Lighting and Framing Analysis

Rationale

Before we begin to shoot our horror film trailer, we had to understand what techniques are used to create a sense of fright - something vital to our piece. We have decided to research two key technical elements of shooting a horror film; this is lighting techniques and framing techniques. We have done research into why, how and what types of these are the most useful and successful in making a film that fits the horror genre.

Lighting

While we conducted our research we found a website (http://www.videomaker.com/article/15436) which gave us some insight into some techniques that can be used to create a convincing light. A lot of the time, we found that our dark shots were too dark - characters and scenery were completely lost. However, we found this technique called 'light and dark.' This technique allows us to film at any time in the day - light or dark. By turning down the cameras 'gain', a well lighted room can seem dim. This trick is commonly used in film production.

We found another technique which uses 'harsh light' that was in most horror trailers. The contrast between very dark framing and an extremely bright focus on an object or character creates a very creepy sense to the film. We utilised this technique to create such a sense. The image below shows the use of harsh lighting in a previously successful film.





Framing
As we undertook some research into the framing of horror films we found two main techniques that are successful in creating a 'scary' scene.
- Hot points.
Many of the horror films we have looked at use hot points in the shot to create a professional looking shot. The character, or the action in the scene (for example a door slamming) are never in the centre of the shot. This allows the audience to be surprised and shocked when something happens - the loud bang etc is never the focus of the scene. We shall utilise this technique, as our trailer is designed to make people jump and this is a very successful style to make this happen.
- Movement.
Movement, away from the focus of the scene is very important. Horror films, such as 'The Strangers' use this technique brilliantly. As the focus of the scene is the majority of the framing there's often spacing around the side of them. For example, in 'The Strangers' the character is sat scared and just to left hand side of the shot, slightly out of focus, there's a little bit of moving from the killer. The same is done with trees, shadows and darkness. This little bit of movement, only seen by the audience, places them in a position of power and knowledge - they know what could and probably will happen. We're going to try and use this technique in our trailer, as the idea of slow creepy scenes is what we're aiming to achieve.

Paranormal Activity
- One harsh light illuminates the focus of the shot; the rest is shadowed and dimly lit to create tension.
- This drops subtle shadows and allows for extra movement in the scene.
- The famous 'door slamming' scene uses varying framing techniques.
- It's a wide angle shot.
- The door is in the left hand hot-point.
- This means the door is not the apparent focus of attention.

Uses
From our findings we've chosen to use all of the techniques in some way shape or form. We like the harsh light technique - particularly when it's focused on a characters face. We like the way the light focuses the audience on the character and blacks out the rest of the image. A lot of our film is designed to make the audience jump and keep them in suspense. The 'hot-point' technique is perfect for this - a lot of the actions that make the audience jump is not the primary focus of the shot.

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