Catherine Middleton - Assessment of Previous Work 2

1.Does it look like a horror film?

Yes I think it work really well, the first shots set the tone and scene really well and although the story is quite confusing they have shot it well and added sound that really works for this film.

2.Does it have a range of shots? Is it well framed?
They’ve used really interesting shots that are very imaginative and catch your attention, for example using a shot of the camera looking upwards to see the shadow of someone walking across a translucent ceiling is really haunting as well as the shot looking through a hole in the floorboard to see the girls walking down a corridor directly underneath – gives a sense of someone following them or watching them that’s really spooky. They’ve used a full range of shots – LS’s to establish location and movement, zooms, CU’s/MS’s – allowing us to see facial expression and props in detail which create a very clear picture of what’s happening, we feel very involved despite it being quite a complicated storyline to grasp straight away. They use framing well, using the rule of thirds correctly and allowing lead room when characters are entering a shot. The blurred shots of the girl in white room are really creepy and put us slightly in her place, the unfocussed images confuse the audience. The sped up tracking shots in black and white through the buildings corridors towards the end of the film work really well and end the film in a very poignant way.

3.Does it flow or break continuity?
Yes I think it flows really well, they have edited shots together really successfully as it doesn’t feel jumpy or repetitive or make it confusing.

4.Does it have well used mise-en-scene?
Yes, they’ve used appropriate props i.e. wooden cross, matches etc. that all link to their chosen sub genre of horror film, as well as using a location that appears quite deserted and haunting. Although we do see an establishing shot of them entering an empty building we don’t see much of the insides and so that element of unknown is quite scary. They’ve used shots that allow us to see body language and proxemics between characters really clearly, although with them using candlelight to light their set it’s not always very clear as it is quite dark. However this makes the contrast between the opening scenes and the ‘white room’ scenes really striking as the colour and lighting is so different. The black costumes again provide a harsh contrast to the bold white dress worn by the girl in the white room - both colours having connotations that fit the story (E.g. black is associated with death and horror, and white sometimes with madness/strait jackets/death/ghostly feel etc.)

5.Has the sound been used to create fear? How?
They’ve used the sound of locking and closing doors to great advantage here, the fact that they have shot in very large empty spaces works really well in terms of sound – it feels very enclosed and secret, despite the rooms being very large and empty. The repetitive sound of the church bells is really quite creepy I think and works really well, it almost does put you in a kind of trance which work really well in this subgenre.