TEXTUAL ANALYSIS- LIGHTS OUT

‘Lights out’ is a short horror film that consists of the stereotypical conventions of horror films. An innocent woman is walking around her house when she notices a silhouette of a woman in the corner of her eye once she turns the light out. She then flickers the light on and off and as she does so the women gets closer and closer.

Whilst she tries to ignore the fact that there is a woman in her house she convinces herself that the silhouette is not real and attempts to go to sleep. She pulls the covers towards her head as a form of security however she is not safe. She then tries to turn the light on, however the light does not turn on. As she becomes more scared she pulls the covers over her head so she cannot see the rest of her room. Once she thinks it is safe, she pulls away the cover from her head and looks around the room. As she thinks it is clear from the woman she relaxes until she sees the woman is beside her bedside light.

Characters:

The audience know from the conventional horror stereotypes that the short film is going to be a horror. Firstly, the protagonist is a woman, which automatically makes her more vulnerable to the unknown. Also, the woman is alone in her flat, which makes her more defenceless.

Locations:

There is only one location throughout the film, which is he woman’s flat. The use of a domestic location means that the audience can associate with the woman on a wider scale. This makes the film scarier on a personal level as the audience feel like they are there. The location also makes the woman more vulnerable because it is isolated and she is alone in her flat. It is also a convention of a horror film because there are not many places she can hide.

Sounds:

The sound is important within the horror genre to make a tense atmosphere. The non-diegetic sounds throughout the short film builds adrenaline for the audience because they know if something is about to jump out at them or not. Horror films also use the sound of silence to build up tension. The sounds used are striking and loud when the audience meet this silhouette.  

Camera Angles:

The long shot at the beginning of the extract makes the woman appear isolated and alone. This makes her look very vulnerable which is convention of horror films. This long shot establishes the character and the location.

The over-the-shoulder shot makes the audience feel as though they are experiencing the short film first-hand as they can see everything the character can see. When the woman is under the covers in her bed, the camera is hand-geld. This makes the audience feel as though they are actually there because the camera is slightly shaking, making the whole experience realistic.

Editing:

When the woman sees the silhouette the duration of the shots were long so it builds up the suspense. As he pace quickens the duration of the shots get shorter to frighten the audience to build the momentum about what is about to happen. Another technique is low lighting. There are many scenes within the film that are dimly lit so that the audience cannot see everything that is going on.