Horror clip analysis.

In this clip from the film The Shining, we see Jack Nicholson's character, Jack Torrance, fully consumed by cabin fever and is on a violent rampage around a hotel. He has cornered his wife in the bathroom, he breaks in with an axe in an attempt to kill her. The setting is in a hotel room and bathroom. This lends itself to the psychological genre as it is in a familiar place.

The first 30 seconds of the clip are dominated by strings playing a repeated, high pitched tune. This is to heighten the tension in the clip and make the audience on edge. It also cuts between shots of  Wendy Torrance, Jacks wife, trying to escape through the bathroom window and Jack walking up to the bathroom. The music is then stripped back to one bass tune, this is so we can here Jack try to open the door which is locked. This is to foreshadow that he is going to have to break the door down to get to his wife in the bathroom.

The next 30 seconds features music which is now more brassed based. A wide shot is used to show the distance between Wendy and their son Danny as she is trying to escape from the Bathroom. Jack Nicholson's performance is enhanced through the medium shot of him by the door, this shows his crooked posture and also his facial expressions. The dialogue he uses is from the nursery rhyme, the 3 little pigs. This use of the nursery rhyme contrasts with his serial killer persona, making the use of the rhyme more sinister as it is usually used for children.

The next 30 seconds feature Jack breaking into the bathroom with an axe. He finishes the nursery rhyme, with the verse 'I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in' paraphrasing the rhyme, and using the words to show what he's going to do, by breaking down the door with the axe, the use of the nursery rhyme adds to the sinister ambience the scene has. Wendy Torrance's performance is effective in conveying terror as she is helpless to escape from the bathroom, so all she can do is clench a knife and wait in the corner for Jack to break in.

The next 40 seconds feature a medium shot inside the bathroom of Jack breaking in, paired with a medium shot outside the bathroom of Jack breaking in. After he finally breaks enough of the door, he peaks his head in and says 'Here's Johnny' a catchphrase from the popular television show, the tonight show used by the host Ed McMahon to introduce comedian Johnny Carson. This catchphrase was common at the time as the show was on at the time of the films release. The use of this phrase shows his lunacy as he again uses it out of context of his actions as it's for a more sinister purpose.

In this clip from the film Sinister, Ethan Hawke's character turn off a film projector which was playing by itself. He then inspects his laptop, grabs a picture of his garden and places it in front of the window. When he removes the picture from the front of the window, Bughuul ( Movie's Villain ) is standing in the bush. The setting is in Ethan Hawke's study room. This lends itself to the psychological horror genre as the audience are in the familiar place of a house and the fear is driven from a spirit/demon character who manipulates the fear in the protagonists mind.

From 00:00-00:20- The first 10 seconds is dominated by the sound of the projector running, the low light level is to keep the attention on the projector as it was running on it's own. The music is replaced with a soundtrack that has a static effect on it for the next 10 seconds. In this time frame, Ethan turns off the projector and zooms in on an image on his computer.

From 00:20-00:40- The first cut is made, to show a wall of newspaper articles and pictures. As he walks to the window, the camera zooms in to show more of his face. The music stays the same throughout.

00:40-01:00- The first 10 seconds features cuts between the outside bush area which the picture shows and Ethan Hawke's Character. In the next 10 seconds features the jump scare where he removes the picture from the view of the camera, for it to be mirrored in real life as 'Bughuul' is standing in the bushes. As he is shocked by the sight he rubs his eyes in disbelief and 'Bughuul' has disappeared. The sting is a piano chord which echoes until the end of the clip.

The clip features only diagetic sound except for the non diagetic static soundtrack that's very quiet and the sting to accent the jump scare of the Villains appearance. This is so the audience are on edge as they don't know what to expect, but they also are anticipating a jump scare of some sorts. The clip also has minimal editing, which makes the tracking of Ethan as he goes around the study more flowing and smooth so the audience doesn't lose focus of what's happening on screen.

In this clip from the film, Friday the 13th, It shows Jason's Mother, Mrs Voorhees talking mainly to herself, with Alice in the room, about a boy who drowned in the lake nearby, the boy being Mrs Voorhees' son. The setting is in a cabin in the middle of the woods. This clip lends itself to the slasher genre as the setting is in a very typical setting of the genre and it shows the reason behind the killers motives to murder (the flashback) and we see the killer (Mrs Voorhees) use a knife to attack Alice

From 00:00-00:30- Mrs Voorhees talking to Alice about how she feels about the park opening and she also gives a back story to events that happened that led to the parks closure. The music is mainly a string piece, with short samples which sound fragmented and random, to add to the the tension in the scene.

From 00:30-01:00- The first 5 seconds contains a mini sting of a horn as Mrs Voorhees grabs Alice. She reserves herself in her explanation and becomes more relaxed, the music features strings at low pitch and volume. Alice speaks for the first time, saying about waiting for Mr Christy, unaware that Mrs Voorhees has killed him, so Mrs Voorhees laughs this off and says that's not necessary.

01:00-01:30- The first 15 seconds contain flashback of Jason's drowning and Mrs Voorhees talks to 'him' saying she's going to get him. The next 15 seconds feature strings playing, and this creates an uneasy atmosphere between the two people. Mrs Voorhees ignores her questions with more back story to events that happened involving her son.

01:30-02:00- The first 15 seconds, we can see Mrs Voorhees sanity slowly slipping away as she is talking to herself and is also replaying her son's demise in her head. The next 15 seconds, features a low string part introduced to the soundtrack as Mrs Voorhees becomes more threatening. She flips a table and pulls out a knife continually threatening Alice.

02:00-02:12- At 02:00 minutes it has features the jump scare as the camera is on Alice getting something to defend herself, the camera quickly pans over to Mrs Voorhees and is paired with high pitched string stings, which pays homage to psycho, as she lunges at her. Alice quickly disarms her and hits her on the back, this ends the strings, which is replaced with a low, held note on strings, with horn part repeating a melody as she turns and runs out of the cabin.

The clip contains a flashback of the drowning which is very common in slasher films as it shows the incentive of why the murderer wants to kill. A medium shot of Mrs Voorhees getting out a knife from a holster, this is also common in a slasher film as the films iconography is usually based around the murder weapon, where the signature 'slash' comes from. The non diagetic music is orchestral and is used to build tension in the scene, which finally crescendo's as Mrs Voorhees goes to attack Alice with a Bowie knife.

When filming my main task, I would consider the forest/woods setting(Friday the 13th), the stringed music to create tension (The Shining) the use of a sting to scare the viewer/audience (Sinister) and a physical weapon used to kill the victim (Friday the 13th).