This is just a few reasons why the film 'Sinister' is a good or at least a standard horror film

2. ‘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.
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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. One of the very first scenes of the
Establishing shots are very important to a
film, the house is shown through a
film as they are used to show where the film
long shot. The entire front yard is
is geographically set. This is important as the
visible, this tells the viewer that the
viewer can then relate to the location in
film is more than likely to be set
which the film is set. This make the viewer
within or around that house. And
feel like they can relate with the film.
through the long shot of the house
we can tell that the house is
situated in a suburban area.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.