Cinematography in Horror Films

Cinematography is one of the most crucial elements in pulling off a horror film as it plays a huge role in how effectively viewers experience suspense and terror. If a horror film does not build up the right atmosphere it can come across as harmless or even boring. A horror film is intended to scare easily, too much effort should not be needed to entice the audience.
 
One of the main reasons that I will be focusing on the cinematography in my film is that it does not contain much dialogue. My film will portray a short chase sequence which will not contain much if any dialogue so I will need to use cinematography to make up for this fact. My film sequence will contain a flashback explaining the reasons behind the chase which will have a definite script but large amounts of dialogue should not be needed to make a horror film successful.

Some of the elements of cinematography that i will be using are odd angles to confuse and disorientate the audience and therefore put them in the shoes of the protagonist which will greatly help them empathise and understand the sequence.

I am also hoping to use point of view shots including shots that represent the view through the antagonists eyes. This will be used when the antagonist is watching the protagonist before the chase begins. This could be difficult to pull of so I will need to use certain signifiers to show the audience that it is in fact the antagonists point of view. To do this I will add sound such as heavy breathing and either use vignetting or change the colour of the footage.

During the actual chase sequence although the editing will be fast paced, which fits in with the conventions of the horror genre, the pace of editing will be different depending on what character is on screen. For example when the antagonist is on screen she will be running away so the editing will be very fast paced consisting of short shots to both disorientate the audience and add the relevant sense of urgency. On the other hand when the antagonist is on screen the editing will be of a slower pace.

There will also be other more subtle aspects of cinematography I will use to create effect like, for example, high and low angles. The second shot of my film is of the antagonist getting out of her car and will be filmed using a low angle shot so you can only see the characters feet or lower legs, a low angle shot is usually used to indicate high status or power so by using a low angle at the beginning of the film I am showing that my protagonist is of high status or at least thinks she is. Then throughout the film the angles will change, using low angles on the antagonist and switching to high angles for the protagonist this represents the obvious switch in power the antagonist now has complete power and has become the intimidating character whereas the protagonist is now made to feel very small and helpless the exact effect you would expect to see in a horror movie.