Photo still analysis

 

 

 

-Describe your shot and identify in what way it could be described as representing your chosen genre?

Our chosen genre for the shot was a horror/thriller. The shot contains a dark silhouette figure in a corridor, who is leaning against the wall of the corridor. This suggests that the figure is comfortable in the dark surroundings, probing into the mystery and darkness that a horror contains. The grainy effect used heightens the light behind the figure and the darkness above and around the figure, as well as the silhouette itself. The dark ceiling symbolises the foreshadowing of the dark hanging over the silhouette and therefore the dark events to come in the person’s life; The dark corridor suggests his dark path to come. These are both themes that a horror or thriller would contain.

-What did you actually do to achieve the effect?

Not only did the location of the picture help us with the effect but the camera settings we used also contributed. The location helped us achieve the effect because of the low key lighting. Within the corridor we turned off the lights, but allowed the light coming from the door behind to continue to be lit, in order to bring contrast to the picture instead of it being all dark. On the camera we used the night vision effect, to help achieve the dark colour pallet within the shot.

-Identify what is successful about your shot.

I think the success of the shot is the uncertainty we have created. This clearly portrays our thriller genre. The blurred silhouette, darkness, and the effect used, all create a certain mystery in the photo. The fact that there isn’t much going on in the shot, draws attention to the figure. The lack of detail in the figure leaves the audience with questions of details like, who he is, what he’s doing there, and what kind of a person he is. The mystery of all of these questions creates the kind of suspense that all thrillers and horrors contain.

-What would do differently in hindsight?

I think that the shot itself could have been wider, meaning less of the shot would contain the wall. In the shot we have taken, the angle it is taken from ensures that the figure is on the left hand side, the right hand side of the picture mostly containing the wall of the corridor. When making alterations I feel a wider shot of the overall corridor would be more effective. In a wider shot this would mean the figure would be in the middle of the two walls of the corridor, creating a dramatic symmetry which the leaning of the figure would then overrule. Due to restrictions with things in the corridor this could not occur, but if It did I feel  it would bring more depth to the shot.