Using Lighting To Convey A Supernatural Horror Genre

To receive ideas for using effective lighting in my final piece, I have researched different types of lighting used in supernatural horror films. Below, I have taken some shots which denote different types of lighting, as a way of experimenting how and which lighting to use in my sequence.


• The shot above is from the film 'Insidious'. Low key lighting effectively helps to set a daunting, spooky connotation of the house. By looking at this, audience expectations would be raised, as an audience would expect to see spooky, supernatural movement occurring within the location.
• The time of day is at night, as seen through the pitch black background. The time of day therefore, can be an easy method in conveying a specific atmosphere. Below, are images I took of my Gran's house at night.



The low key lighting signifies a haunted house.

• I also received ideas from films such as 'Paranormal Activity'. A night vision type light is used from the camera's POV. 

 

• Below are shots I have taken, which use a night vision type visual effect. To apply the effect, after I took the shots, I used editing. The editing process was simple - after taking the shots from my phone, I applied an editing technique called 'process'. I also found that many visual effects can be found from many photo editing apps. As well as applying the effect, I ensured a source of lighting was used, as I found that without lighting, the image would be quite hard to see.

 

• Artificial lighting is another effective lighting technique. After conducting some research, I found that the use of lighting through candles for instance, is a good way in creating a religious atmosphere.

 

 Evaluation

Overall, my task went well. I concluded that the time of day has a huge effect to the lighting shown in the shot you take. The type of camera also has an effect. I used an iPhone, with a fairly good megapixel. Cameras with a megapixel of below 5, may not display your choice of lighting too well. One weakness I found however, was in the use of candles. Furthermore, the resulting shot would expose the candles hugely, as their brightness would tend appear brighter than normal. To reduce this issue, for my official piece, if my group and I wish to use candles, a better quality camera may help.