Setting & Iconography
Settings are the environment and surroundings of a scene and are extremely important as it can effect the whole layout. Iconography are the objects that cause significance to the scene. This is important as without iconography it would be quite confusing for the audience. e.g. a killing without a clear weapon being shown.
Both setting and iconography can help with audience understanding. If a setting is located in a dark place with many shadows it can imply to the audience that something negative is going to happen. If the iconography matches the setting and there are knifes and guns this could also imply the negative atmosphere. Due to these implications from the audience the director has to be very careful of the setting and iconography.
Setting:
Sci-fi thrillers...
Settings in a genre are dependent on their sub-genres. This is because even though thrillers may share the same types of settings some may be more linked the sub-genres. For example, psychological thrillers being set in hospitals whereas sci-fi thrillers would be set in empty fields.
Typical thriller iconography could be...
Action thrillers...
Crime thrillers...
Iconography in a genre are dependent on their sub-genres. This is because iconography in thrillers can be mostly the same for example guns and knifes, however, in specific sub-genres such as sci-fi these objects may not be used as much and instead more robots and machinery used in order to match the conventions of a sub-genre.
Both setting and iconography can help with audience understanding. If a setting is located in a dark place with many shadows it can imply to the audience that something negative is going to happen. If the iconography matches the setting and there are knifes and guns this could also imply the negative atmosphere. Due to these implications from the audience the director has to be very careful of the setting and iconography.
Typical thriller settings could be...
Action thrillers...
- Streets
- Car parks
- Airports
- Warehouses
Psychological thrillers...
- Haunted/abandoned houses
- Hospitals
- Schools
- Forests
- Mental institutions
Sci-fi thrillers...- Space
- Empty fields
- Back gardens
- Forests
- Schools
Crime thrillers...
- Forests
- Houses
- Abandoned places
- Streets
- Prisons
Settings in a genre are dependent on their sub-genres. This is because even though thrillers may share the same types of settings some may be more linked the sub-genres. For example, psychological thrillers being set in hospitals whereas sci-fi thrillers would be set in empty fields.
Iconography:
Action thrillers...
- Guns
- Knifes
- Cars
- Money
Psychological thrillers...
- Needles
- Ropes
- Files/documents
- Medicine
- Children's dolls
- Labs
- Spaceships
- Laser guns
- Robots
- Machines
Crime thrillers...
- Guns
- Knifes
- Blood
- Money
- Drugs
- Police
- Camera's
- Labs
Iconography in a genre are dependent on their sub-genres. This is because iconography in thrillers can be mostly the same for example guns and knifes, however, in specific sub-genres such as sci-fi these objects may not be used as much and instead more robots and machinery used in order to match the conventions of a sub-genre.
Thriller scene analysis:
In the film "The Human Centipede" the settings are the forest, a creepy house, and a lab. The settings are dependent on their sub-genre which is a psychological thriller. As the two girls walk through the forest it creates tension and uncertainty for the audience and also the setting of the forest creates a haunting atmosphere. Moreover, the setting of the creepy house and lab suggest that the antagonists intentions are negative. Once the antagonist starts using iconography such as needles it matches the sub-genre and also make it more clear to the audience on what he is about to do.Conclusion:
From researching iconography and settings it has given me more understanding on what to use in my thriller. It is clear that first I have to identify the sub-genre of my thriller in order to be more specific with the setting and iconography. I would like to make a psychological thriller so I would prefer to use settings such as hospitals or abandoned places and iconography such as knifes, needles and medicine to scare the audience.
Another good post here Katie. Your work is rich in thriller examples and you analyse well. Presentation of work is also very good, keep this up!
ReplyDeleteTo improve;
-in your intro, change the term 'layout' to audience understanding. Think about the meaning a setting can add to a scene
-do you think setting and iconography need to be carefully selected? Think about Barthes idea of semiology
-how do the audience respond to the iconography in your selected scene?