The document summarizes generic conventions of mise en scene in psychological horror film trailers. It discusses how the trailers typically feature settings in large, isolated houses that make it difficult for victims to escape. Props are used to raise tension and foreshadow violent events, while costumes and lighting aim to present villains as normal at first but increasingly disturbing. Facial expressions start calm for villains but become angry or smiling as their evil nature is revealed, while victims shift from happy to anxious and scared.

1. Generic conventions of Mise en
scene in psychological horror film
trailers

2. Setting
The gift
The boy
Chained
In all three films that I watched, the trailer was set in a
house. This makes each one of them particularly scary as the
houses seem to be very large. This makes it difficult for the
victims to escape. Two of the houses are very old and
abandoned with few people living there. These houses tend
to be large, often the residents have just moved in to the
house and the victims tend to be unfamiliar with them so
the victims feel trapped. This makes it seem as though the
house is very easy to hide someone or something in. ‘The
boy’ is also set in the woods which adds to the fear for the
viewers because the woods are thought to be very isolated
and difficult to locate around. By setting these films in a
home it adds to the effect because the victims have been
brought or are in a home of someone else's so they are out
of control and will struggle to escape.

3. Props
The gift
The boy
Chained
Each film had different
props but all props
were used to display a
way of psychologically
affecting someone. The
gift had props that
were very normal
because they were gifts
which would be
thought to be a gesture
of kindness but these
props were used to
psychologically trick
the victims into
thinking that he was a
good guy.
Chained used violent props like knives and
chains to display torture to make the audience
feel uncomfortable as we stereotypically see
these props as very dangerous. These weapons
tend to cause slow and painful deaths. The boy
didn’t have any props as such but a rocking
chair was used where the boy would sit and
rock on which makes the boy seem very old for
such a young person so it makes the audience
think he has been living a long time. This creates
a sense of mystery. Props were mainly used as a
way of foreshadowing the events that could
occur to the audience by raising tension. In ‘the
boy’ a candle was used as a prop to create a
small source of light and create shadows.

4. Costume/hair and makeup
The gift
The boy
Chained
Most of the costumes worn by the victims and the villains were very normal
every day wear which made the film particularly scary as the victims would
not be able to tell that they are evil in some way because the villain does
not look particularly scary. It adds to the effect because the audience feel
that even a normal looking person could do this to them. The costumes of
the victims were very basic and casual to show that these are just normal
people getting hurt and the audience can therefore relate to this. There was
no intense makeup used to make any of the characters look different to
anyone else either. As the film goes on the makeup on each person and the
costume does tend to change to become more scary and slightly mysterious
to show how the villain turns evil. The characters appearances don’t change
but their behaviour does so the victims don’t realise how bad these people
can be from their outward appearance. From outside, these villains seem
very normal every day people. People don’t realise what they are capable
of. The victim’s makeup and hair does change from a normal daily look to a
very distressed look to show how the impact of the villain has affected
them. This is shown by dirty clothing which may be torn and they look
sweaty and dirty.

5. Lighting
The gift
The boy
Chained
The lighting in each of the horror films was very low key lighting
which creates shadows on their faces. This low key lighting set a
dark feel for the audience and it makes the characters seem like
they have an evil side to them when low key lighting is on their
face. It creates tension between the characters and helps the
audience see who is evil and the relationship between each
character. Often, house lamps were used as artificial lighting as they
are very dim and set a mysterious setting. High key lighting was
rarely ever used because this lighting usually sets a happy and
uplifting setting. When there was ever a gore scene with blood,
very dark lighting was used with just white light to make the body
stand out amongst the dark scene. The start of each trailer does
tend to have natural lighting out of the horror setting to give a
daylight appearance. Then as the violent events unfold the darker
lighting is used to show this. The lighting is made to look quite
dismal in chained with artificial yellow lighting.

6. Facial expressions/body language
The gift
The boy
Chained
The facial expressions of the villains throughout the trailers
displayed very evil personalities. This was shown by the way that the
villains were acting very normal at the start of the film, either being
a taxi driver, a school mate or a small child and their facial
expressions and body language seemed very calm. Therefore, the
victims did not think twice about these villains because they seemed
so normal until later on. The villains started to smile or look angry
through frowning and intense stares at the victims which made
them look very evil as they liked the way that they hated the villains.
The villain starts to invade the victim’s personal space. The victims
seemed very happy at the start of the trailers but as the bad events
start to occur their facial expressions and body language became a
lot more anxious looking and scared.