1. Sinister
Aspects which build suspense
By Shannon House, Elidona Niklekaj, Xhuliana Deda and Hannah Philpott

2. Supernatural Aspects
Mise en scene consists of décor, props, costumes, space, acting and lighting.
Décor: Sets and props in a setting. This is shown through blood on the walls which
creates the illusion that a vigorous murder has taken place.
Props: any object used in the film.
Costumes: This is what the person is wearing and their makeup. Firstly, the antagonist
has got facial makeup which makes him look more mysterious and scary; because you
cannot see his eyes (red contacts). The monster is also wearing a wig, covering the
face, which adds more the the mystery of the character. The antagonist is wearing a lot
of black and this character is associated with death. The little girl is wearing white
showing innocence and purity. However, the girl has blood on her hands and costume
showing that she is dangerous and evil. Whilst the antagonist is looking directly at the
camera, where as the little girl looks vulnerable and ashamed, because her head is
slanted downwards.
Space: Distance from the camera/ position of the actors.
There is no distance between the characters showing
that they have a close connection. This relates the the
antagonist possessing the youngest child.
Acting: Facial expressions, gesticulations (hand gestures).
Lighting: High key vs. low key. The antagonist has a
shadow on his face furthering the fact that the character
is unknown.

3. Point of view shot
A point of view shot is present action or setting from the approximate view point of the
particular character. They were created and made famous by a man named Alfred
Hitchcock and they are very commonly used In thrillers.
The picture below shows an example of a point of view shot from the thriller
movie, sinister. The picture shows the symbolic icon used to represent the antagonist
who will soon appear.
A point of view shot is effective because it allows the audience to view what the
character is feeling. This further makes the audience believe that they are part of the
thriller and are experiencing the same feelings as the actor.
A point of view shot is normally used in thrillers because it
builds suspense for the audience and makes them conscious
of what is about to happen.
Point of view shots can be used to watch other people
(sexual pleasure) whilst they are not aware (voyeurism) and
looking into others personal lives (scopophilia).

4. Filters/ blurred images/low key lighting
Filters: These are layers of colour that are put over the top of a movie to create different
effects. Filters are used in horrors because they add suspense to a persons
characteristics. A sepia/ black and white look is used in this clip to show that the
protagonist is watching clips. It creates a mysterious tense look on his face.
Blurred images: Blurred images are used to create suspicion for the viewers. Everything
in current movies is very high definition and because the image is blurred it’s an
unfamiliar look to the audience. This creates tension because it is unexpected and
creates the effect of something about to happen. Blurred images are shown in this
picture because the old tapes create show very old fashioned times and old imagery.
This also makes the picture more tense because the protagonist is looking for something
that makes the picture creepy and wrong.
Low key lighting: This is when the object has
significant amounts of shadows on their face and
the image is not clearly lit. This is done through 1
of the 3 light source being taken away from the
object. Low key lighting is shown in this image
because the protagonist has shadows on his face
because of the light shining on him from the tape.
This creates a horrifying scenery for the audience.

5. Special effects
Special effects is when the illusion of an object is edited because it is not possible as a
natural effect. Special effects are commonly used in thrillers because it allows the
audience to see the antagonist in a super natural form.
An example of special effects is slow and fast motion. Fast motion is used to speed up
time that is less important. Slow motion slows down time to capture the more significant
moments in the movie. Another example of special effects is creating large explosions.
Explosions that are seen in the movie are a lot more emphasized than real life
explosions. The producers add special effects to make the explosion seem larger than life
and more significant to the story line.
As seen in the photo in the bottom right hand corner
Sinister uses special effects throughout the thriller
movie to add to the illusion. The special effects are
used on the antagonist to make him look more ghost
like and supernatural. The projection of him makes it
look like he is floating above the ground. The
projection also presents light elements of the figure to
make him seem more suspicious.