Research- Mise-En-Scene

In this section, I will research mise-en-scène. This is comprised of almost everything that happens on set, such as set design, lighting, costumes, props, and the arrangement/movement of actors. Basically, the whole visual aesthetic of a scene.

I'm excited to dig deep into the section because this is what will essentially make or break my presentation of my genre! Learning this information will fill me with enough knowledge to even start planning out how I want my film to be like.

Lighting: Shadows, Darkness & Mood

Lighting is one of the biggest tools horror movies use to make you uneasy. Low light and deep shadows hide details, making you imagine what might be lurking just out of sight. This technique keeps audiences on edge because your brain fills in the blanks. Horror films often use contrast- very dark areas next to bright ones- to create mystery and suspense.

For example, many chills in horror come from scenes where most of the frame is dark until something suddenly lights up, like a face, a hand, or something creepy moving. This technique makes even normal spaces feel threatening. This can be used to my advantage when creating my opening, as I can't use a professional set for my film. Making the lighting low to give it an ominous look, will help with that flaw.

This image is a scene taken from Terrifier 3; the lighting presented here is just ONE part of the movie where the lighting is shown as very dark and mysterious. This movie incorporated A LOT of dark lighting, heightening that fear of the unknown.

The technique of using low-key lighting plays on most people's fear of the dark. It is very common for 

Costume And Props

I learned that costumes and props in slashers do more than just make characters look cool; they help tell us who someone is and make them feel scary. For example, in the Scream movies, the killer’s costume with the ghost‑like white mask and dark robe quickly tells the audience “this person is dangerous” even before anything happens onscreen. Because they can’t see the killer’s face, they can’t read their emotions, which makes them feel more mysterious and frightening. Masks like Ghostface’s are so well‑known that people instantly think of horror when they see them, and things like the killer’s knife become symbols of threat just by being associated with that character and their actions. Costume can tell a story about someone, giving that character more depth and helping the audience to further understand that person.


                               

Cinematography

Cinematography in psychological slashers uses camera position, angles, and lighting to make scenes feel tense and unsettling even before anything scary happens. One common trick is the low‑angle shot, where the camera is below a person looking up, which can make a threat feel bigger and more powerful and heightens the sense of danger. The opposite can also be used: a high‑angle shot, where the camera looks down on someone, can make a character seem small and vulnerable and make you feel sorry for them or uneasy watching them struggle.

Another technique is the Dutch angle, which means the camera is tilted; this makes the whole picture feel off‑balance and weird, almost like you’re seeing the world through a shaky, confused mind. Close‑ups are another tool: zooming in tight on someone’s face or a small object pulls your attention right to it, so you notice every detail and feel much closer to the emotion or tension in the scene. Filmmakers also use low‑key lighting, where shadows and darkness fill most of the frame, so you can’t see everything clearly, and your brain starts expecting something hidden in the dark. All of these choices about where the camera is, how it moves, and how light and shadows shape the scene help make the audience feel uneasy without needing loud noises or jump scares.

Sources

Lighting

https://raindance.org/crafting-fear-filming-techniques-to-evoke-emotion-in-horror-movies/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://louisabroadheadmediablog.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/codes-and-conventions-of-horror-films/

https://www.blog.thefilmfund.co/unlocking-the-secrets-of-horror-movie-cinematography-techniques-factors-and-tricks-to-heighten-suspense/

Costume

https://www.prazzlearts.com/editorial/the-impact-of-costume-design-on-film-why-it-matters

https://ctkdeathrowproductions.weebly.com/costume--make-up.html

Cinematography

https://nofilmschool.com/horror-camera-angles

https://www.blog.thefilmfund.co/unlocking-the-secrets-of-horror-movie-cinematography-techniques-factors-and-tricks-to-heighten-suspense/

Research- Characters

 In this post, I will research in depth about my chosen genre and subgenre. At this point in the research, I'm already starting to get a feel for the characters that I want and most of the conventions I will use in my film. 

Characters

In most horror films, specifically slasher and psychological, the antagonists are run-of-the-mill people. The movies aren't typically remembered by their victims but by the killer. Take Jason, or Ghostface, or Chucky. I guarantee that when someone talks about the movies those characters are in, you don't initially think about the victims of those killers. This is because the killers in a slasher film all have something special about them. Whether that's the iconic hockey mask of Jason or the personality of Ma from the movie Ma, each character can be identified by a specific feature about them. 

Herald Of Doom

As for different characters in the story who are NOT the villain, there are different common stereotypes to characterize them. One of them is the "herald of doom". This character is a survivor of the antagonist who lives on to warn the protagonist of the story. This can be seen in the movie Fear Street: Prom Queen when one of the supporting characters sees the killers and goes to tell the main character before the mayhem takes place. They provide useful information on how to avoid getting killed in most films. 

When the main characters of a horror film are a group of people (usually high school students/friends), they normally all fall into one of the following archetypes: The Skeptic, The Final Girl, the Repressing Authoritative Figure, the Innocent Character, and. There are a lot more, but these six are the ones that I tend to see.

Skeptic

One of the most common character types in psychological slasher films is the skeptic. This is the person who keeps insisting there has to be a logical explanation for what’s going on. They brush off anything supernatural or extreme and blame it on coincidence, stress or someone “overreacting.” This character works because they act a lot like the audience would at first; most people don’t want to believe something truly terrifying is happening, because that means admitting they’re not in control. In "Talk to Me", the characters treat possession like a joke or party trick, and that disbelief ends up making everything much worse.

Final Girl

Another really common character in slasher and psychological horror movies is the Final Girl, sometimes just called the survivor. She’s usually the one who makes it to the end of the movie and either escapes or defeats the killer. In older slasher films, this character was often shown as innocent, cautious, and “well-behaved,” but in more modern horror, she’s usually stronger, smarter, and more complicated, sometimes dealing with a lot of trauma by the time the movie ends. Movies like Halloween and Scream are classic examples where a female character survives while most of the others are killed off. This character keeps showing up because audiences like rooting for someone who refuses to give up, even when everything around them is terrifying.

Innocent / Vulnerable Characters

Some horror films include characters who are naive or very innocent, like children or people who seem helpless at first. These characters heighten the emotional stakes because audiences usually worry about them more when danger arrives. They don’t usually fight back, but their vulnerability makes the horror feel sharper, as viewers connect emotionally to characters who can’t protect themselves. 

Repressed Authority Figure

Another common character you’ll see in psychological slashers is the repressed authority figure: parents, partners, or any adult who refuses to face the truth. These characters often act like everything is fine, dismiss warnings, or try to stay in control no matter what. That “everything’s okay” attitude usually makes things a lot worse. In The Lodge, the adults’ choices and lack of emotional support push the kids into a full-on psychological breakdown. In Run, the controlling mother keeps secrets to stay in power over her daughter, which ends up putting her in real danger. These characters are scary because their denial and need for control don’t just frustrate others—they actually cause harm, showing how fear can be made even worse by the people who are supposed to protect you.

Monster as a Mirror

Finally, many psychological slasher films use the monster as a mirror, meaning the killer or threat represents something emotional or psychological instead of just being a random villain. In Candyman, the killer represents generational trauma and violence being passed down over time. In Pearl, the slasher is the result of isolation, frustration, and crushed dreams. These monsters are unsettling because they reflect fears and emotions that feel real and human.

Sources

https://screencraft.org/blog/what-makes-a-killer-horror-movie-character-common-horror-character-archetypes/
https://horrorobsessive.com/2021/10/29/horror-film-theory-101-carol-j-clovers-original-theory-of-the-final-girl/
https://www.ualberta.ca/en/folio/2017/10/monsters-in-modern-horror-culture-reflect-social-anxieties.html
https://the-artifice.com/six-archetypal-horror-characters-and-why-they-are-important/
https://www.quora.com/What-are-stereotypes-of-a-protagonist-in-a-horror-movie

Research- Horror Subgenres

After deciding between the two subgenres of madness and slasher, I decided to choose to do a psychological slasher film. I needed to learn a bit more about different films in my subgenre, so I did more research. 

A typical slasher might just show the killer hunting victims and the graphic deaths. A psychological slasher, however, emphasizes mental tension: paranoia, obsession, guilt, or fear of the unknown. The horror comes from what the mind perceives as dangerous, not necessarily the act of killing itself.

For example, in Malignant, some sequences create dread by making the audience question who is in control, rather than just showing gore

Psychological slashers often let the audience see events through the main character’s distorted point of view. This creates uncertainty: what’s real, and what’s imagined? A jump cut, distorted visuals, or strange audio cues can hint at mental instability.

• Classic example: Psycho uses Norman’s point of view to manipulate the audience into sympathy for the killer before revealing the truth.

• Modern example: Unsane (slightly older but very psychological) shows how perceptions can be deceiving, even without traditional slasher violen

Violent slashers show explicit threats; psychological slashers often hide the threat, using shadows, off-screen noises, or ambiguous figures. Your brain fills in the blanks, which can be far scarier than what’s shown.

• Example: In Barbarian, tension is created through unseen dangers and claustrophobic spaces. The horror comes from anticipation, not just the violent acts themselves.

A psychological slasher usually explores the characters’ minds as much as the external threat. The killer might be a projection of trauma, obsession, or mental instability, and victims may be struggling with fear, guilt, or paranoia.

This makes the story more cerebral — audiences feel terror not just from seeing danger but from understanding the psychological stakes.

Sources

https://nofilmschool.com/horror-subgenres

https://www.finaldraft.com/blog/how-to-write-a-horror-screenplay-opening-that-hooks-readers-

https://lwks.com/blog/5-ways-horror-films-build-suspense-and-tension-and-how-you-can-use-them-for-content-creation

Research- Picking a Subgenre

   So after all of that excessive research on different genres, I concluded that horror would be the way to go. I wanted this project to be stress-free but also a good learning experience. With comedy, I felt like it would be a lot harder to convey to the audience that it's a comedy film without it being a bit corny. And with romance its kind of the same concept, but also, not many people (that I know personally) would want to act in a romance film. 

Picking A Subgenre

For the subgenre of my film, I already ruled out the supernatural/paranormal horror because of how difficult that would be to make it look professional - same with monster/creature horror. I was leaning more toward psychological horror, slasher horror or

Psychological Horror- Madness

I found that a big part of a psychological horror opening is grabbing people right away by making them feel uneasy or weirded out, instead of starting with a long explanation of the story. Good horror openers drop you into a moment that feels off with just a few clues, so the audience starts wondering what is really happening and feels pulled into the mystery right away. It might be a strange noise in the background or a character acting in a way that does not make sense yet, which makes people curious and a little unsettled as the viewer keeps watching. I specifically chose to research about madness psychological horror because I love the feeling of emotions/sanity being toyed with.

I learned make people feel really uneasy in a psychological horror opening, visuals are very important. Dark lighting, weird shadows that hide more than they show, and camera shots that zoom in on details without explaining anything can make viewers feel like something is wrong. Little things like silence and then an unexpected noise or creepy background sounds can make people feel jumpy or on edge because they're waiting for something to happen, but don’t know what.

Sources say spooky music and quiet moments that suddenly change can make people’s hearts beat faster because our brains know something might happen even before we see anything scary. Weird camera angles and dim lighting can make familiar places feel wrong or creepy. I can use this to my advantage because I can use a place that is accessible to me, while also looking like a professional setting for my film.

Slasher Horror

For this subgenre, I was thinking about using the idea of a killer/maniac to heighten the psychological mood of the film. This was shown in the movie Bring Her Back. In that movie it mixes grief, trauma and uncertainty that plays with the victims minds using techniques like gaslighting to slowly drive them into madness. 

In slasher horror films, human-like characters are usually featured- they sometimes have supernatural powers that help them to achieve their ultimate goal. The antagonist typically hunts down a group of people (teens being the most common) and kills them in unique, gory, ways. Movies that display this would be the ENIRE Terrifier Series. The most recent of the series "Terrifier 3" uses survivors from the last two movies who are struggling with trauma and Art the Clown- the relentless killer clown. The way that Art goes about killing his victims are in  the most gut wrenching ways I've EVER seen! It makes the movie both unbearable and interesting. It keeps the audience guessing on who he will kill next. 

Sources:

Horror

https://shotsofhorror.com/2025/04/02/franchise-title-card-evolution/

https://seanbassfilm.wordpress.com/2019/06/07/opening-title-sequences/

Romance

https://nicolesimmonsmedia.blogspot.com/2014/04/codes-and-conventions-of-teen-drama.html

https://beckygroarkesblog.weebly.com/titles-and-credits-conventions.html

Comedy

https://alottolearn.home.blog/2019/02/06/titles-fonts-and-representation/

https://www.printmag.com/article/typography-movie-poster-design/

Research- Basic Conventions

For my film opening, I researched three different genres: Horror, Romance and Comedy. 

Horror

Brief history

Athendorus and the Chained Ghost

This genre is mainly focused on evoking an emotion of fear and disturbance out of the audience. This genre has ancient origins, rooted on folklore, death, and evil presences. European horror fiction came from the Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans. Even common things like haunted houses and zombies can be traced back before the 1000's.

 A man named Pliny the Younger, who lived from the year 61 to 113 wrote the tale of Athenodorus Cananites, who bought a haunted house in Athens that contained a ghost bound in chains. The horror genre usually has a central villain that represents fears of society in that time. As a result of this, horror genre has changed a lot over the years depending on culture and beliefs. 

Romance

The second genre I decided to research was romance. The romance genre isn't just focusing on provoking one feeling from the viewers but an abundance of different ones. This could be empathy, happiness, sadness, hope and even anger. This genre generally focuses on how the characters meet, grow closer, face obstacles, and, often, find a way to be together. 

Of the many scenes in a romance movie, one of the most popular and necessary is the meet-cute. This is the scene in which the two main characters meet. This is usually in a funny, cute, or unexpected way. This will- most of the time- set who the main characters are in the story/ who the story will be set upon.

The three most successful movies under the romance genre are, The Titanic, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. These movies have different subgenres but all do the same thing; evoke an abundance of emotions from the audience as the story progresses. 

The Titanic, a historical romance, takes you on a emotional ride following a 17-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater boards the Titanic in Southampton with her wealthy fiancé, Cal Hockley, and her mother, Ruth. Rose is unhappy in the loveless engagement, but Ruth stresses that the marriage will resolve their financial problems. Rose contemplates suicide by jumping from the ship's stern, but is stopped by Jack Dawson, a poor nomadic artist. Jack and Rose form a friendship, and Jack confesses his feelings for her. Though initially resistant, Rose realizes she has fallen in love with Jack, despite Cal's and Ruth's disapproval.

Comedy

The third genre I researched was comedy. The main reason I chose this as one of my options was that it seemed like it would be fun to write the script for a film like this. Common conventions that I found with this genre were vibrant backgrounds and costume colors. Also, comedy films habitually use very quick jumps in between shots and use close-ups and mid shots to show characters reaction to things and each other.

The setting usually takes place in common places like workplaces, suburban neighborhoods, schools, or social events. Also, characters are usually introduced in ways that portray their personality. This may be shown in the "clumsy/whimsical" character tripping and falling, or the "trickster/schemer" playing a prank on someone. Characters usually play directly into their stereotypes, making it easy for the audience to decipher their traits. 

 Sources:

Horror

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_fiction

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliny_the_Younger

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-horror-definition/

Romance

https://itisalreadyhere.wordpress.com/2016/02/27/genre-conventions-romance/

https://www.movietimetoday.com/archives/2375

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic_(1997_film)

Comedy

https://rhaydar.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/codes-and-conventions-of-comedy-films/

https://prezi.com/78sxrmdozwh-/conventions-of-the-comedy-drama-genre/