue torch light the main character uses gives it some sense of a supernatural aura.

The Light switch:

The light switch that the main character flicks and finds out the power is out in that portion of the house is generic and often seen in a range films in the horror genre. It is very conventional and is used to create tension.

The TV:

Another good example of a conventional Prop is the television, it turns itself on, this is a well used technique in the physicological horror genre, seen in movies such as "The Ring" (indeed the tv is the most important prop in the ring" and most recently again "Paranormal Activity". The static can also been seen as supernatural as it is linked in with ESP techniques and other ghost finding things.