REASONS WHY “SINISTER”WAS A TYPICAL

PHYSIOLOGICAL HORROR FILM

INTRODUCTION OF CHARACTERS THROUGH

SHOTS AND ANGLES

Ellison is an important character to the film and he is introduced into the film by a medium shot. We instantly recognise that he is important to the film because he is the first character introduced and because of the use of the medium shot.

‘Sinister’ introduced characters through different types of shot but there is always a medium shot.The medium shot is a good shot because the camera will fixate on the stance and facial features of an important character.

Compared to Ellison, the police officer is much larger. This height and stature difference represents the authority the office has over Ellison. We now know who the more dominant character is as the officer would be looking down on Ellison. Ashley is introduced to the film in

an important way. She is shown through the use of a high angle shot. This shows that she is powerless and can be looked down upon. She is shown to be painting on the wall, this is very important later on in the film but for now the director is trying to show that her paintings are of a massive significance by making it the first thing the audience see her doing.

Mise-en-scene is very important for a films because it sets the tone for the film. This is from set design to character clothing. Mise-en-scene is often used for the narrative. For example, in ‘Sinister’ the start of the film shows a house with a truck parked outside. The truck had cardboard boxes in and around it. This suggests that the owners of the house are either moving in or moving out. No dialogue was used to tell this but the clever use of mise-en-scene was sufficient for conveying the message. This is also closely related to establishing shots.

MISE-EN-SCENE

ESTABLISHING SHOTSEstablishing shots are very important to a film as they are used to show where the film is geographically set. This is important as the viewer can then relate to the location in which the film is set. This make the viewer feel like they can relate with the film.

One of the very first scenes of the film, the house is shown through a long shot. The entire front yard is visible, this tells the viewer that the film is more than likely to be set within or around that house. And through the long shot of the house we can tell that the house is situated in a suburban area.

SINISTER USED A SUPERNATURAL ENTITY AS THE

ANTAGONIST To increase the scare factor of the horror film, a supernatural entity is used. This sets the protagonist apart from the antagonist very early and quickly. This supernatural entity is “Bughuul” or “Mr Boogie” He steals children and takes them to the netherworld.

There is hardly any ambiguity due to the fact that in most horror films the supernatural are presumed to be evil. This film conforms to this template, which makes it film a good physiological horror film as it plays with the audience’s pre-existing natural fear of the supernatural - a very common phobia.

SINISTER USED CHILDREN AS THE ANTAGONISTS

In horror films, children are often portrayed as the antagonists because we do not expect it because we attribute features such as, weak, vulnerable, and innocent to children. They are still objectified as weak as they have to tie up their victims before they can begin to kill them. This is consistent throughout all the murders, for example when the child slit the throat of their victims, the victims were all tied up. This is to eliminate the possibility of a struggle as the child will most likely lose in that event.

Children are not thought of as powerful antagonists but in horror films, they are. This unexpected turn of events end up being physiologically terrifying. This causes the audience to also label children as dangerous and threatening in their minds.

SINISTER USED LOW KEY LIGHTING

Another very common feature in horror films is low key lighting. This is consistent with ‘Sinister’. Low key lighting is very effective, if a room is poorly lit, it would be very hard to identify objects/people within that room. This is exactly the case when Ellison enters the attic and discovers the box filled with films. At first we and him do not know what this object is, we don’t know the significance of this object due to the low lighting. He isn’t sure what this object is until he is closer to the box. This adds tension to the film as we are now expecting a moment of discovery.

SOUND USED IN SINISTER

Sinister used different music to create different atmospheres within the film. The non- diegetic music in the film was used to create tension and generally accompany the film. Music in a film can tell the audience more that is on the screen. It can be used to install an idea within the audience. For example, in Sinster, Ellison was ascending to the attic, investigating the sounds he heard coming from up there. As he does this the music becomes very tense. The tempo begins to slow down, this tells the audience that they can now relax as nothing important will happen. A major event in the film then takes place. The music as inputted to allow for genuine surprise from the audience.

SINISTER USED VIOLENCE IN DIFFERENT WAYS

The film also uses sounds to its advantage. Most of these sounds is juts ambient sound. An example of this is when Ellison is outside at night in search of “Bughuul” The sounds in this scene is diegetic sound as Ellison can hear it and so can we, the audience. This is also the case when Ellison is watching the films; we can hear the projector in motion. This is helps the audience connect with Ellison as we can hear what he can hear and we can see just about what he can too. Tense non-diegetic sound is also used. This is simply to just raise the tension in a given scene. The type of tense music is directionally proportional to the events taking place. For example the music played when Ellison is watching the lawn mower scene is an eerie one. The type expected in a horror film. This sound is designed to frighten the audience.