Genre Research: The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

I just watched The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It as a part of my genre research. After researching the codes and conventions for the horror genre, I couldn't help but spot a lot of them in the movie.

Once camera shot I saw a lot was a point-of-view shot. For example, when Arne Johnson was looking around in his house for a ghost, the camera viewed the house from his perspective. This made the audience feel the fear and anxiety Arne felt when searching his home. Another common camera movement was a tracking shot. The movie used it a lot for jump scares and revealing demons in the shadows. For instance, Arne finishes searching his and doesn't fin anything, thinking that everything is normal. The camera moves in the same direction as he and reveals a demon in front of him. This camera technique inserts the audience deeper into Arne's point-of-view because we are experiencing the same scares, at the same time, as Arne.

Furthermore, this movie contained many common horror mis-en-scene components. They used lots of dark and gloomy lighting. The shadows created by the dark lighting creates suspension and fear because the audience doesn't know what will pop out at them. They also used "dead" looking makeup for the ghouls that pop out at Arne. Additionally, they used common horror movie props like blood, knives, and occult items.

Another common occurrence I found was the use of sound. When Lorraine Warren was having a vision in the woods, the music would get louder as an event builds up. Then, when there is a moment of suspense, the music goes silent. Finally, when the jump scare happens, the music gets extremely loud to emphasize the fear.

The two editing features I saw in the movie was a zoom-in and a cut. One example of a zoom was featuring the scared expression of Lorraine Warren when she saw discovered something frightening. The movie made a lot of cuts in between scenes, whether for a jump scare or to leave the audience in suspense.

The features I liked most in this movie was the use of dark lighting and the zoom-ins of the actors scared expressions. I really want to incorporate these methods in my film. Even though I like this feature, I probably wouldn't use scary make-up in our film because I feel like none of us are talented enough to make it look untacky.