CB; Technical Analysis of The Uninvited (Guard Brothers, 2009)

  

Technical Analysis

 

	Camera Techniques	Duration	Mise-en-scene	Sound
1.	CU of her face – Zooms in slightly to reveal facial expressions	2 seconds	There is a blurred background of trees and woodland behind the character, which convey that she is outside. The use of the blur concentrates the audiences focus upon the characters face. This highlights her fear and anxiety in whatever she appears to be looking at.	Diagetic sound of the character breathing nervously gives the audience the first impression that she is fearful of something or someone.
2.	CU of the door handle – pans slightly to the right, connoting eye movement as the character walks towards it more	4 seconds	The low key lighting and flash of lightning from the storm make the door handle seem malevolent, as if what is hidden behind it will be demonic.	A wind chime sound is to be heard as the door handle emerges, creating an eerie and spine chilling effect on the audience. Also, the thud of the thunder in the background set the scene for a conventional horror film.
3.	CU of the characters hand on the door handle – zooms in slightly throughout	2 seconds	The use of the characters slow hand movement towards the door handle is very hesitant; communicating that she is afraid of what she is going to potentially be faced with once the door is opened.	Diagetic sound of the opening of the door helps to create actuality and give the door a sense of weighty heaviness, with the unlocking of the door being of a low pitch.
4.	MS of her face and shoulders	3 seconds	The use of low key lighting present within this shot shows the characters shadow on the door as she opens it, which appears very sinister. The use of the MS showing the characters no verbal language, which appears very rigid and tight and further expressing her fear.	Diagetic sound of the slow creek of the door helps built tension, as well as an eerie atmosphere. The sound pierces the audience’s ears as they are on the edge of their seats, waiting to see what is in the house.
5.	LS of the room – panning slowly to the right	2 seconds	The room is very dark and displays quite an open space with only two objects apparent, although appearing mysterious as they are both covered in white sheets. This possibly conveys that the house has been abandoned for quite a while.	Thunder is to be heard towards the end of the shot, yet again addressing the conventional horror film scene.
6.	Tracking – the camera moves with the character as she explores the room	3 seconds	The use of lighting from the thunder storm brings light upon the whole room, adding to the tense and mysterious atmosphere felt by the audience.	Continued after sound of the thunder.
7.	MS of her face and shoulders	4 seconds	This shot again reinforces her fear as she is strained in movement and tentative as to what is about to happen.	Continued after sound of the thunder.
8.	Long MS of her body down to the hips	5 seconds	The character performs a 180 degree turn whilst the camera is kept in the same position. This shows her desire to check the whole room to see if she is alone or not.	Non diagetic sound of bells being jingled are included towards the end of the shot, which indicate a change in mood and that something is about to occur.
9.	POV (high angled) LS	1 second	A high camera angle of the hand on the floor is used in order to show the characters height as she looks down on it. The hand is also only shown for 1 second on screen, providing a quick glimpse of the object in order to make it appear scarier.	A loud strike of thunder is played as the hand appears on screen, with an intention to make the audience jump as it cuts straight to the hand.
10.	CU – reaction shot to LS	5 seconds	The camera cuts straight to the characters face in order to see her response to seeing the hand. It then cuts to a long shot displaying her body language, which is seen to be bowed slightly as she tries to close her frame and ensure a sense of protection.	The character gives off a short gasp of breath as she reacts to seeing the hand. This helps to make the audience sympathise with her as we can almost feel her fear.
11.	Low angle LS	2 seconds	The camera is placed in position with the floor, showing the unknown character sliding on the floor into the shot from the right hand side, whilst also placing the girl to the left hand side of the shot. This introduces the rule of thirds, the use of placing the girl to the left hand side of the shot and the other character to the right possibly highlighting that it is looking up at her.	Non diagetic sound of bells jingling again is played throughout the shot, communicating that every time the unknown character moves it gives off this noise.  Therefore, the bells are used as a symbol that bad things are potentially about to happen.
12.	MS	3 seconds	The shot of her is used to illustrate her facial expressions and boy language to reiterate her fear.	Diagetic sound of the character breathing heavily is present throughout the shot, emphasising her internal fear of this unknown character
13.	LS of the ‘thing’	4 seconds	The use of low key lighting makes it hard for the audience to see the unknown character on the floor, adding to the suspicion as to whether it is living or not. The camera is positioned on the floor alongside the character providing it with prevalence, as the audience are placed at the same level as it.	Diagetic sound of a crunch is heard as the unknown character lifts it head. This gives the impression that the character is dysfunctional and has possibly broken bones.
14.	LS – panning upwards as the character gets up	4 seconds	Low key lighting of the lightening from the thunder highlights the unknown character as it rises up from the floor, emphasising it in a demonic way. Also, body language of the character as it stands is very slow and delayed, communicating it to be old and not all human.	Bells jingling are heard once again as the character stands, highlighting that they must be wearing something in order to create this sound.
15.	MS of the unknown characters dangling hands	6 seconds	A bell is attached to the characters hand, explaining the reason as to why we hear the ringing of bells every time the character moves.	Non-diagetic sound of heavy footsteps are added as the unknown character moves towards the female character, producing a dramatized effect.
16.	Low angle shot of the unknown characters hand pointing- Reaction shot – hand pointing	5 seconds	The use of costume of the bandage around the characters hand communicates to the audience that previous injuries have occurred.	The jingling of the bells is present as the character moves her hand. No diagetic sound of a man saying murder is added to give the audience some incentive as to what the narrative could possibly be about.
17.	High angle zoom out	4 seconds	The camera is placed at a high angle in order to belittle the female character, making her seem weak, vulnerable and scared. The use of the zoom out connotes to the audience that the unknown character is moving away from her.	Diagetic sound of the female character screaming as the unknown character disappears.
18.	MS of two female characters – side and front view	10 seconds	Due to character composition of the new female character to the left hand side of the previous female character, placing her hand on her shoulder, the audience can see that she appears to be slightly older and is comforting the younger girl as she displays very enclosed body language on the floor. This connotes to the new female character, who is unaware of the events in which have just happened, that she is scared and afraid.	Dialogue between the two characters is shared, as the new female character questions “are you ok?” This implies to the audience that she is caring towards the younger female character.
19.	Shot – reaction shot	5 seconds	The fast pace cutting rate allows the audience to see the reaction that the new female character has in response to the dialogue of the younger character. The use of costume also of connotes that they are both young and modern females.	Dialogue of “I saw mum” reveal to the audience a great deal about the narrative, in that the mother has been killed. The response of “what are you talking about” by the older character convey that perhaps only the younger female can see her mums ghost/spirit.
20.	Over the shoulder shot	3 seconds	Due to the use of low key lighting, both female characters appear as black silhouettes as the camera is placed over their shoulder to reveal yet another older female character. However, as the camera is placed over both of one of their shoulders, it isolates the oldest female whilst also being at a low angle. This gives her a sense of authority and power over the younger two girls.	No sound
21.	MS of both girls looking out the window	5 seconds	The position of the camera showing the two females looking up at the house (through the window) gives a reflection in the window of the house whilst also focusing upon them.	No sound

Stills

 

 

Summary

Throughout this clip I really enjoyed the fast pace cutting rate as it really helped to build tension, along with the use of low key lighting of the lightening flash from the thunder which gave it a real conventional horror look. I also liked the sinister sound of the ringing bell in which was only heard when the unknown character moved, creating a spine chilling effect as the audience knew what the sound connoted (the character was on the move). Finally, I loved the end shot of the two female characters looking out of the window and with the reflection of the house appearing on the window. This looked very effective and a shot my group could possibly imitate when puting together shots for our final horror film opening. Although this clip isn't necessarily an opening sequence, I think we could use shots within this such as the ones I have previously mentioned in order to make  our opening be very effective.