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Lighting techniques commonly used in mystery movies can be traced back to noir films, a mystery sub-genre I glanced over in the last post. Originating in the 1940's where films were still monochromatic, special lighting techniques created shadows, these made effects which shaped the entire atmosphere of a scene, giving deeper meaning to characters and their surroundings. These techniques are still used today and evoke the same moods when used.
Low key lighting uses sharp contrasts between light and dark to create a sense of foreboding and gives off a mysterious appearance to characters/environments.
Backlighting is a technique where a light it lit behind a subject, often creating an outlined silhouette. This technique evokes mystery via obscuring details and actions, leaving the audience to interpret what they see for themselves.
Chiaroscuro uses extreme contrasts between light and dark to create harsher shadows on a subject. Its effects are typically more dramatic than low-key lighting.
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Sounds commonly used in mystery films are shared with its sub-genres and sister genres, as they all share the foundational structure of a scene, backed by music/sound effects that establish the tone and mood of the moment. Music primarily takes control over the atmosphere of a scene and is typically non-diegetic.
Voiceover narration is another non-diegetic element and is used to give narrative information or provide context to important details. These narrations can be given through the third person point of view, or by a character in the story (autodiegetic for protagonist, homodiegetic for any other).
Sound effects can be either diegetic or non-diegetic. Diegetic examples include all sounds that can be produced and heard by the characters within the scene, popular examples being creaking floorboards or footsteps, instilling a sense of dread or fear. Non-diegetic sounds usually include stylized noises that are meant to fit within the scene.
Silence has to be one of the most recognizable sound devices of a mystery film, as it turns the audience's attention to the scene, while simultaneously creating suspense. An abrupt silence is usually an indicator for a significant moment.
This scene from The Pale Blue Eye (2022) shows two characters (played by Harry Melling and Christian Bale) combines the use of dialogue and silence (in the background) to get the reader's attention on the conversation between the two, as they make observations on a crumpled message found on a deceased body.
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Additional mis-en-scene elements include costumes, props, and the actor's performances.
In a mystery film, costumes are usually tailored to fit the era or time period in which the story takes place. For example, Amsterdam (2022) takes place in the 1930's and follows 3 friends. These characters are seen in suits and dresses throughout the film, typical men's and female's fashion at the time.
Props are used in these films to create a sense of intrigue, working as a hint which can help audiences solve the incident the plot surrounds itself with. These props usually include murder weapons, or belongings/objects of people close to (or directly from) the cause.
Blocking is an actor's directed position/movement within the scene. This directs the audience's attention toward a character, and can be used to evoke suspicion or reveal clues.
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Having concluded research on these elements, I now have a better idea of what to incorporate in my opening to give indirect messages to the audience. I feel like in the 2 minutes I have for the opening I can find space to incorporate all devices from each of the describes elements; additionally, I feel like the most important of these to incorporate would be a prop of significance and the backlighting technique to shroud whatever the incident was in mystery.
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Sources used for information:
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The research does not end there. I feel like it would be best for me to look into other common mystery tropes, to further help me create an authentic mystery piece. See you next post!
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