The document analyzes a still image from a film. A close-up camera angle shows a man sticking his head through wooden door slats, emphasizing sweat on his forehead and dirty appearance. Mysterious, low-key lighting creates anxiety about what he is looking at. Contextual clues like the slashes in the door, dirty character, and dim lighting suggest the genre is horror. Analyzing this single still image allows inferences about character, setting, lighting, and genre.

1. Camera – The camera angle is a
close up. The significance of
this is that we can [Type interpret
text]
more about the character, for
example What’s he doing
there? How did he get there?
The camera angle makes the
audience pick up on the sweat
pouring on his -
forehead, this is
emphasises by his greasy hair
sticking to his forehead. The
camera angle also makes us
feel emotion towards the
character who we have never
seen before and we might be
able to relate to him in a
certain aspect. The camera
angle also stresses the fact in
which his head is too big for
what looks like a wooden door,
as he cannot get all of his head
through it.
Setting – The setting is what we make out to be a
slash in a wooden bathroom door, this is unclear to
the audience but makes the most reasonable
explanation due to the connotations in which we
have linked with the slashes commonly known within
horror films. By there being nothing else in the shot
we can interpret that the character is perhaps lonely.
The character fits the typical horror
stereotype very well as he looks
crazy, dirty and smelly. The fact in
which he is presented to the
audience in this particular way could
suggest that he has hygiene issues as
he needs a good shave and to brush
his discoloured teeth. The characters
eyes also look very dark and dingy,
this could suggest that he is staring at
something and is almost preying on
them/it. The way in which his eyes
are positioned suggests that he has
an evil plan, this is supported by the
way in which his teeth and almost
grinding each other.
Lighting – By the lighting being
dull/mysterious it conforms to typical
horror films as it suggests mystery
and death, the low key lighting
supports this as many different
connotations can be interpreted from
the lighting, for example Where is
he? The lighting also gives the
audience the feeling of anxiety as
they don’t know/can’t see what he’s
looking at in the dingy little space in
which he head is poking out of.
Genre – From looking at this still-image we can tell
that the genre of the film is a horror due to the low
key lighting, dirty looking character and slash in the
door. All three of these features are typical things in
which we would expect to find in a horror film as
they can all offer lots and varied connotations.
How does looking at a still-image
help our analysis? – By
looking at this still-image it helps
our analysis as we are slowly
piecing together what type of
genre we think the film is and
why it has been crafted for that
affect.