Cinematography is one of the most important elements to a horror film. Unlike many other genres that rely more heavily on other elements (dialogue, plot points, etc.), great horror films are all about style. That’s not to imply that a great horror film shouldn’t also have excellent dialogue and a great plot, but rather that those elements often overlooked when in comparison to immersive mood and experience that a great horror film delivers.
1. Shooting Through Things
Some horror filmmakers are drawn to extreme close ups, but sometimes doing the exact opposite is far more effective. Rather than always filling up your frame with your actors faces (just because it looks intense), it is just as suspenseful to go wider. For example, a scene where an actor is sitting alone in their kitchen would have an extreme close up on their face to show some added emotion, but a wide shot taken from outside the house (looking in) could be far more powerful. Not only are you showing the isolation of the character, but you’re also creating an unsettling feeling by shooting through a pane of glass, which is a technique that can be very effective under the right conditions. It's as if the someone is looking is watching over them, creating that suspenseful effect.
2. Underexpose
On a horror film, underexposing can be extremely effective as it’ll leave more areas of the frame in the shadows and create a more mysterious feeling. It gives a shot that more eerie look as something lurks in the shadows. It can also help portray whether this character is the villain or not as normally, the predators are the ones that hide in the shadows waiting for the right moment to attack.
3. Close Up
These shots are used to show the emotion on the actors face in the heat of the moment. This is helpful in horror films as the more uncomfortable the audience gets the more perceptible to jump scares they are. The close up also blocks the background so the audience can't see what is happening and this could make it easy for an unpredicted scare to appear behind the character.
4. Hand Held/ POV Shot
These shots are normally shaky and used to disorientate the audience. Some films make the actor hold the camera to create both a hand held and a POV shot. This can be used as a build up of tension or to make the audience panic as it stimulates humans natural instincts to run away- in this case with the characters, momentarily feeling like the antagonist is chasing us. These shots can also be used to give the viewer a sense of reality, as it feels as if you were in the scene. Most film makers do this as it makes the audience experience the fear that the main character is feeling.
5. Bird Eye View/ High Angle Shot
These shots can be used so that the characters look small and vulnerable. The camera angle mimics a bird chasing its prey and this results in it already having connotations of threatening behaviour and death imagery. This could evoke a feeling of worry and foreboding from the audience as the threat is right above them.
6. Tilted/ Unique Angles
Tilt shots or the 'dutch tilt' adds a lot of dramatic tension to shots. It is also a great way to get a different shot of an incident across to the audience. The array of camera angles are used to create an unsettling feeling within the viewer; the best way to do so is to create an image that looks off balance. That’s why the dutch tilt works so well. It's also useful to act as though the camera is the victim on the floor and you are seeing what they are seeing which also creates the sense of being helpless, putting the audience in even more distress.
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