How camera effects are used to add meaning in the horror genre...

Horror films are surprisingly very cheap to make and the factors that make these films so successful is the storylines, music and camerawork an excellent example of this is Halloween 1978 one of the most successful independent films and also the film that gave birth to the subgenre of slasher horror. Halloween costed at total of $320,000 and grossed over $65 million and through analysing parts of Halloween I am aware that it is the techniques in which the directors and editors use in order to make a film such as Halloween and Psycho such great and iconic films. So a range of cleverly selected camera shots, angles and movements are used in horror to create the perfect scary moment or suspension for example a jump cut to a close up of a demons face could be used in order to scare the audience who are watching that particular scene. These camera effects are also used to inform the audience of what is happening in the film for example in Carrie towards the end of the film a long shot is used to show us that Carrie’s mum was dead and she symbolically looked like Jesus when he was pinned on to the cross during his crucifixion. Below is a trailer of a film called Grave Encounters which I had analysed it previously here are my notes on how camera effects were used to create a horror in the short clip. ‘The overall camera shots and angles used in Grave Encounters trailer created emotions of fear, tension and the feeling of the unknown. Most of the clips shown were done in a subjective way so I felt like I was there in the majority of the scenes and this was because the director of the film choose to use a handheld film recorder rather than having the film recorder on a dolly or a crane. There were many low angles used for example when they were looking up the stairs which was a very suitable angle to use in this scene as ghosts are usually found in horror films above us rather than on the floor so a high angle shot would be very well suited to a film such a Snakes on the Plane where the factor that is scaring people in the film are found mainly on the floor. There was also a low angle shot used when the cast of this mockumentary were introduced and they were posing for the camera I felt this gave the impression that they had authority at that present moment which was soon lost as the castoff this TV programme were being mentally and physically attacked by the unknown. Regarding camera shots there was a lot of close ups used to show the facial expressions of the characters and this is how I knew that authority had been lost on their behalf as they looked extremely scared and vulnerable. An over the shoulder shot was used during a conversation with the owner of the physcological unit and this gave the effect of voyeurism as I felt as viewer I should have not been listening to the conversation. Finally panning was used a lot to demonstrate emotions of panic’.