The Prestige Opening Analysis.

Mise-en-Scene: 

Costume - They are wearing old fashioned clothes, tells you it is set in the past.
Sets - The stage/theatre, the prison, in the mountains in Colorado, on a train, in a hotel, back stage
Colour - the colours are dull, sets the time period
Lighting - quite dark, makes it more mysterious as is the genre; magic/illusions/trickery
Props - magic equipment, horses and carriages (again, setting the time period. tells you it is about the 1800's as cars weren't around then, walking stick, hand cuffs.
Make up - normal, nothing over the top as they are normal people/characters, one person is wearing a disguise including a fake beard and added skin.

Narrative Themes:


- Magic and how it started
- Competition
- Revenge
- Secrecy
- Rivalry

Character Roles:

Main: - Angier - strong character, ambitious, confident, clever
          - Borden - relaxed, clever
          - Cutter - superior, respected, clever
Others: - Julia Angier - confident, respected
            - Sarah Borden - weaker character, easily persuaded
            - Olivia Wenscombe - confident character, can be miss leaded

Conventional for a thriller?


Yes, i think this is conventional for a thriller. A thriller will have a few main characters with rivalry between them. The mise-en-scene helps to add effect to the scenes, e.g. the lighting helps make it more mysterious as it is darker.