Analysis of 'The Dark'

I am happy with the outcome of our opening title sequence to “The Dark”. Through a combination of sound, lighting, camera work, editing and mise-en-scene, which have all worked well together, we have created a good thriller/horror atmosphere. To get a realistic yet scary and surreal setting can be hard to convey to the audience, but I believe we have managed to do this through the majority of the film. However, at times I believe we could have done more things to improve our filming, lighting, or sound, I do not think this has effected how the audience views our film, and if we did make these changes I do not imagine our film would become any better or be enhanced in a huge way. 


Most aspects of our film is just how I imagined, which I believe fits the genre well but could have been improved at sometimes. This is mainly because there are not enough unique shots, more the usual standard filming. If we did include some shots, for example a Dutch tilt or a low angled, these scenes would probably become more memorable. I am also not so pleased with the resolution of some of the shots. These are mainly the outside shots where this is moisture in the air and this effect how the camera has focused. Also the lighting affected the picture, in future we could prevent this problem by using flood lights or shooting when it wasn't quite as dark. However I am pleased with the angles we did use and the close up shots worked well.


In terms of editing, we were quite brave in the fact that we used a jump cut from when the babysitter is walking down the stairs to then sitting in the living room watching TV. This is quite risky in terms of showing the audience what has happened but this still not to distract them. Unfortunately we were not able to use many shot reverse shots as when coming to edit we realised the door in shot in one side of the filming but open in the other as we filmed through it. This was unfortunate as we were unable to film these scenes again in the exact same condition so unable to perform this skill. However when the mother walks out the door we do show our ability of performing this edit as the door closes.


In my opinion, the sound within our film is good. We we able to create verisimilitude when the babysitter walks down the roads, and also sounds like the television help create this too. However there is definitely room for improvement. I am extremely pleased with the sounds used when our logo appears, as this is in direct timing with the flashes and adds to the thriller/horror genre of our film. However I believe the sounds used in our montage of ensuring her safety, by locking the doors and windows, I believe is a bit too upbeat to fit in with the genre. We realized when watching the film from start to finish to gain the whole feel of the film. Another sound in our film I am exceptionally pleased with is the screaming at the end of the film. I performed this, and I believe is great for the genre and timing in the film. Ending our film on this note and cutting to the title of the film, creates an extremely questionable and cliff-hanger ending for the audience leaving them wanting more.