Psycho (1960) Screenshot Analysis

In this scene from PSYCHO we see Arbogast getting attacked by what we think is the mother of Norman Bates. It takes place inside Norman Bates’ eerie house that looks over the Bates Motel, showing its power over people who stay there. This is also the first time that we see inside the Bates house.

The house is very dark lit with small amounts of motivated lighting which cast large shadows which makes the whole scene seem more tense and eerie. Norman Bates mother is carrying a phallic weapon which shows her power over Arbogast. The character is also lit lighter than the rest of the scene, giving her an almost ghostly appearance. The lighting gives the audience an uneasy feel which adds to the scare factor.

The use of the knife is reminiscent of Ed Gein when he murdered people, which adds to the historical context of the time.

Psycho (1960) Screenshot Analysis

This scene from PSYCHO is when we get a first look into Norman Bates’ parlour. The room is very low lit, with motivated lighting coming from a lamp causing many shadows giving the room a dark and menacing feel. The room is made even creepier by the fact that there are stuffed birds on the wall, which all seem to be ‘staring’ at Marion. This just makes the scene seem scarier as the birds look surprisingly lifelike.

The scene is set at night which adds to the darkness and connotes misery and sadness, which just adds to the eerie atmosphere. The scene is uncomfortable because of the setting and the furniture in the room, especially because the room is fairly small which gives a feeling of entrapment. Low-key lighting is created by a night time diegesis which just adds to the eerie atmosphere.

Hitchcock has managed to create an eerie and uncomfortable atmosphere through the use of mise-en-scene and cinematography in PSYCHO. The scene is a classic example of Hitchcocks ‘style’ and fits the horror genre very well, which is important for horror fans and also the importance of genre relates to ‘The Importance Of Hollywood Genres’ as written by Thomas Schatz.  

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Dawn Of The Dead (1979) Screenshot Analysis

_{This is a screenshot from Dawn Of The Dead (1979) directed by George Romero. It shows Flyboy and Peter enjoying the mall by posing with large amounts of money. The lighting in the room is bright and gives a happy vibe as if the characters have forgotten about their problems and decided to occupy themselves doing different things, even though there are zombies outside.}

_{Scott Reigner said that the film was a ‘satire of consumerism’ and this scene shows it, with Peter and Flyboy very happy with the fact that they have a large amount of money. George Romero didn’t like consumerism at all and this scene is almost mocking consumerism, this scene is almost a parody of consumerism because Flyboy and Peter have stolen all this money when it is completely pointless as the country is infested with zombies.}

_{Also here we have a black hero (Peter) with a white character (Flyboy) which goes against the CDI and also gives us clues to George Romero’s hatred of racism. This is reinforced as Peter is a much stronger and more skilled character than Flyboy and survives in the end, unlike Peter.}

Dawn Of The Dead (1979) Screenshot Analysis

This is a scene from Dawn Of The Dead (1979) in which the zombies enter the mall. The scene is very well lit evoking the bright lights of the mall but the fact that there are zombies wandering around still makes the scene feel eerie, especially because this shot is empty of truly “living” people.

Scott Reigner (Roger) said in the documentary The American Nightmare (1999) that the film was a ‘satire of consumerism’ and this scene suggests it. George Romero also hated consumerism so showing the zombies coming back to 'a temple of consumerism' is almost mocking it, as the mall is described as an 'important place' of the zombies past lives as humans.

These themes of consumerism is very strong in this image as it is in the rest of the film. Fran is the first person to notice that they are trapped, despite the group having access to all the material objects that they could want. Fran is a female heroin and she demands that they escape and lee to Canada, which symbolically hints on them running away from the consumerism of the USA.

Dawn Of The Dead (2004) Screenshot Analysis

This is a scene from the opening credits of Dawn Of The Dead (2004) and shows a large group of people in the middle east praying. This shot was designed to be a news report, suggesting that the zombie virus came from the Middle East. This film was made three years after 9/11 and connotes the opinion that evil is coming from this part of the world.

Throughout the opening credits there are a variety of shots all filmed in Middle Eastern countries. It also shows American flags and American soldiers shooting zombies, suggesting that they are trying to eradicate the ‘evil’ coming from this area. It also connotes America having power over the zombies, and more importantly the Middle East.

The shot is grainy which suggests to the audience that this is an ‘emergency’ broadcast or something of that nature, this combined with the music and sounds in the background give the scene a feeling of fear amongst these people. It also suggests how frantic it is in this area with people trying desperately to do whatever they can to make the virus go away, in this case praying.

Dawn Of The Dead (1979) Screenshot Analysis

In this scene from DOTD (1979) we see Fran witnessing a zombie attack. The scene is well lit with natural light which makes it seem more realistic as this is happening in broad daylight and not just in dark eerie locations like a lot of horror films. However this does create a chilling atmosphere as it just seems like a normal day to the viewer, suggesting the zombies could attack at any time.

The key thing in this scene is its characterization  Flyboy is being attacked by a zombie and Fran is refusing to scream. This shows her strength as a character in the film compared to Flyboy. This goes against the CDI as generally in films women are the weaker characters, but in DOTD Fran is a very strong female character, whereas Flyb Boy is a fairly weak and selfish male character.,

Iit is almost as if George Romero swapped round the normal conventions followed by most horror films. This can also be seen in another of his films, such as Night Of The Living Dead (1968) which also features another heroic black man, unconventional for the time.

Dawn Of The Dead (2004) Screenshot Analysis

This is another shot from the opening credits of Dawn Of The Dead (2004) and shows a reporter documenting the virus spreading on the news. Again with the majority of the opening news scenes, it is shot in a Middle Eastern country. This suggests that the film is trying to hint that ‘evil’ is coming from the Middle East as the 9/11 happened three years prior to the film’s release.

The opening credits is made up with these scenes filmed in the Middle East, and shows American Flags and American soldiers, which symbolizes America ‘fighting back’ this virus that is of Middle Eastern nature in this film. It shows that America is trying to have power over the virus and the Middle East.

The scene is very very grainy and the reporter has a very worried and anxious tone in his voice. This makes the scene seem real and quite frightening, 

Favourite Horror Film (Zombieland) Screenshot Analysis

My favourite scene that I have chosen is from Zombieland directed by Ruben Fleischer (2009).

In this scene we see the two male hero’s attack with phallic weapons showing their power over the zombie. This scene could also suggest an anti-consumerism attitude about the film as this scene is shot in a supermarket and the film ends up with the characters in a theme park, which are both American indulgent places. The zombies could also be seen to represent consumerism as a lot of the fighting against zombies takes place in locations that relate to consumerism.

I would like to make an action horror but also try to relate it to our historical context.