Genre Stylised Photograph Task (BLK)

With our shot we were trying to connote a horror genre through the use of many different components, for example the shots background is low key lit whilst a spotlight focuses on the hand. The darkened surroundings mean it is difficult to make out fine details in the darkness, this hides what may be the cause of the main character’s distress and lets the viewer imagine a truth which is very likely worse than reality. To create this effect we used our two lights and focused their light on the hand and its immediate background, using the barn doors found on the lights, which drew the viewer’s eyes to these features and meant that the darker areas were perceived as darker than they actually were by the camera.

We also used a very exposed, pale female hand with nail varnish for the subject of the shot as it is a signifier of the horror genre, due to the reoccurring theme of a “Damsel in Distress” found in horror films. It is also strongly juxtaposed to the dark and gritty background, which makes the hand “pop” from the background more which results in a more striking image. Due to both the clawed position and exposed nature of the hand, the dominant reading of the shot would suggest a narrative where the owner of the hand (most likely a vulnerable female main character) is threated by something lurking in the darkness encompassing the shot.

However, if I were to repeat this shot I would have changed the position of the camera so that the hand was slightly larger and filled the shot more, as currently I believe there is slightly too much background visible. This would also require us to close the barn doors on the lights slightly more, so as to keep the same balance of light and dark found in this shot, as I feel it creates a horror inspired mise-en-scene and is aesthetically pleasing.