Analysis of 'House at the End of the Street'

Analysing the trailer 'House at the end of the street' using Mis-en-scene, Sound, Camera angles shots etc and editing.

The Establishing shot shows where the films and story is going to be set. The suburban town is an iconic feature and setting of a horror film, being isolated from the busy city it allows for strange situations to occur without being unrealistic. This firmly follows the horror genre.

The dialogue over this long shot of the house says 'I think you will be very comfortable here'. The effect of this statement is ironic because as the trailer continues we see she is the most uncomfortable she has and will ever be in her life. The use of irony here clearly sets us up in the genre of horror. The lighting used within these shots at the beginning rare very light with yellows and light greens reflected by the natural light of the sun to create a safe happy atmosphere, which is quickly forgotten as she discovers the house.

The over the shoulder shot and close up of the the main girl works simultaneously with the diegetic dialogue "where are you?" because as she says this the figure behind her apeares from the darkness, the effect is that we can see him but we cannot which is typical of a horror. The darkness all around her shows how she is in hopeless danger. We can see from this shot that her finger nails are all dirty and hair is sweaty and grubby, which shows us a direct contrast from her arriving with fresh flowing blonde hair and clean bright clothes. This transition of contrast relates to the horror genre as the victims always start out fine and happy and turn into a mess as the only thing that matters is trying to stay alive.

This shot shows clearly it is a horror as the girl face shows nothing but fear and the the figure is only a shadow which keeps the villain a mystery which can be a convention of horror films, not knowing who the killer is for the audience and the victims. The editing within this shot is a sharp cut. From the shot before we see how the camera lingers to show relief then as the shadow jump to the window the shot suddenly cuts to a side angle to portray the same feeling of fear she is feeling. This type of editing is commonly used within the horror genre as it help create the jump factor to frighten the audience.

The low angle at which this shot is taken brings us closer to the action of her being dragged away into the unknown by the killer. By using this angle we are not able to see the killer or where they are taking her and are being put in the same position as the victim. This creates a horror type feel as the unknown is a major theme within horror. 

The close up of the kitchen knife in the killers hand is icon within the horror genre. It leads us up for someone to be killed and creates anticipation to know who, when, why and will they survive. In this shot the dark colours present the unknowing and fear of where they are and the there is only the smallest ray of light which hots the knife so we can see its outline. The low angle also prevents us from seeing the rest of the killer who holds it.