Group 1 Dark Summer: Final Opening Sequence

Preliminary Exercise

Saturday, September 19, 2009

BLK Horror Still Homework Group 3



1) Describe your shot and identify in what way it could be seen as representing "horror"
> Dark room with door in the background half open, letting in a shaft of light
> Female body lying on the floor, as if sleeping, or most probably injured or dead. She is obviously the victim. This is typical of a horror movie to have a woman/ girl as a victim
> Legs (not obviously male or female) standing over lifeless body in a dominating stance. Their hidden gender adds mystery.
> Light casting a sharp shadow of the legs across the floor. Heavy light and dark contrasts show us that this is a still from a horror movie about the fight between good and evil
> Body on floor is cast in light, as if innocent. Legs are in shadow, connoting evil/ horror
> Mid shot on the floor. Shot is cut off at the top of the legs, connoting a hidden agenda/ personality as we cannot see the person's face, adding mystery to the shot
> Girl is lying in front of the door, suggesting the other person had killed/ injured her there as she tried to escape
> Person's legs frame the shot and the girl. This connotes that they are dominating the scene and are clearly in control

2) What did you actually do to achieve the shot?
> The camera-man had lie on the floor to take the shot, so as to capture the legs, the body and the floor
> My group had to find a dark space to achieve the sharp contrasts between light and dark
> We used a padlight as the light source behind the door, to help create shadows

3) What is successful about your shot?
> The body on the floor is slightly out of focus, whilst the legs are very in focus. This connotes that the body on the floor is very much dead whilst the person standing over them is very much alive. In this sense the lighting is good
> There is a large shadow cast by the legs. This gives the shot an eerie, suspenseful feeling
> The darkened room with half open door and the beam of light create a spooky atmosphere
> The obvious contrasts between light and shadow help add to the mystery and spookiness usually associated with the horror genre

4) What would you do differently in hindsight?
> I would move the table behind the leg out of the shot, as this makes it look cluttered and messy
> I would zoom in, cutting out the wall on the left and excluding the socket on the wall on the right
> I would find make the light source behind the door less obvious and concentrated, possibly making it softer and more subtle to add to the eerie atmosphere
> I would get rid of the rubbish lying on the floor next to the body's hand

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