Mise-en-Scene: Part 2

Mise-en-Scene: Costume Design

In my project in Cambridge portfolio, Stay Inside, costume design occupies a significant portion of the entire scene and represents the vulnerability of Jay and Marcus. Being a thriller, which begins absolutely comfortably, the clothes must demonstrate that they are not prepared. I do not also wish to have the viewers showing them without the readiness to fight or fly. The visual message that I want to deliver by wearing them soft and loose clothes is that they have dropped their guard altogether. This is the reason why the abrupt shift to danger is so shocking as their appearance is completely incongruous with the danger at the door. 

I decided on a rather specific way of how Beavis and Butt-Head should be dressed to contribute to the Beavis and Butt-Head inspired slacker image. Jay will be wearing a faded, oversized, slightly oversized hoodie whereas Marcus will be wearing plain track pants and socks that do not match.Such a stare informs the audience that these two are stuck to the couch hours and hours and are not going anywhere soon. This is to give them the appearance they seem like regular teens caught in whimsical idleness. Their dresses are not merely clothes, but an indicator of an absolute state of chill with no suspicion whatever. 

Scream (1996) represents a movie illustration of this manner.

The characters in the said film are usually wearing casual and easygoing clothes seen in the 90s, oversized sweaters and plain jeans, making the horror seem more real that it is being portrayed by people that you may actually meet in the streets, rather than by movie actors in costumes. Their vulnerability to the killer, their nakedness to the cold, cold threat of the murderer is brought out as their clothes are commonplace and soft when the murderer strikes them. I would apply a similar approach to ensure that Jay and Marcus are relatable and convenient targets to whatever is out there waiting. 

The choice of colors I have used in the costumes is not random. I would keep the colors to a dull heather grey and navy blue palette to have the characters blend with the low-key lighting of the living room. This balance of visuality will be destroyed as the ugliness of flickering lights of the TV come to play. I would also desire the feel of materials to appear soft and touchable in close up shots and in contrast with the harsh metallic noises of a rattling doorknob. I recognize this opposition of the humanness to the mechanical menace as something that is repeated throughout my project.