Keira's Essay

Camera Work and Mise-En-Scene for ‘What Lies Beneath’

The opening to a film can reveal a lot about the genre, style and storyline. It is imperative, therefore, that strong meaning is communicated and the audience are clear about what they’re watching. Some thrillers may be exceptions to this as the intention of the opening may be to confuse and intrigue the audience rather than to make everything clear. Either way, there is a distinct difference in the camera work and mis-en-scene of the opening of a thriller and, for example, a romantic comedy. Some of these techniques are clearly demonstrated in ‘What Lies Beneath’, a supernatural thriller involving spirits.

The very first shot immediately pulls us into the action of the film - an extreme close up of a woman’s eyes as they snap open. The camera then dollies out extremely quickly to a close up on the woman’s face so we can see that she has emerged from some water, and the shot is close enough that we can assess her reaction and realise that she has woken from a nightmare. She is breathing heavily and looks very shocked, and is placed in the middle of the frame so it’s impossible for the audience to look anywhere else at this point. This is an effective first shot for a thriller opening as it is sudden and grabs attention, drawing us in to the film.

The following shot establishes the setting and is match-on-action from the previous as the woman sits up in the bath. It starts at a long shot on the bathroom, slowly moving further in to allow the audience to recover from the shock of the first shot and to allow us to take in the scene. The room is not well lit and is coloured greys and dim yellows to set a bleak atmosphere right from the start of the film. It is almost obsessively clean and tidy, suggesting a lack of homeliness and fun; it is also nicely decorated which may connote wealth/a middle-class family. The woman is still in the centre of the frame, drawing most of our attention to her (still in a clearly shocked state) and the camera is placed slightly below eye level which, combined with the slow movement of the camera, gives the impression of creeping up on her.

There is then a sequence involving a hairdryer, one of the shots in which the woman is electrically shocked. Here the camera is close enough to the plug socket that the sudden electricity may startle some people and the short length makes a difference from the other longer, more relaxed shots that surround it. This kind of sudden shot is typical of a thriller film. For the mis-en-scene of this shot there is a label on the plug lead warning not to touch when wet. This is a very small detail but is also important as it tells the audience, in case they were confused, why she was electrocuted. The woman’s costume/makeup reflects the fact she’s just been in water in that she looks quite pale-faced, her hair is wet and she’s wearing a bath robe.

The match-on-action shot to follow this shows the audience the woman’s reaction by being at medium close up as she changes from scared to more calm yet slightly annoyed. The camera then pans round so we can see both the woman’s arm with the hairdryer and her reflection in the mirror. A double shot like this is another typical thriller technique and creates an uncomfortable atmosphere, as though we should expect to see someone/something else appear behind her suddenly. Moreover, the misted affect of the mirror adds to the mysterious/unpredictable atmosphere that a thriller introduction often aims to create.

The scene then completely changes, and we are introduced to a new room in the house as the woman opens curtains (presumably in a bedroom). This is a medium long shot so that we can recognise that the woman is now fully dressed and so this is a little later on in the day, however the camera then swiftly moves in to a medium shot as the curtains bring more light into the scene. This sudden change in cinematography indicates the change in atmosphere and the woman seems more at ease in this sequence than the previous, though still looks pale and almost unwell standing next to the sunny outside of the window. There is a single white boat on the water outside, which could symbolise the freedom that the woman wishes she had in comparison to how trapped she currently feels.

The light hits a girl asleep in a bed in the next shot (matching on action from the previous by having the woman’s hand pulling the curtains open in the corner of the frame); the girl is placed off-centre in the bed to sustain realism. As the camera pans round the bed and the woman sits down, we are not shown either of their faces which is slightly unsettling as the woman begins to talk, but is quickly rectified when the shot suddenly changes to a stand-still shot of the sleeping girl and the woman as she wakes her up. This shot shows more of the room and, although there are still no particularly bright colours, there is more variation (blue lamp, orange curtains, green t-shirt) than in any of the previous shots. This connotes a warmer atmosphere to the audience – probably because it involves a child. It seems the woman is far more relaxed when with this girl rather than by herself, and this is a typical thriller convention in that the protagonist usually has some form of important attachment that they are in threat of losing.

The following shot shows the corridor which is, again, steeped in dim grey light. The window at the back lets in some natural light but it serves the purpose of putting the woman’s face in shadow as she walks towards the camera. There are pictures on the walls but these are not clearly visible and the mirror also adds an uncomfortable atmosphere. The camera tilts up and pans right to follow the woman as she walks into a new room. This seems to be much more full of life as there is greenery and a dog which the woman briefly pets. This shows the audience that the family lead a fairly normal life and it is not an immediately thriller-prone house which sustains the realistic nature of the film – it could happen to anyone. There is that sense of creeping up again due to the slow inward movement of the camera and it is fair to assume that this will be a recurring technique throughout the film. This movement makes us follow the woman and eventually stop at an over the shoulder shot of outside the house as the woman looks out a window. In extreme long shot there is a silent exchange going on (what we are intended to focus on) and this was included to suggest the storyline may include those people or indeed the house across the road outside which they are standing. The woman is kept in the very left of the frame out of focus as a reminder of who we are currently identifying with. This intrigues the audience and makes us want to learn what is happening and why the woman is so interested.

There is a straight cut here to another ‘shocking’ moment when the camera has swapped angles in order to show the audience the woman’s facial expression as she looks out the window. A man’s arm reaches into the frame and wraps around the woman’s neck, taking both the character and us by surprise. This happens immediately so we are not ready for it and increases the tension of the scene. However, the camera then pans left and dollies out slightly to reveal that the arm belongs to a man who is clearly the woman’s partner – introducing another attachment she has which may be threatened at some point in the story. Both the man and the woman are wearing reasonably neutral colours, suggesting a sensible attitude. However, this leaves much to be revealed about their personalities deep down – something which it is likely the director will play with more later in the film.

An entirely different set of iconography, colours and shot types may have been used for a different genre of film, and no matter how subtle the changes they all combine to subconsciously ensure the audience are aware of what to expect - more jumpy moments, possible threats to loved ones and a generally bleak atmosphere. This will help me when it comes to storyboarding/filming our own thriller opening in that I am now more aware of the kinds of typical techniques we will need to employ.

Here is the video from YouTube I used for my notes: