Mise-en-scene Miss Gergiou

Mise-en-scene of Prom Night

The lighting used in the scene in Prom Night is called low-key lighting. It is significant to the conventions of a thriller as the murderer's face is hidden by the darkness and is shown for only a a small amount of time before it is hidden again. This is a convention in thriller films as the killer identify. This scene is meant to scare the audience as it is the first time the killer is shown and it is a shock. The shock of this scene makes the audience want to watch the rest of the film. Low-key lighting is also used in a previous scene when the killer is standing behind the woman when she is looking in a wardrobe. This hides the killer's face which is conventional to a thriller film because most thriller films have someone with a hidden identity.

A knife is used by the killer in one scene of Prom Nigh because it scares the audience and is used to show that a murder is likely to take place. The killer in Prom Night also wears a baseball style cap which is used to show that the killer is creepy and it keeps his identity hidden which is a convention of the thriller genre.

The facial expression of the woman when she runs into the detective shows shock which is a convention of a thriller film because thriller films use shocks and surprises to puzzle and scare the audience.

The detective and the policeman are standing behind the door as they are about to walk into the hotel room. They also hold their guns in front of them when they walk round the corner. These two parts of mise-en-scene are conventional to the thriller genre because most thriller films have police offers standing in positions like they do in Prom Night and there is usually a gun used by the police in the thriller genre which shows the audience that the crime being/ going to be committed is serious.

In Prom Night, there are detectives and policemen as good guys. These characters are conventional to the thriller genre and are used to show the audience that the victims may have a glimpse of hope. The other characters in the film are young adults who are having their prom party.This is conventional to the genre because the victims are portrayed as vulnerable due to their ages.

It is set in a hotel which seems like a friendly and secure place, but it turns out to be the opposite for some of the characters. It is set there to make the audience believe that everyone there is safe when in fact, they are not.