Lights out (2016) by Hoodo Obsiye

Lights out, a supernatural horror film directed by David Sandberg was a success grossing over $148 million in the box office. Sandberg’s directorial devices would be analyzed on how he achieved to create this opening scene.

The opening scene is established in an office environment; the lighting is dim which creates a congenial atmosphere. This suggests the character’s guard is down and is vulnerable to any danger. Also, the props are female mannequins staring straight at the male character foreshadowing him being stalked the same way. There is a dichotomy set up, as the man is clearly represented as the authoritarian figure which relates to Mulvey as he is assertive whilst the woman is portrayed as helpless and paranoid. She warns him against danger one could argue her attempting to warn him will hinder the narrative but his response to her was dismissive. Mulvey’s theory solidifies that to be true were women play a subjugated role which is prevalent motif in horror films. However, the female character survives the scene subsequently becoming the final girl.

Furthermore, there is not a wide range of camera shots used but the specific ones do project a sense of fear, for example the MCU of the male character creates a standoff approach as if it’s humans versus monster. His fearful facial expression is subdued to correlate with the character’s personality; him being calm and collective is even symbolized through his casual style of clothing. The zooming in on the unlocking of the door creates an unbearable anticipation, whilst simultaneously having a CU on the man’s face the audience empathizes with the character who cannot escape. Prior, the camera movement was shaky especially when trying to pan around the man but now the camera is in a fixed position suggesting the character’s fate is too.

Editing is said to be the essence of film but in ‘Lights out; it is very much controlled in one continuous shot, however the effective use of match on action to dramatize the ending by revealing the death of the character. You can argue that Barthes’ enigma code was set up as the camera jump cuts to still images of the surroundings, the audience wondered whether he was dead or alive. The eye-level combined emphasized the brutality the monster inflicted on this decent human.

Moreover, there is a mixture of non-diegetic and diegetic sounds to achieve an eerie ambience, the fast-paced violin strings intensify the fear and is used to symbolize the realization that something is terribly wrong. This effectively increases the adrenalin of the audience who are kept on the edges of their seats. Todorov’s equilibrium was disrupted the moment the presence of the evil entity appeared. On the other hand, the diegetic sounds create paranoia by

heightening the senses, this then adds realism to the scene such as the slamming of the door; the mixture of sounds unsettles the audience who feel unsafe as well.

In conclusion, the opening scene did conjure up an atmosphere of fear and anxiety with Sandberg and his team’s efforts. To reiterate the film was such a success due to the varied techniques used through editing, camera shots etc. A sequel of the film is in the works.