Horror Films Provoke Fear, Alarm, and Panic

Camera Angles: Horror Films

Horror films are unsettling films designed to frighten and panic, cause dread and alarm, and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. Horror films effectively centre on the dark side of life, the forbidden, and strange and alarming events. They deal with our most primal nature and its fears: our nightmares, our vulnerability, our alienation, our revulsions, our terror of the unknown, our fear of death and dismemberment, loss of identity, or fear of sexuality.

Horror focuses on two main characters the antagonists and the protagonist. Close ups, extreme close ups and mid range shots are used to make the audience focus on these characters. This enables the audience to follow their movements and become familiar with the characters personality, thoughts, feelings and attitudes and meaning that the audience know their role within the film making the audience feel comfortable. As well as the antagonist and protagonist in a horror there is always a monster or a creature created by accident, these may never been seen by the audience. Camera angles and shots may be used to connote its is presents within the film. Shadows can be used to show that it is these but not to show it identity. This puts the audience on edge as they aren't aware of what it looks like but they are aware of its purpose in the film, this creates fear.

In a horror film the use or close up shots and mid shots are used to stop the audience from seeing the surroundings, events or people that would reveal the plot ending or give away information that would make it easy to figure out the mystery to early. Close up shots can c...

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...ng the audience to observe this while the protagonist is completely unaware of the predicament she is in. As the shot zooms in closer to both the antagonist and the woman, the sense of being trapped is conveyed to the audience because there is visually less room in the shot.The use of high-pitched strings as extra-diegetic sound when the woman is stabbed conveys the horror of the situation and coupled with the woman’s screams, makes very uneasy viewing for the audience. The sound of the shower continuing to run as the after the woman is killed conveys the sense of life going on without her. The close up of the plughole with the sudden match-on-action to the woman’s eye is shocking for the audience, more so than actually showing her dead. The position in which the woman is slumped on the floor after the stabbing makes visually uncomfortable viewing for the audience.