Mise en Scene in Horror

The mise en scene in horrror plays a huge role in how realistic and believable the overall film is.

Scene:

The scene of a horror film is very important, however there is not much variety in the settings in horror films, many are set in a rural location with not many people around, they tend to be set in either a cabin or a forest, where there is little hope of being rescued. These rural landscapes are great locations for gaining a tense, fearsome atmosphere. As mentioned before, these locations are typically isolated, and are usually cut off from civilisation and help, as the idea of being on you own whilst someone or something is coming for you, is far more scary than being able to access help easily. The film Friday the 13th, is known for using the forests as a location, the use of the forest is used to make the characters, as well as the audience feel lost and hopeless of escape. These scenes are also often filmed at night, as it has limited vision and the trees covering up a lot of area makes the location ripe for a film that wants to have a lot of jump-scares.  

Props:

Props play a huge role in horror films, as they can foreshadow a lot. For example, in Scream, we see knifes on her kitchen surface in clear focus, as well as the titles, which look as if they could have been shaped by a knife. Props can range from a weapon, to a spiritual artifact to even a just basic scary artifact. Props such as crosses and bibles can be normally found in a possession movie; these props are typically used as signs of religion, faith (or the loss of faith,) and possessions. The Exorcist and the Exorcism of Emily Rose are packed with these props. Typically a cross, if found above the bed, represents someone who is about to become possessed. A cross is a key prop in the Exorcist. Moreover another largely used prop in horror films is a machete, which is seen in the film Friday the 13th, a chainsaw, which we can see in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or even a kitchen knife, seen in Halloween. Props like this are not only means of how the victim dies in horror films, but also a means of assosciation for whichever character holds that certain weapon. Props like these can be seen hugely in the slasher sub-genre.  

Lighting:

Lighting in horror films can be very repetitive, it is usually dark and atmospheric, however it is the most effective at building tension, it is an effective setting and surrounding for a common jump-scare. Common examples of this, seen in most horror films, is the darkness, which conceals the villians identity. Moveover, many people are scared of the dark and hence the use of it plays on that fear for people. The usage of colour in horror ranges from three colours depending on the sub-genre at play. For instance, in a slasher film, the colour red is predominant as, there is clearly going to be a lot of blood, and also foreshadows the future of the film. However, in other horror films, the predominant colours are black and white, possible representing the protagonist and antagonist and how hugely they contrast (male and female.) The iconography of white is purity and innocence, the white typically represents the victim in the film. The iconography of black, is dark and often potrays the evil character, with a lack of soul, for example the villain.

Hair, Make-up and Costumes:

The appearance of characters in horror films is very important, as these characters need to fit the narrative. For instance, you expect to see a little girl wearing a white dress (covered in mud or perhaps even blood), with black tattered hair and with a face that hasn't been washed. This is a trope that combines all of the apparel into one character. Within the slasher sub-genre, costumes are a huge part in identifying the antagonist. The antagonist in a horror film needs to look scary and intimidating, if this character does not meet these requirements, it will not be an effective horror film. However, in other cases, make-up can be used to make a character look tired and scared. Scars and markings of a victim can be used to help us identify with their struggle and is used to also show the progression of a character throughout the story. 

Facial Expressions and Body Language:

In order to portray a characters emotion on-screen, facial expressions and body language is vital. A characters facial expressions and body language can reveal a lot about a characters feelings. For instance, in the film Blade, we can see by the males facial expressions and body language that he is scared and confused by the mysterious red liquid on his hands. Another example is zombies in films like Dawn of the Dead are very slow in the way they move and their body language is typically slouched over to a side as they approach a victim.  If a characters facial expressions and body language does not coincide with that of the narrative, the end product will not be as tense.

Visual Effects:
Unlike most other genres, horror is the one that hasn't really been effected by visual effects in terms of special effects added in during the post-production stage. Many of the visual effects in horror films are still made by practical effects. Furthermore, the use of visual effects in films is needed to create something that otherwise can't be accomplished on-screen in the realms of reality without a bit of, "smoke and mirrors." In the film, Slasher, to accomplish the realistic looking effect of somebody haven a body part dismembered or having somebody burt, the use of visual effects need to be used to portray a realistic looking depiction of that action.

Main Brief:
Using this research, for my main brief Chelsea and I have decided to set our opening in a large house, with lots of glass doors and windows. Setting our opening in a large house is a relatable location for the audience and it is frequently used location in horror films. For iconography, we decided to have knifes on the table, which makes the audience suspect something, as well as a lot of glass windows, doors etc, which makes our character appear more vulnerable. Throughout we have also used low lighting, in order to heighten the tension, we also decided to set our opening when it was just getting dark, this is in order to make our character appear more vulnerable.