The document discusses several techniques of mise-en-scène used in horror movies to create atmosphere and fear. It describes how settings like forests used in films like Friday the 13th isolate and endanger characters. Props symbolize religious elements in possession films and identify villains by their weapons. Dark lighting and colors like black and red are employed to conceal threats and represent good and evil. Costumes and makeup are also important for defining characters and showing their deterioration. Facial expressions and body language display characters' fear through tension and shock. Practical effects are often used in place of visual effects to portray graphic violence realistically.

1. Mise-En Scene

2. Setting
A setting such as a cabin or a forest in a horror movie is used as it’s a great location for
gaining a tense fearsome atmosphere. These locations are usually enclosed or cut off from
civilisation and help, as the idea of being alone whilst somebody or something is coming
after you is much more scary then there being access to help.
Friday the 13th is famous for using the forests as a location and is one of the reasons it’s
became a staple of the horror genre. In the Friday the 13th franchise, the forest is used as a
way to make the characters (and through that extent, the audiences) feel lost and hopeless
of escape.
It’s also very common to use these locations at night as the limited vision due to the
darkness as well as the trees covering up a lot of area makes the location ripe for a film that
wants to have a lot of jump-scares.

3. Props are another key point of the horror
genre as it can range from a weapon, to a
spiritual artifact to even a just basic scary
artifact. An example of what props can usually
be found in a possession movie for example
are crosses and bibles. These props are used
as signs of religion, faith (or the loss of faith)
and possessions. Movies like the Exorcist and
the Exorcism of Emily Rose are rich with these
props. A typical location for a cross would
either be above the bedside of somebody who
is going to become possessed, or sometimes it
can even be found on top of a bible. A cross is
always used during an exorcist scene, such in
case of the Exorcist.
Another big prop used is the weapon the
villain carries such as a machete (Friday the
13th), a chainsaw (Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
or even the kitchen knife (Halloween). These
sorts of props are used not only as a means of
the way characters die in horror movies, but
also a means of association for whichever
character holds that certain weapon. If you
were to ask a horror fan which horror
character uses the machete, the common
answer would be Jason Voorhees. These props
and the usage of these props can be found in
the slasher sub-genre.
Props

4. Lighting and Colours
The lighting in horror movies are usually dark and atmospheric. This is
used to create an effective setting and surrounding for a common jump-scare.
An example of this is when a character is walking down a hallway
when they're in the house by themselves and it's dark. The lighting
making it dark works as it conceals whatever/whoever could be hiding in
the darkness. The dark is also a common fear among many people so the
usage of it is a play off of the common fears of people. If that same scene
was shot in the bright day, it would lose its entire affect and atmospheric
volume.
The usage of colour in horror ranges from three colours depending on the
sub-genre at play. In a slasher film, the colour red is predominant as in a
slasher movie, a lot of blood is used. In a very typical horror movie, the
usage of black and white is mostly used. The symbolism of these colours
transcends the horror genre itself and is used in film as a whole to portray
the contrast between good and evil, hero and villain and pure and lost.
The white in horror typically portrays somewhat of a virgin character
(typically) or the heroic nature of a character. The darkness and usage of
black portrays the evil nature and the representation of loss of soul.

5. Costume, hair and make-up
The apparel of characters is very important in the genre as that alone
can determine the style of a character and whether or not the
character is good or bad.
Certain costumes seen in movies come as tropes. For example, you
can expect to see a little girl wearing a white dress (covered in mud
or perhaps even blood), with black tattered hair and with a face that
hasn't been washed. This is a trope that combines all of the apparel
into one character. Again, within the slasher sub-genre, costumes are
a big part of identifying the antagonist. Freddy Kruger is famous for
wearing the green and red sweater and for having his make-up
design consist of what looks like burnt skin. Jason Voorhees wears
the hockey mask, but occasionally we've seen what is underneath
that with the make-up department creating a disfigured face.
In other cases however, make-up can be used to make a character
look tired and scared. The swear and sometimes the scars of a victim
can be used on a main protagonist to help us identify with their
struggle and journey throughout the movie and is used to also show
the progression of the characters survival throughout a movie.

6. Facial expressions and body language
The use of facial expressions and body language are important to portray the fear that characters feel on-screen. This is important as the only
way for us as an audience to feel fear through a character, is for that character to feel a certain degree of fear.
The movement of a character can reflect fear, desperation, shock and tension. For example, in The Shining, the facial expressions of the female
character when Jack tries to break down the door is simply horrific in its own right and portrays the pure horror that the scene would realistically
entail.
Zombies in films like Dawn of the Dead or Night of the Living Dead are very slow in the way they move and their body language is typically
slightly slouched over to a side as they approach a victim. This particular trend was recently turned on its head though with movies like 28 Days
Later and even the re-make of Dawn of the Dead with the introduction of running zombies which appear more threatening as the speed and
velocity are now increased.
This had a counter-effect on the Friday the 13th franchise however. Whereas Jason Voorhees was known for his stoic walking in previous movies,
the reboot incorporated the character running. The reason this wasn't as effective is because the brooding and slow walk of that particular
character became a staple of what that character was and his incredible power made up for his slow speed. This is why body movement and
facial expressions are very important in horror movies, as it can have a positive or negative effect depending on the character, scenario and
movie.

7. Visual Effects
Unlike most other genres, horror is the one that hasn't really
been effected by visual effects in terms of special effects added
in during the post-production stage. A lot of the horror genre still
utilizes practical effects. One of the biggest pioneers in recent
memory when it concerns the usage of practical effects is Sam
Raimi who used the style in his Evil Dead movies.
The use of visual effects in movies is needed to create something
that otherwise can't be accomplished on-screen in the realms of
reality without a bit of "smoke and mirrors". In a slasher movie,
to accomplish the realistic looking effect of somebody having a
body part dismembered or having somebody burnt, the use of
visual effects need to be used to portray a realistic looking
depiction of that action.