Horror Shot

During a lesson in class we were asked to compose a shot that reminded us of horror. We were told to use what we had around us and improvise. We took many photos and experimented with framing, lighting and many different facial expressions and poses but in the end I came to a conclusion that out of all our shots the picture on the left best portrayed the genre of horror.

1. It is a medium close up shot of a girl peering round a door. She has red hair and her hands are gripped to the door and door frame. The left of her face is in shadow, the other is brightly lit in artificial light. You can only see her face and hands the rest of her is hidden in shadow. She has a very stern, almost expressionless look on her face. She is directly addressing the camera. The background is pitch black but in the foreground you can see a door and door latch. She is central in the shot. It can be seen as horror because she looks very menacing and the fact that you can only see half her face creates an enigma which is slightly mysterious and scary. The door looks old and the room she is in is pitch black which are two things associated with horror. It makes it seem creepy and frightening as you don’t know who she is or what she is about to come out the room and do. Her hands gripping the door signify that she is about to come out the room and so something which creates a scary atmosphere as the audience are unknowing.
   
2. We placed the actress in a dark room and closed the door so that it was only slightly open. We made her come as close to the door as possible and place her hands on the door and door frame fairly close to her face so that we could still see them in a medium close up shot. We then used an artificial light to create a strong beam of light down one side of the actresses face by shining it directly towards her and then placing the camera next to it so that the rest of her was in shadow.
   
3. The shadow creates enigma as we cannot see the whole of her and therefore we do not know exactly who she is. Her facial expression directly addresses the audience so it draws them into the scene but yet as it is slightly emotionless it seems disturbing and doesn’t give too much away about how she is feeling or what she is doing or about to do, therefore creating enigma. The pose of the hands gripping the door and door frame create a sense of desperation and anger and make it seem very creepy for the audience as her hands seem slightly disfigured. The shot is at the right distance too as you can see enough of her pose and the surrounding location to know where she is and what she is doing but yet it is still close enough to see her expression and doesn’t give too much of the surrounding scene away keeping the audience ignorant. The lighting is also good as it creates a perfect shadow and makes one side of her face and her hands the main focus of the image showing she is the most important thing in the shot. Also her expression and pose immediatly tells the audience that she is a villain rather than a victim, although she could be seen as the brave heroin due to her costume.
   
4. I would have put her in different clothing and removed her make up as I feel it alters the mood of the shot as it is too bright and cheery and this contradicts the villainous look of horror we were trying to create. Also I would have used a different location where the door and door frame seemed more old and decrepit as it would create a scarier scene that is more stereotypical horror. Her nails on her hands also may have been more effective if they were painted red like talons as this would have drawn more attention to them making them more significant in the shot and it would have made them seem more scary rather than plain and fairly normal.