Project 1: Horror Stills BLK

Our chosen genre for this project was horror. As a group we decided horror would be the most interesting genre to look at, and it allowed us to think creatively when it came to the mise-en-scene. As many people from the group weren't that familiar with this genre, we took on board what we had learnt from the lesson before about horror films and the different type of iconography involved when trying to make a realistic and successful still. We also took on board conventions such as lighting and framing, and how you would manipulate those conventions to portray a horror film.

This shot includes (with an explanation of why it links to the horror genre):

-Frame within a frame (leaves act as a border around the face)

  This creates a sense of claustrophobia in the shot, and also directs the eye of the audience to where you want them to focus - the person's expression. 

To achieve this effect we had to surround the actress in leaves (go into a bush) and make sure there was enough space between the leaves to enable her face to be seen by the camera, while there were still leaves surrounding her face.

-Vivid Colours

  The use of the bright green of the leaves contrasts with the dark interior surrounding the person. The creates  a juxtaposition as the the leaves connote a sense of nature and wide space, while the darkness creates a  sense of claustrophobia in this jungle-type surrounding.

 We were lucky as on the day of the shoot the sun was shining bright which bought out the intensity of the colours in the shot.

-Light hits white of eyes

  The expression of the person is really important when trying to capture the emotion and narrative of the movie. This shot is successful in creating narrative enigma and makes the audience question what is happening, e.g where is the girl looking? why is she hiding? why is she in a bush? The minimal use of light on her face also creates a sense of claustrophobia.

  The leaves surrounding her face allowed for a barrier to stop light coming through at certain points. Light was able to pass through the gaps, and we tried to,with the use of angle, aim that light to the person's face, mainly the eyes.

-Half of face shown 

  Enigma is created as it could signify to the audience that the girl has something to hide (half of her face in light- the other in darkness). Contrast between light and dark is a common convention of the horror genre and allows familiarity between the audience and theme.

 This effect was easy to create as we directed the actress to move slightly to her left, so not only was half the face visible, but it looked as if she was looking out towards something, that the audience wasn't able to see. 

We were successful in achieving to make this shot look like a still from a movie, rather than a posed picture that would suit a poster etc more. I also feel we succeeded in the atmosphere we wanted to create in relation to the character and location.

Looking back at the shoot, the only thing I would change would be maybe trying out more poses, or trying harder to get the beam of light exactly where we wanted it. Other than that, I think we were successful in our location,expression of person and theme we were trying to portray.