Cinematography and mise en scene in 'Disturbia'

At the start of the ‘living in peace’ scene from the film ‘Disturbia’ we know we are in the character’s (Kale) house as we can see he is in his bedroom with household props such as a table, bed, lamp etc. We can also tell they are in their home as they look fairly comfortable. There is also a shot of outside the house which lets us know it is set in a normal suburban location with large houses and with large houses there are normally basements which killers are typically known to keep their victims in and at the end of the film this is where the mum was found. The name of the film is also a play on words like a mixture of disturbed and suburbia.

Going back to the actor looking comfortable, suddenly changes when his character and us, the audience, realises that the neighbour is in fact a serial killer and has taken his mum hostage. There is a lightening flash when this happens to really exaggerate the shock on the characters face. Now he does not look comfortable at all but instead has shocked and scared facial expressions all in one and also jumps from his seat.

The costumes for most of the characters are just normal everyday clothes to show they are just normal people. But the killer seems to take more pride in his appearance as he has gelled back hair and wears shirts instead of casual t-shirts. Towards the end of the scene, when he comes into the main characters house to kill off the boy he is wearing black leather gloves. Wearing these means no fingerprints would be left to trace back to him being the killer. At this point he is very calm and seems to know what he is doing which conflicts with the scared and panic stricken boy who is trying to run away from him.

The low lighting in the house creates an eerie atmosphere like something is going to happen and as this scene is set at night time it also creates a scarier feeling than if it’s set during the day.

There is a range of camera angles used and a lot of cuts to add to the sense of panic and disruption for the audience. Close ups are used to show the expressions and reactions of the characters for example a close up of the mums face when she is talking to the neighbour shows how calm she is and how normal it is for her to talk to her neighbour, whereas, when it cuts to the close up of Kale’s face he looks concerned so we know something is wrong. They are also used to show there is a lot of struggling going on when they are fighting. Medium close ups are also used to show half the characters body. So when the killer grabs the mum we can now see he is not a nice guy as we can see he is taking her hostage and hurting her. To create a sense of panic and disruption the camera pans fast to show the rushing of the characters and to also show they are scared.

In some shots it shows Kale in the foreground in focus and has the killer in the background that is out of focus, although he is not in focus we still know and recognise him as the killer and him being out of focus shows the main character doesn’t necessarily know he is there and that he is about to be attacked. When Kale is looking at the screen there is a point of view shot so we see what he is looking at and that he could see the refection of the killer in the screen. High and low angle shots are used when the killer tapes the Kale up which shows the killer is more dominant and feels more superior to the boy.

A lot of props are placed in the kitchen when Kale and the killer rush into there. Glasses and plates get smashed and thrown to emphasise the fight.

The way this scene is edited is with lots of quick, short cuts which exaggerate the rush of this part of the story and the panic of the characters. These quick cuts could also represent a heart beat getting faster as when we get scared our heart beats faster.
For the music, string instruments are used which isn’t out of the ordinary for a thriller or horror film. This sounds unnatural and makes the audience feel uncomfortable and unnerved which reflects how the characters feel on screen. Lots of sounds of the characters being hit with different household items are put in to also make us feel uncomfortable as we associate those noises with pain so it seems more realistic.