Analysis of Still

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

The shot we took was a medium close up of a white male behind bars staring fearfully to the upper left of the frame at an unseen ‘being’. In the background there are some steps leading up to a closed wooden door. The characters hands are placed so that they are on either side of the still and we can just see his fingers gripping the bars. This denotes that the character is trapped and vulnerable, highlighting the genre; horror/thriller. The fear portrayed in the character’s eyes and the bars trapping him help enforce the genre along with the use of shadowing on the characters face. This implies that the character is good but has a secret or dark past. the positioning of the character in the lower half of the frame denotes that the character is a victim and does not have much power within the situation. The tilting of the head away from the right side of the frame shows a waryness towards the unseen area that the character is looking at which creates suspense and helps illustrate the genre.The colouring helps express the genre as it is night vision. This colour alteration technique can be associated to other horror/thriller films, such as The Blair Witch Project and Sin City.

2) What did you actually do to achieve the effect?

The still is a partially low angle shot which enables the door in the background to be seen. This helps add a mysterious mood to the still as we don't know what is behind it. It is a focal point as well, showing that it has some significance to the shot. The handheld lighting was coming from where the character is looking, so it illuminates the whites of his eyes and also causes a shadow to fall over half of his face. This helps impose the genre upon the viewer, and adds an atmosphere to the shot.

3) Identify what is successful about your shot

The lighting is successful as it helps create a thriller/ horror mood, and the shadows this creates also adds to the mystery of the character. The character’s facial expression creates suspense as we know that they are looking at something that will impact on the movie in a negative way. The shot angle being slightly off helps add to the effect because it implies that the whole scene is on edge. The amount of white in the eye is also successful as it connotes fear and tension.

4) What would you do differently in hindsight?

In hindsight, We would probably have experimented with different colouring, e.g. black and white or colour. This would have probably changed the mood, the black and white tones would have made the shot more horror based; the night vision used gives the still more depth and connotes a thriler genre as it adds mystery to the still and will induce the question of why it is in night vision, and whether we are seeing the character through the "evil" character's eyes.