Mise-en-scene TRAILER ANAYLSIS OF A HORROR FILM – WOMEN IN BLACK AND THE CONJURING

A relevant mise-en-scene in a film is essential due to it setting the scene, having adequate costumes, and to give viewers an overall view on what the film is about. Instantly, in the trailer ‘Woman in Black’ it shows the lead character Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) walking up to a haunted house, this shows the audience instantly the setting using an establishing shot, the audience will get a clear view of the scene to come from this. It’s clear the main setting of the film isn’t a cared for and joyful house as the garden isn’t at all looked after and the gates are all broken. This is mise-en-scene setting a dark, and scary feel to ensure the viewers are aware of the theme of the upcoming film (which is horror). The overall aim for a horror film is to frighten a viewer, and create a ‘sitting on the edge of your seat’ affect. If you let a viewer know in a trailer the genre of film and a guideline to the events then you have achieved your goal. The images I’ve selected from the trailer do just that.

Setting – The Woman in Black (2012)

The several different camera angles showing the grand staircase creates a sense of vulnerability as you never know what is going to jump out at you as each angle changes. As an audience watching this clip you begin to feel like you are part of the scene which is what the trailer wants to achieve. If a viewer feels they are becoming part of the film then it’ll cause them to feel vulnerable and as if they have no control of the situation. The dirty stained-glass windows show how the house has been neglected, but suggests It was once loved to have some prestigious windows, the fact such a grand house has been abandoned would make a viewer feel vulnerable as something bad has obviously happened there. To ensure an audience feels scared and vulnerable whilst watching these trailers it would have to be filmed at night time, as when it’s dark a viewer doesn’t know what’s going to happen and can’t see. The dark, scary scenes are shown at the beginning of the scene to engage the intended audience as they want to feel the adrenalin of not knowing what is coming next. The scene with the rocking chair is exceptionally scary as the audience you feel powerless to stop it, and you know that only bad things can happen. As a group we want to achieve the same affect as this and if we don’t have the correct set design and viewers don’t feel vulnerable and frightened then they will have no interest in watching our film.

Vulnerability through Set Design – The Woman in Black (2012)

Props and costume are essential parts of any film, but especially in horror films to create the eerie feel as well as to represent the characters personalities. Dressing the lead protagonist in black and white is to represent the darkness in the house through the black, but the white clothing is to represent his innocence, as this character means no harm. Whereas, the antagonist is dressed all in black showing their dark, horrible character, as in the media black clothing has connotations or dark, empty souls. The setting of the film is during the Victorian era and the dated costumes fit this period perfectly. However, the three little girls are dressed in the typical clothing they should be, in contrast to their not as typical personalities.

Props & Costume – The Women in Black (2012)

At the beginning of ‘The Conjuring’ we are presented with a very normal, family like setting. This has purposely been done to mislead the audience into believing the film may not be as scary as they originally thought. However, it also builds up a sense of safety for the audience whilst watching it, to then shock them even more when the horrors begin. Unlike, ‘The Woman in Black’ who jumps straight into the scary features, ‘The Conjuring’ almost suggests it’s a happy, family orientated film. Showing a calm and typical family life leaves the audience guessing and also being suspicious.The house looks very well kept and you could even say it looks like a large dolls house, which is why the audience would be even more taken back by the events which occur there.

Setting – The Conjuring (2013)

The darkness throughout the more frightening parts of the film emphasise the fear and the danger even more so than when events take place in the light. The dark is stereotypically renowned to being scary, so viewers will automatically be more on edge when the setting is dark, the idea is to ensure the audience feel powerless as they have no idea what is coming next. Generically, horror movies are filmed in the dark for the majority of the film to ensure it’s as unpredictable and gripping as it can possibly be.The darkness throughout the trailer in ‘The Conjuring’ causes it to be even more chilling than it already is.When I create my movie trailer I will film it in the dark, which will be a difficult challenge as we don’t have the lighting equipment which they have in ‘The Conjuring’, however, horror films only have the full extent of fear when there is a lack of lighting.

Powerless through the lighting – The Conjuring (2013)

Throughout both movie trailers you feel gripped and desperate to see more, but they manage to intrigue you in very different ways. ‘The Woman in Black’ trailer instantly makes you jump and makes you fully aware that the setting where the main character is visiting has lots of problems and it’s not going to be a family friendly film. Whereas, ‘The Conjuring’ tries to represent the film at the beginning of the trailer as a happy one, the house is well presented, and the family seem very normal.With lighting, both films have similar types. The majority of the film is filmed in the dark to create that chilling effect, when it’s light in the film you learn to feel calm, however when it turns dark you know the scary events will begin to take place. We see instantly with the ‘The Woman in Black’ that it is set in the Victorian time period due to their costume and the ‘The Conjuring’ clothing suits the 1970’s (the time period of when the film is aiming to be set). The props in ‘The Woman in Black’, such as the lit candle show the time period perfectly, and also the old fashioned toys as appose to plastic ones like we have to do.Our body language when watching horror films at night changes dramatically from watching them in the day as we associate the dark with danger and fear – both films have taken full advantage of this and filmed the scary parts when there is little lighting.

Mise-en-scene throughout ‘The Woman in Black’ & ‘The Conjuring’