Social Realism

Crimson Peak film analysis.

During the extract we were given from " Crimson Peak" the tone is established quickly of one that fits the genre. This is done cleverly to create tension for the audience, as is normal for the horror genre, by using mise en scene, lighting and sound.

The scene starts with a with a close up of the main actresses face and upper body as she wakes up suddenly, with her facial expressions suggesting she is scared. As the camera slowly zooms out we as an audience see more of the setting, causing us to feel fear with her, this is mostly due to the setting matching the stereotypical idea of a horror film. However, the fact that the zoom used is extremely slow also causes tension for the audience as we don’t know what we are going to see, or where the character is. When the camera has zoomed out and we see a medium shot of the whole setting, rather than just the girl, we see that the room seems run down and old. This creates a tenser atmosphere due to a dirty run-down room creating the idea of someone having lived there before who had to leave suddenly or had something horrible happen to them.

The lighting in the beginning of the scene is also extremely effective due to it being quite low key. Most of the room is in darkness and the bed (where our main character is situated) is the only well-lit part of the room, creating the idea that there is the safest place as the rest is more mysterious, as anything could of be hiding in it. This makes us start to want to keep the girl in the safest place of the house and therefore making us more scared when she eventually gets up to leave.

The sound used is also extremely effective in building the tension at this point. The diegetic sounds are exaggerated at this point, loud creaking noises and the wind, are the main sounds that are heard loudly throughout the beginning of the scene. This gives the idea of the house being run down, and therefore less secure meaning the chance of someone sneaking in is not out of the question.  This also gives the idea that there may be something wrong with the house itself, rather than the people in it. The diegetic sound of the dog barking increases tensions even more, due to us not being able to see what it is barking at adding the to the idea of something being wrong even more.

Later on in the scene after the girl has left the safety if her bed, a dutch angle becomes frequently used, on the run up to and during the chase scene with the monster/ Skellington that came through the floor. This use of the Dutch angle suggests something is off with the house itself, making the chase more suspense full due to it making the ground seem uneven. The angle makes the audience feel uncomftable and as if something is going to go even more wrong. As well as the choice adding to the setting being an old run-down place, adding to the element of history and making the audience more scared as it may be haunted or have a bad past of things going wrong in the house.

During the same chase scene shot reverse shot is used to create the idea that the monster is closer than it is. This is done by messing with the perception we have and working with the Dutch angle to make the audience more disoriented, therefore making the chase scene more panicked for us as well as the character involved

The MES of costume and colour used in this extract, is shown most clearly on the main character. Throughout the whole scene she is wearing white, historical wear, with long blonde hair. This gives the audience imagery of someone almost angel, as added to using the prop of a candle.  The use of  white suggests purity which makes her seem more innocent to the audience, this makes us feel more scared for her, whilst she is being chased by the thing that is surrounded by darkness, showing dramatic contrast, between good and evil.