Case 39 - Horror Essay

Case 39

Case 39 started off with low key lighting which gave us the feeling that it was spooky which put me on edge from the starting point, however the film gradually went on into high key lighting which made me feel more secure watching the scene, the film used a high angle when the social worker got given work by her boss, this was used to show how important her boss was as he was standing above her.

The film Case 39 used diegetic sounds when it came to the sounds off the keyboards and the footsteps however used non diegetic sounds when it came to her looking at a classified case which emphasised the importance of the file and put us on edge as the music was creepy, on the other hand there was a lot of camera angles, as the woman got into the car park it showed us a birds eye view angle which was used to let us know the surroundings, also a side angle was used when she was driving in the car which also gave us a close up to her face to show how intrigued she was to go to the next child’s house.

When she arrived home the film used an extreme close up to her pressing onto the phone to listen to her voice mail, this is used to show the importance of a subject in a film, also there was back lighting used to illuminate her, this gives us the impression of an angelic effect which links into her character as she is a social worker and cares for children.

Also as the woman went into a troubled young girls house she was looking up to a window with the young girl’s mother looking down at her which made me feel uncomfortable watching and the mother looked very creepy and distressed, the angle used is called a low angle, this shows characterism as it is on the floor looking up, however from the high angle it gives us the impression that the woman is intimidated by the mother and is feeling nervous as the close up which was used on her face showed us her expression which looked disturbed, this angle was very focused which shows the duration of the shot.

An eye level angle was used when the parents were approached from the social worker which shows us that they are both equal, however the little girls close up looked distressed which presented emotion. During the film there was a 360-degree angle used in the area where the little girl grew up, these angles are used to show surroundings so in this instance its used to show where she was brought up which made me feel empathy for the little girl as it was a nice area and it was dirty with a lot of litter.

Near to the end of the film pan was used which is a camera movement, it was used to show both close ups from the disturbed little girl and from the social worker who adopted her, its used to go from left and from right. In this scene it made me feel anxious as it was so quick and the non-diegetic sound used was putting me on edge as I wasn’t too sure as what was happening.