In our film, we want to create a sense of fear for our target audience in more than one way. We chose to create two different characters which will create two different kinds of threat. The first is Steve who provides the physical intimidation element, using verbal and physical violence and his body being his key strength. Whereas with Jane, who is a more complex and complicated character, we want to portray a more mentally scary image.
Jane
We want the audience at first to feel almost sorry for Jane. The violent nature of Steve makes her seem like another one of his victims and that she goes along with his plan simply out of desperation and the want to have a family. But as the story unravels and we see more of Jane, we want the audience to see the truly dark and intimidating side of her. She is a very damaged character, and her want to have children although she cannot physically do so herself overpower her conscience and sense that what she is doing is wrong. She is the really driving force behind Steve and her depression and mental instability has contributed to his dark nature. We want the audience to see that Steve is merely trying to please his wife and make her happy, fearing she will harm herself in someway if he can't give her a family. To get some background research, I have analysed the way other films with characters similar to Jane portray them through Mise-en-scene. Her are some examples.
Changeling (2008) - How to portray a distraught mother.
In the following clip, Angelina Jolie plays the role of a mother who's child is missing. We can relate to this character in term of our film because our character is in a similar state of mind. Both concentrate on their child, and although Lola, Kate and Ben aren't Jane's biological children, she still she's them that way. Analysing this scene will show us how Jane would react when she 'cracks' and a possible burst of hysteria. Jolie's character is dressed in a floral dress with a white apron. Similarly, Jane will also have an apron, which is an old-fashioned and stereotypical image of a housewife. We have done this on purpose to symbolise Jane's wish to be perfect. Through-out the entire scene, Jolie is shot in side lighting, symbolising perhaps she has two sides. She goes from tears to rage as she shouts at the boy who is pretending to be her son. We can relate to this as Jane also has a darker side. We can now consider side lighting in our film. Jolie's character is very thin, showing how grief and desperation overpower her want to eat. We should consider this when casting, as the actress should be slender.
Rabbit Hole (2010) - How to portray a women who has lost a child.
In this clip, Nicole Kidman plays Becca, a mother who has recently lost her son in an accident and is attending a group session with her husband, Aaron Eckhart, with other parents in similar situations to her. This was quite a useful clip. As other parents in the group are clearly struggling to cope and in tears Becca comes across almost cynical. It is obvious that losing a child has made her question her beliefs in both God, and the people around her. Her attitude is sarcastic and skeptical and so are her facial expressions. Even though her eyes are teared she puts on a brave face and smiles and whispers to her husband even though she know everyone else can hear. It also show the contrast between the way people bereave children and the Kubler-Ross model of the '5 stages' - denial, aggression, bargaining, depression and then acceptance. Although the other couple are the ones in tears, they seem to be further on in the stages, in a state of depression and trying to accept the truth, whereas Becca still appears to be in the aggressive stage. The couple are short in long shots, and Becca and her husband, Howie at long shot. This to me, makes the couple look far away, as if Becca and Howie have distance to cover before they can find acceptance. The body language of the two couples are contrasting as well. The accepting couple and facing each other and maintain body contact with the loving gesture of holding hands. Whereas Becca and Howie and looking down at the floor and separated. Howie even makes gestures of disapproval to Becca and seem offended by what she says, perhaps out of embarrassment. In terms of lighting, everyone in the group is in top lighting, symbolising they are all 'in the same boat' and all in a vulnerable state. We can use this as a reference because Jane feels like she has lost a child after the death of Charlie. When Steve takes Lola away to punish her, she will feel as if her child is being taken from her again. Becca's character could help us to convey the image of a women who is 'bottling up' anger, for instance, we could also make Jane appear to be tearing up and she gags Kate, but be smiling and using a soft and friendly voice. The use of long shot versus medium shot could also be an interesting concept when we shot Steve and Jane, for example in the kitchen scene. When Steve walks away into the hallway we could consider shooting him at long shot and when we cut back to Jane, her at medium shot, to show even though they present a united front, they are actually quite different and separate.
The People Under The Stairs (1991) - How to portray a mentally unstable women who frightens her children.
The People Under the Stairs has several similarities to our own film with it's content. Both concentrate on a house, and how a male and female kidnap children and keep them in a cellar. However they differ in detail. Everett McGill play Eldon Robeson, but is only referred to as Dad by his 'children' and similarly with Wendy Robie's character who is only known as mom. Although they seem like a couple, Mom and Dad are actually siblings, and have an incestuous relationship resulting in their children being born with abnormalities. They keep their children under the stairs, where they become violent and cannibalistic after years of abuse from Mom and Dad. The have also kidnapped children, like Alice who they allow to have her own room. Alice, rightly so, is terrified of Mom and Dad and the punishments they so often carry out, but she cannot help but try to feed and assist the other kids to escape. The clip above feature a key example of how Mom uses terror on Alice who, although not ties up or gagged like the characters in our plot, is being held hostage. The difference between Mom's tactics and Jane is that Mom is actually willing to use violence which Jane won't. Jane is passive compared to Mom. But they do share a manipulative nature, where by getting their partner to do 'the dirty work', and being the puppet master of their relationships.
I really like the start of the clip, in the shot where in a close up of Mom's feet, she walks along the corridor and the camera moves upwards (notice a tilt is not used) as she opens Alice's door and walks in to pick up the plate. Alice is sat in perfect posture and looks up at Mom with a fearful expression. The close she gets to Alice the high the camera gets and the more frightened Alice looks. A low angled shot is used to show Mom's face and she looks disgustingly down at Alice. This shows she has the power over her. When she dresses Alice, she forces her around and is very impatient and unreasonable. She plays with Alice as if she were a doll, which all strengths the idea of her perfect world, commanding Alice to tell her she loves her mother. This sort of childish house-playing role would work for our Jane character. Jane also wants a child to love her. Mom puts her hand under Alice's chin to force her into making eye contact, which is almost a loving gesture compared to her brushing her hair, which she does heavy handedly and roughly. When she asks for the fork, Alice begins to panic and get quite distressed, knowing that she will be severally punished for even the most simple of mistakes. This is the sort of attitude Kate will have, as she know what Steve is capable of and how he reacts. That's why Kate panics when she see's Lola being dragged away.
The interaction between Mom and Dad in the scene shows the nature of their relationship and that Mom has the real power. She pretends to care about Dad's worries and asks if he has head ache. Then she tells him Alica has misbehaved and makes it sound almost as if punishing Alice will make him feel better. Although there are some clear differences between Mom and Jane, this clip has given us some insight into how Jane should almost seen her 'children' as dolls she can dress and play with. Perhaps a good way to show this in the first 2 minutes is for her to make contracting gestures, for example when she puts tape over Kate mouth, which is a disturbing act, she could brush the hair out of Kate's eyes or put her hand under her chin to force eye contact, which is a more loving act.
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