Genre Research: Horror

Camera angles

• Birdseye/high angle shots are used in horror films to make the figure or object that is being looked down upon seem completely powerless and vulnerable.

• Close-up shots are used to see reactions on the actor's face.

• Tracking shots are used in horror films to make out a character being followed or watched.

• Low-angle shots show how scary or intimidating a villain is.

• A handheld camera shot is used to add a sense of reality and make the audience feel involved as if they were in the scene.

Mis-en-Scene

Costumes and makeup: Outfits that fit the character such as the typical teenage girl or a villain in black mysterious clothing.

Lighting: Dark lighting and use of shadowy figures and objects.

Acting: Facial expressions of fright and terror from the victim and the villain often looks authoritative and dominant.

Props: Weapons such as knives, axes, and chainsaws.

Setting: Dark rural locations often abandoned and isolated used to create a sense of mystery.

Editing

• Cutaway to show characters' reactions to the situation they are facing.

• Smash cut to shock and scare the audience in the change from loud to quiet.

• Jumpcut allows the passage of time to show whilst also sometimes using it to scare the audience.

• Fade the black to give a mysterious and tense feeling.

• Elliptical editing cuts out the unnecessary parts of journeys or actions to keep the audience gripped and on the edge of their seats.

Sound

• Strings, synths, theremin, and guitars are instruments often used in horror films.

• Diegetic sounds like breathing, footsteps, monster vocalizations, ghosts, and stabbings.

Example films

• Relic

• The dark and the wicked

• The lodge

• Malasana street

• Metamorphosis

We mainly like how the sounds leave the audience in suspense. We would definitely use high and low angles to show a sense of dominance the villain has over the victim.

We don’t like how messy violent murder scenes can get so we would stay away from anything that has to do with blood.