Crimson Peak analysis

Crimson Peak clip analysis

The opening to the clip from Crimson Peak starts off with confusion, which is a typical convention for the horror genre, as the girl shown in the scene looks around to find her husband. During this confusion the camera is doing a close up to capture her reaction to her surroundings. The camera switches to a medium shot to show some of the room she is in while still keeping her and her reaction in frame.  The scene shows how the features of the room are concealed by darkness, this is effective because it creates a feeling of loneliness for the main character. the use of darkness is common during horror as it adds an unknown to the scene and plays with the fears of the viewer. The character is shown holding candles which are the only form of light shown and could be symbolism for hope. The sounds in the scene seem to echo giving the how the feeling of emptiness which is put in place to unnerve viewers and make them feel how the character in the scene may feel. 

The overall clip lacks lighting which adds to the fact that it is night and that the character is out of her comfort zone. The character is followed by the camera either from a fixed position at the start/end of a corridor or from behind her while she is moving both of which gives the impression that the main character is being followed this is again intentionally placed to add an easy feeling to her investigating the manor. The music of the scene also accompanies this tracking style from the cameras by building up and up the further she travels around the manor, doing this builds up the fact she is about to find something and when she does the music climaxes which creates a scary moment as it ends loudly just as the character opens a door. The music is more prominent than other sound effects to create tension it does this by being quite fast and noisy which also creates a pace for the characters movements. 

The camera uses a point of view shot upon opening the door to show what is being scene but it also then turns reveal the characters face and show their reaction to the scenario. When a monster does appear to chase the character we hear it before we see it. The sound used for the monster is the only sound at that moment except for some ambiance, it is also quite loud of a sound making it stand out in the scene. The design of the creature is intentionally made to cause uncomfort it is human like in appearance but does not move like a human and does not sound like a human, this is called the uncanny valley and is a feeling which appears when something that has a human like appearance doesn't act like a human. The main character when chased by the creature feels shocked and in peril we see this through the camera angles portrayed from close ups of her face and from long angles where she moves to the camera. This gives this section of the film a faster pace which the music aligns itself with playing a much quicker tune as well as taking a way some ambiance sound effects.

When venturing down the elevator the camera uses a long shot to show off the whole room as well as the low key lighting present in the room however the lighting in the room although being dark is brighter than the rest of the film due to the room being candle lit. The room present is different to the rest of the mansion and is shown that way as it is the only lit part of the mansion all the other scenes are lit by the candle that the character is holding herself. The music in this scene becomes less intense and becomes more mysterious however the monster from the previous scene can still be heard in the background showing that the room is safer than the rest of the building. Due to the size and colours present in the room it seems that this room is warmer than the rest of the building, as well as the sounds of wind have stopped. The character is followed by the camera and ends on a close up as she investigates a graves name plate.