This was our first attempt at developing a short horror sequence including the top ten horror shots:
1. OFF KILTER SHOT - This is when a shot is deliberately slanted to the side for dramatic effect and to make the audience feel uneasy or frightened that something is not right. We used an off kilter shot in our sequence to show the character was in danger and something unusual was happening to him.
2. OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT OF THE KILLER - This shows the fear of the victim from the killer's perspective, making the audience feel even more scared for the victim. We used this shot in our sequence as it showed the victim as weak and in danger.
3. CLOSE-UP OF THE WEAPON - The use of a close-up on the weapon creates fear and makes the audience aware of what to look out for. Another reason we used a close up was because it focuses on only the weapon and nothing else, drawing the audience's attention to what it may be capable of doing to it's victims. In our case this was Ouija Board that captured and possessed the characters.
4. CLOSE-UP/EXTREME CLOSE-UP OF FEAR - Using this close-up shot of the victim allowed the audience to focus only on the character as they occupied the majority of the frame. It emphasised on his emotion and fear, forcing the audience to feel for him and imagine themselves in his shoes. It also draws attention to every detail within in the shot, such as his desperate eyes and gapping mouth. It shows how dramatically scared he was and that there was nothing he could do to escape his fateful death.
5. 360 DEGREES SHOT - This shot is used to show isolation and fear. This was an effective shot to use in our horror film because from the victim's perspective, we saw them turning around looking for something to jump out at them. This makes the audience wary for something to happen and after turning around the full 360 degrees, the killer is stood there waiting to kill them. This fulfilled the expectation that something bad was about to happen because of the desperation and fear the audience could recognise the victim was feeling from the view of the camera.
6. HIGH ANGLE SHOT - A high angle shot is effective to show the victim's vulnerability. It can suggest they are weak and have little power because we are looking down on them. This can lead to suggest the murderer is also looking down on them and has more power than them. The high angle we used of the victim leaves it to the audience's interpretation that he is in danger and has no way of escaping because they are looking down on him and can see that he is trapped.
7. LOW ANGLE SHOT - A low angle shot of the killer shows the power and control they have over the victim. By the audience looking up at them, we can recognise we are weak and in danger, putting ourselves in the shoes of the victim. In our horror film, this creates a fear of the killer and suggests they are now a frightening character that has been possessed by the weapon and has power over the victim's life. The fact the audience is seeing them from a low angle creates a sense of being trapped and having no control.
8. HOW TO STAB SOMEONE WITHOUT HURTING SOMEONE - Killing or injuring someone without hurting them in real life can be done very easily and effectively in horror. If you are stabbing someone you can place the knife under the victim's arm or behind them to show the camera it is going through them, when in reality it doesn't hurt them. Having blood placed on the location, body and weapon also creates a murder scene and shows they have been stabbed or killed without actually injuring them. In our case for our horror film, we used a stick to kill our victims. To do this without hurting them, we used close-up shots of the blood and the weapon to show what had happened. Leaving it to the audience's imagination is a very effective thing to do in horror, rather than always showing how they are killed. By immediately shooting the blood on the victim's head, following the killer holding the weapon was much more effective and scary for the audience to witness and didn't result in anyone getting hurt in reality.
9. POINT OF VIEW OF KILLER AS THE VICTIM CRAWLS AWAY AND KILLER APPROACHES - The point of view of the killer as they approach their victim crawling away is effective because the audience can see the fear and dread in the victim's eyes and face. We can recognise that they are helpless and are going to be killed because we are in the position of the killer who approaching them.
10. USE THE POWER OF SUGGESTION - Leaving parts of the film to the audience's imagination is effective because it focuses on the sense of atmosphere and makes the audience's mind go into overdrive on what could have happened. Imagination can make you think over the top and beyond what actually happened, which is why using the power of suggestion in horror is such a successful and effective technique.