2. NARRATIVE
It is around the time of Halloween. The film opens with a news reader speaking about the missing
persons cases. The film is cut and the next scene is in the basement of the house where you can see a
man carrying an unconscious girl. He dumps her body on a bloody table. The man goes to choose a
weapon which he will use to kill her. The girl becomes conscious and looks around for a weapon to
protect herself with. She pretends to be unconscious. The man finds the weapon, turns her over on
the table and she stabs him. She runs off and he forgets his pain and chases after her. Covered in
blood, she is hiding and he is looking for her. When he finds her, he grabs her by the hair, pulling her
up. He whacks her head across the pole and she falls to the floor unconscious once more. He drags
her and sits her upright and he picks up the knife. The audiences thinks that she is going to be saved
by the bell. Unfortunately this is not the case. He slices her neck open, leaving her to die. He cleans
himself up and covers the blood stains on his vest with a clean shirt. Having locked the basement
door, the bell rings again and he answers the door. Two teenagers stand there saying, “trick or treat”.
He invites them in and he smiles a sinister smile.
3. PROPS AND COSTUME
MAKE-UP
The woman has a microphone, she looks professional wearing simple make up with nice groomed hair
which immediately shows that she is a reporter. The man is wearing a white vest top with his jeans.
He might be wearing those clothes because he knows he will get dirty. He has got shaved hair. The girl
is wearing a white top with jeans but cannot see her face properly because her hair is always covering
her face. There is not much make up except a girl is covered with someone’s blood. At the end, there
are two guys wearing a Halloween costume and they are wearing a mask.
The props they have used are:
• Table
• Microphone
• Sweet Bags
• Small knife
• Big sharp knife
4. SETTINGS
At first, it is set outside while the woman is reporting which is not unusual. When the horror begins,
the setting switches to the basement of the house which creates a ‘creepy’ effect and suspense. This
is stereotypical of horror films. The final scene is set in the apparently normal ground floor of the
house, hiding the horror that has taken place beneath.
5. SOUNDS
In the title frame, you can hear the sound of a saw suggesting that tools may be involved. When the
reporter is speaking, she is interrupted by interference which, again sounds like a saw. Other sounds
are of the door banging and squeaking footsteps. When there is a shot of blood you hear a particular
sound (electronic) you can hear the man rusting in is tool bag deciding which weapon to use. As he
approaches the girl on the table, the sound becomes louder and faster. You can hear loud breathing
as the girl is hiding. The electronic sound gets louder and louder, then silence sounds like drums
beating which symbolises heart racing. Sound of a bell, where we hope may be ‘saved by the bell’ but
it wasn’t to be. You hear a ‘swish’ sound as he slices her neck with the knife. There are more sounds
of the bell at the door and sound of him locking the door to the basement.
6. LIGHTING
The lighting changes continuously throughout this short film and below are some examples of when
this happens…
• Introductive background in dark then the screen becomes fuzzy.
• Shifts to a basement which is dark.
• Some shafts of light coming through chairs, furniture.
• Becomes lighter to focus on the blood, hair, etc.
• Screen darkens when the man is looking for something possibly to use as torture.
• Lighting is on the man’s face as he is deciding what to do.
7. CAMERA WORK
This short film uses a variety of different camera work which I have discussed below…
The camera zooms in to the door to focus on the lock and then zooms out so the viewer can see
what’s happening. It also zooms in and out then the back of the man’s body joins with the front of the
girl’s body almost looking like one body. Both are looking for a weapon.
The camera work uses a shallow depth of field numerous times throughout the film. This creates a
sense of mystery because you can see something is happening in the background but it is unclear
what it is which engages the viewer.
Close ups are used throughout the majority of the film because they want to show their body
language and facial expressions and make it feel as though they are being followed by the camera. On
the close ups you don’t always see the faces of the characters but on occasions you do see their
reactions.
Some other shots used are medium shots to make it clear what is happening and put everything into
context so you understand the narrative.
8. EDITING
The editing in this short film uses split screen to show what the characters are doing, it shows them
both at the same time but doing the same thing for different reasons.
Another editing technique is used at the beginning where they cut out the words onto the wood, this
is short cuts but quite quickly together to create a sense of speed.
When the interviewer is speaking the film uses an editing technique to make it look like the TV
satellite is being lost and it then cuts to a completely different scene which then starts the horror film
story.
Other editing techniques they used are mainly cuts from scene to scene showing shots from different
perspectives. The cuts are quite quick which increases time and the tension.
