ER; Technical Analysis of The Poltergeist

Shot	Duration	Camera	Mise-en-scene	Sound
1	15 seconds	Pan, LS	Typical family atmosphere, warm lighting	Non-diegetic
2	3 seconds	Still, POV of the clown, LS	Dark lighting, scared facial expressions and body language
3	3 seconds	Still, clown reaction shot, LS
4	9 seconds	Still, POV of clown, LS
5	1 seconds	Still, CU of clown		Bell ringing, non-diegetic
6	1 seconds	Still, CU of clown
7	1 seconds	Still, CU of clown
8	2 seconds	Still, CU of clown
9	6 seconds	Still, POV of clown
10	7 seconds	Pan down		Non-diegetic
11	9 seconds	Still	Girl smiles, reassuring, contrasts with the beheaded doll next to her,  anti-climax
12	5 seconds	Still	Content, reassured, feels safe enough to go to sleep
13	6 seconds	Still
14	17 seconds	Still start then pan up,	Confused facial expressions	Sounds of something shifting off camera creates suspense
15	1 seconds	Still	Shocked facial expression	Gasp
16	6 seconds	CU	Looking around, showing signs of fear	Non-diegetic
17	2 seconds	LS
18	6 seconds	Handy cam
19	10 seconds	Tracking up	Clown appears	Non-diegetic with sudden diegetic music to emphasise the "jump"
20	2 seconds	Still		Jumpy music along with a scary cackle
21	1 seconds	Still	Boy gets dragged out of shot
22	2 seconds	CU of sister	Scared facial expression
23	2 seconds	LS of boy being dragged underneath the bed

 

I liked the warm, family atmosphere created because it gives the audience a false sense of security, which works really well in being scarier. This effect also works because it’s very realistic, so people can imagine it happening easily in their own lives. I liked the continuous reaction shots because it exaggerates the fact that the clown had disappeared. Finally, I thought the sound was used effectively as it was all non-diegetic, until the climax of the scene when diegetic music was introduced.