BLK Homework 1: Film Still analysis
What is the genre?
The genre we chose for our film still was horror, so we chose a basement setting as it is typical for the genre. We decided to have the character crouching behind a stack of boxes because the fact that she is hiding from the unknown assailant connotes that it is dangerous and perhaps that she is being hunted by it in a house. The facial expression on our character in this shot also helps to connote this, as it is a look of panic and fear, and she is leaning as far from the hand as she can. There are chemical bottles included in the mise-en-scene as well, which could suggest that this assailant is more dangerous due to the possession of all of these, and it makes the overall environment feel very unsafe.
How did we achieve the desired effect?
We chose it to be a stack of boxes because it's a situation in which the character's safety can be shattered in seconds if the assailant knocks a box over or comes round the corner slightly, so helps to build suspense and leaves the audience in a voyeuristic experience, waiting to see what will follow. The high angle of the shot also helps to establish the meekness of the protagonist, as well as her pose, leaning away showing that she is fearing the hand and therefore that the assailant is probably more powerful. The long shot allows the audience to see the hand coming around from the corner, so in this situation the level of voyeurism is increased and the audience know what could happen, while the character is unaware, so suspense is created.
How was our shot a success?
The lighting was the main aspect that attributed to the success of our shot, as darkness/low key lighting is one of the key aspects of the horror genre. The low key lighting helps to establish the assailant as dangerous and unknown, due to the light highlighting the hand coming around the corner, looming above the boxes. The character's pose also helps a lot, because the facial expression tells us visibly that she is fearful of the assailant, while her crouching behind the boxes suggests that she is in danger from it.
What would I do differently?
If I had a chance to re-do my shot, I'd adjust the lighting to make the hand much more prominent in the frame and probably go slightly closer in to give the audience a clearer view of what's happening, and engage them more. I would do it as a MS from in front of the character, looking up at the hand while still having the character's torso and face in shot. Also, I would make the character's clothing much dirtier/torn up, to give the sense of her having been there for a while and trying to escape from this dangerous assailant. However, the clothing/make-up would not have been logically able to be done in the time available, so more time would be needed in order to achieve this.
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