Mise En Scene:
Settings and Props: Typically, in horror films, the setting is in a dark, rural location or somewhere deserted where nobody would be. Most places are abandoned and isolated. This creates a mystery and suspicion throughout the film. Often places with a dark history like abandoned houses and lonely graveyards are included. For example, the Woman in Black (Opening scene) is set in a lonely village in the middle of nowhere. In gothic horror films the key theme is mystery and the supernatural so castles, graveyards and spooky houses would be conventional places where a Gothic horror is filmed. The main props included in horror films would be weapons such as knifes, axes and chainsaws which would create a slow, painful death. The more violent the weapons are, the better the reaction to the film would be because horror films are supposed to be quite gruesome. In the opening scene for The Woman in Black there are no weapons included but there are props that suggest a taste of horror and bad events that will happen. For example, there are rocking chairs and children's toys which could imply that, because it is a horror film, they have a slight mystery and spine-chilling feeling to them. Lighting and Colour: Commonly, all of the gory parts of Horror films are set at night in the dark. Shadows and secretive humanly shapes create fear among the audience because they are unable to match an identity to the person. Shadows would be created through low- key lighting to add the effect of uncertainty of the attacker. The fear of the unknown frightens the audience. Black, red, grey and brown would all be colours considered for a horror film as they all signify danger and tragedy. Red signifies the most danger out of these colours because red can represent various things such as anger, aggression, blood, fire, war and violence. Whereas black signifies power, fear, mystery, unhappiness, evil and remorse. The colour white is often associated with supernatural horror movies. Therefore, the use of colour is a powerful form because it allows the audience to identify what type of message the film is sending. Costumes and Makeup: Most people (mainly victims) in horror films look like the are dressed casually but a lot of effort is put into their outfits to show hints of their role and personality in the movie. If the victim was a teenage girl, her hair, makeup and costume shows that she isn't the innocent victim in the film. Although the villains in dress in particular costumes (e.g. some have masks) to create no identity which strikes fear upon the audience. For example, in the films Freddy Krueger, Leatherface and Jason Voorhees the villain is in a mask to disguise themselves and there identity. Positioning of Characters: In the woman in black, the weaker characters in the frame are the little girls who are opposite the camera on the floor. The frame shows the audience a wide shot of them which shows us some of their characteristics and the costumes they wear. this helps the viewers to get to them better. As well as this there is a high shot captured of when the victim is on the floor trying to crawl away and escape; showing their panic and distress due to the villain. When the villain is shown, a over the shoulder shot is captured to not reveal the woman in black's identity but to show enough to make the audience fear her. She is positioned in the middle of the room, watching the girls jump out of the window which makes us become wary of her. Facial Expressions and Body Language: A lot of the facial expressions used in Horror films would be those of fright and terror as the whole purpose of a horror is to entertain through fear. The evil characters are likely to have slight smirks or menacing smiles on the masks they wear to almost mock the victim. The body language of the victims would be them cowering away from the vicious characters in fright. Whereas the villains posture would be one of authority and dominancy, standing over the victim. This shows they have the power in the scene to make the innocent one feel pressure and scared. |
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