Mise en Scene

Costume

Character A - Antagonist: Wearing a black t-shirt and baggy jeans with grey socks when inside his house to develop the photos. This represents him trying to hide that he is stalking character B by wearing baggy clothing. The dark colours symbolise how his mind is dark and he has a lack of bright, positive feelings other than the possession he holds over character B. The baggy clothing suggests that he is trying to cover himself up as he is not completely himself until he has the relationship he wants with character B.

Character B - Protagonist: She will wear pastel colours which indicates her vulnerability. The paler tones to her clothing suggest purity and contrast with the black tones  worn by the antagonist. This is a theme which is common in the psychological thriller genre conventions.

Character B (younger) - The young girl will wear a pale coloured frilly dress which will represent the purity and innocence the girl holds from a young age when she is around character A.

Character A (younger) - The young boy will wear a pair of jeans and a t-shirt to symbolise how he has always been different to other children and does not change throughout his life.

Props

- Collage board filled with photos, writing and titles.

- Camera which Character A will use to take photo of character B.

- Scissors

- Newspaper

- Polaroid photos

- Handbag

Location

- Cathedral, outside when character B is walking up path.

- Cathedral, inside when character B is praying and character A is watching.

- Grassed area by canal in Guildford.

- Art room/Cellar (undecided)

Setting

- Dark Cathedral

- Low light room (art room or cellar)

- Grassed area for children to play

Lighting

- Dark lighting for cellar/art room

- Dark lighting for outside cathedral

- Dim lighting inside cathedral

- Black and white (but bright) for children playing.

Proxemics
- Children in flashbacks are close together
- Character A and B when older are far apart as Character B does not know that she is being followed by Character A.

Understanding camera shots/angles/movement in general - The Talented Mr Ripley Opening Sequence

A close up is used at the beginning of the opening sequence featuring a man on a beach putting on his shoes. This tells the viewer that they will be shown all of the minor details of the storyline throughout the film.

The camera then pans up to show the rest of the man’s body, revealing that he is only wearing swimwear. This confuses the viewers as shows are not normally worn at the beach, this works well with the confusion of a psychological thriller film. The camera cuts to a very long shot, showing the man in his entirety and not cutting any part of him out. This also sets a busy scene of all the people around him. The camera pans round to follow him down to the sea. This gives the idea that he is being watched. The camera then continues to follow the man but as he starts to run the camera also starts to move faster but weaving in-between deck chairs on the beach. This adds to the idea that he is being watched but also increases the pace of the sequence.

As the man stops in the water holding his shoes, the camera also stops behind a deck chair. We see that the man feature in the scene is then shown in amongst a large number of other people. This symbolises how normal the situation is and allows the audience to relate to the situation.

The shot the cuts to a medium close up to show the people behind him before he runs back up the beach to the people that are featured behind him. The camera zooms in slightly as he walks back up the beach but is not as fast as the man walking so it shows the full length of his body again.

The scene then switches between close ups and two shots between himself and the 2 people he is talking to. This includes more characters that are going to be followed in the storyline. The use of intimate shots of the characters faces tells the audience that they will create a close connection with them.

Added to this, is the repeated use of a long shot which features all 3 characters. This suggests that their relationships with each other will become stronger as the storyline progresses.