take a look at this shot from the
shining a pretty innocent scene but when
we zoom out the space suddenly becomes
menacing that's partly because
compositions like this stress us out all
that empty or negative space tells us
there's something lurking and that this
character is in danger
negative space is just one of many tools
horror filmmakers use to play on your
senses without you even noticing let's
take a look at some of the hidden ways
horror movies manipulate you into being
scared
you might have heard about non-linear
sounds
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we are conditioned to respond to those
screeching strings with fear
but the opposite of that can be even
more unsettling
hear that low rumble
you might have felt it more than you
heard it that's because this scene uses
super low frequency sounds that are
right at the limit of what humans can
hear the human ear is best at
registering sounds above the frequency
of 20 hertz
anything below that is called infrasound
horror movies like paranormal activity
use sounds right around that 20 hertz
threshold called sub bass sounds
it's these deep rumblings that ratchet
up the tension and key moments
according to some studies we also often
feel them experiencing the sound waves
in our bodies as vibration
people subjected to infrasound and
sub-bass sounds reported feelings of
discomfort even chills or worse
like when director gaspar noe used
non-stop sub-base sounds through the
first 30 minutes of his movie
irreversible
the bbc reported that 20 people at the
cayenne film festival fainted during the
film and needed medical attention these
sounds operate at the outer edges of
your hearing range to make you
uncomfortable without you even knowing
why and this idea can apply to your
visual senses too
did you catch that this white face is
one of several hidden shots of the demon
in the exorcist they are often referred
to as subliminal images which isn't
really accurate since we are able to
consciously perceive them but each image
only lasts about an eighth of a second
on screen less than a blink of an eye
research shows that people presented
with threatening images even briefly
become faster at identifying additional
threats that state of hyper vigilance is
right where horror movies want you so as
each flash comes on screen you get
better at catching them but you might
also question whether you saw anything
at all and that's the point
at the end of psycho director alfred
hitchcock placed this image of mrs bates
skull over norman bates face but didn't
include this detail in all prints of the
movie so in theaters you might have seen
the skull in one screening and not in
the next
the american remake of the ring played a
similar trick by inserting shots from
the cursed videotape as flash frames in
different scenes of the movie but
varying the frames in different versions
of the film
these fleeting images and more generally
the popular horror movie style of quick
cutting between shots work to disorient
you and make you question your own
perception
see all this that's called negative
space anything in the frame that's not
the subject we're focusing on
movies traditionally go for a harmonious
balance of positive and negative space
the subject is placed at the rule of
thirds lines
and there's more space in the direction
the subject's facing allowing what's
called lead room
horror movies deliberately violate those
rules to make audiences squirm sometimes
they'll put the subject almost on the
edge of that frame line so the blank
space overwhelms the frame or they'll
leave more empty space behind the
subject which makes us wonder if
something's gonna sneak up on them
camera movements in horror movies often
emphasize the negative space even more
see the slow pans in these scenes
or in these scenes how the camera
lingers on empty spots in horror movies
you'll sometimes see the camera actually
leave the subject and track through a
vacant room filling the shot with only
negative space
leaving all this openness in the frame
lets the audience's imagination fill in
the blanks we're left wondering if or
when some attacker will pop up and from
which direction
extreme wide establishing shots can also
draw attention to how alone and
vulnerable the protagonists are and how
remote the setting is
how many times have you seen shots like
this in horror movies
they work so well to set the scene
because they play on some of our most
primal fears of isolation and
defenselessness
so if too much empty space freaks us out
what happens when the shot has almost no
space at all
it can actually amp up the fear even
more especially in climactic scenes
in this scene from the nun we see a shot
of valic rise up from the water then go
to a close-up of the protagonists
looking on in horror
by the time we cut to a wide shot again
valak's now fully out of the water
towering over irene
this is a common pattern in horror
movies they'll show you the monster
approaching or coming into view then cut
to a tight close-up of the protagonist
reacting
it's terrifying because we know the
monster is advancing or attacking but
we're not allowed to see it happening
we're only witnessing it second hand
through the protagonist's response more
generally tight shots on the protagonist
make it so you can't see what's going on
like in this scene from psycho
notice the camera's tight on detective
arbogost as he goes up the stairs so we
can't see what danger he might be
walking into that leaves us feeling as
helpless and on edge as he is
another way of keeping audiences in the
dark is by manipulating camera focus
in this scene from donnie darko we go
from a shot of jake gyllenhaal from
behind to an out-of-focus medium
close-up of his face
as he slowly walks into focus he becomes
crisper but the background remains
blurry leaving us wondering what might
be lurking there that shot uses shallow
focus
that's when the aperture of a camera's
lens is wide open creating a shallow
depth of field this allows filmmakers to
finally control which people or objects
in the frame stay sharp in other genres
filmmakers use shallow focus to direct
our attention to the in-focus part of
the shot but horror filmmakers weaponize
shallow focus to make us uncomfortable
let's look at another creepy jake
gyllenhaal scene this one from the movie
enemy here are the two subjects melanie
lueron who's being followed and jake
who's following her both are equally
important but ones in the sharp
foreground and the others in the blurry
background this leaves us unsure where
to direct our eyes and it forces us as
audience members into an uncomfortable
and hyper-attentive state
here's another key way horror movies
play with perspective hi it's jill the
babysitter this is a framing device
sometimes called the dark voyeur or
hidden onlooker perspective
the camera might shoot from behind
something a bush or a piece of furniture
or through something like a window
this perspective puts us in the
uncomfortable position of being voyers
where we know something that the
protagonist doesn't that they're being
watched the shot can also separate the
audience from the actual scene here for
example we're looking on from another
room that framing makes us hyper aware
of our powerlessness to stop what's
about to happen we can only watch
complicit which can make for a pretty
torturous viewing experience
if the dark voyer perspective turns the
audience into observers the first person
killer perspective turns us into
accomplices that's the classic slasher
halloween opening with a shot from the
murderer's point of view the first
person killer perspective is a hallmark
of slasher movies popularized by the
earliest films in that genre the first
person victim perspective can be just as
powerful because it literally puts us in
the characters shoes as they approach
danger
that's why many horror movies use a
shaky cam
or a zooming effect like the kind in
vertigo which makes us feel as dizzy and
uneasy as the protagonist does in the
scene both types of first-person pov
shots are effective for a few reasons
for one they hide crucial information
about the scene
in the second half of the blair witch
project the more danger the protagonists
are in the lower and more shakily they
hold the camera never focusing the lens
on anything for very long
in the opening shot of halloween michael
meyer's mask is partially covering the
camera so we're not privy to everything
in the frame even more importantly we
don't know the identity of this unseen
intruder that's also why steven
spielberg used the first person pov
shots and jaws to hide the shark from
the audience which famously worked to
make the monster even scarier
all these techniques combine into an
assault on our senses
they're part of the visual language
horror movies have developed to make us
doubt our own senses prepare for an
attack and fully immerse ourselves in
the scene through the eyes of both
killer and victim
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