1. Reflective analysis by Hayley Morris
For my AS film coursework, in my group consisting of Charlie Benn and Annie Hopkins, we created a
short film "Decapitated" of the thriller genre. The film is about a serial killer with a new victim held captive,
with whom he plans to kill. It is then revealed he isn’t alone, and a friend was filming it with him. The
screen darkens and the implied death of the victim is heard over the credits. Our intention for our project
was to scare the audience and make them feel uncomfortable, with our target audience being those over
16. We followed certain horror movie conventions, such as the victim being female, and the killer being a
male; however in response to the male killer, we developed this by having dual male killers. The other
killer videos the situation which we feel isn’t a stereotype of the horror genre, and gives it a voyeuristic
thriller element. My role within the group was to take charge of cinematography and mise en scene, and I
will be evaluating these.
In regards to cinematography, my role was to organize, plan and do the camerawork, as well as design
lighting. I used a hand held camera for some shots, so as to use it as a gateway for the audience to
empathize with the killers, which I believe worked according to our feedback. I also used a tripod for
smoother shots, to represent the audiences outsider view, and then for another of the victim's. This was
effective in that it provided an eerie insight to the killers mind, making the audience feel uncomfortable
especially when it is later revealed, breaking further horror conventions, with multiple vehicles of empathy
for all characters. However despite this, I feel the hand held camera shots could have been filmed in a
more realistic way i.e. more shakily, so that it was more apparent it was being held by another person.
Despite this I feel the shots worked to our advantage as its subtle shaking made the twist of another
person much more of a shock.
My work within the mise en scene can also be well evaluated first by use of the scene's major prop; the
pin board. Consisting of a glove, a girl’s bracelet and various headlines and images of girls, this was
created from scratch. It was effective in providing a narrative, by use of specific headlines and pictures to
imply what has happened such as "decapitated" or "new victim". It also had a positive impact by acting as
our films name place holder, with a pan shot of the board, to a zoom into the "Decapitated" headline,
making it apparent that it is our films title. I think the lack of animation used for it adds to voyeuristic feel of
the film, in that it is rawly shot, in the same hand held way the later incorporated shots are. The use of
varied colour schemes and the manipulation of lighting, mainly in darkened monotones was noted in
helping feel the audience understand the atmosphere of the film, and allows them to envelope themselves
within it. This was done by use of a darkened room, with only one light source used, which was signalled
downwards so that it could create a shadowy effect. I feel this worked well, and was consistent throughout
the film. The most important aspect we discussed in our group was of location. We did consider using a
dilapidated house, but felt this would be unsafe for us. We eventually found a small confined room, that
was a painted black with very little natural light able to film in, conveying the bleakness of the situation
and possibly as an insight to the killers psyche, in that it is dark and evil (as dark colours connotate bad).
This claustrophobic environment was effective in both conveying the helplessness of the situation for the
victim, so the audience can empathize with her. It was also good for playing upon the audiences own
emotions, such as if the viewer is afraid of the dark, they can deeper sympathize with the victim, and it will
also make them more uncomfortable which is what we want our film to do subtly.
Overall I feel our film was successful in completing its objective to be a part of the horror genre, and so
follow horror genre effects, in causing anxiety and fear in the audience. I feel my effort with the project
was significant, and done to the best of my abilities.