Mise-en-scene in horror films

Props:
Props are important when filming a horror. These can vary from a weapon to a spiritual artefact. An example of making use of props can be in a slasher horror which would require a weapon such as a knife or sax. These props may not only be used to kill someone, but can be associated with the murderer. Other props such as crosses, spiritual artefacts and bibles can would be used in a film which includes someone becoming possessed.


Setting:
A typical location where the horror is based would be in a forest, abandoned buildings, dark mansions, cabins in the woods etc. This is because it portrays the feeling of being isolated and these locations are usually not busy areas surrounded by people. If this were the case and the area was busy,  this tends to make the audience feel safer and less scared. Any of these areas would be perfect for creating suspense atmosphere and fear amongst the audience. Also, filming in darkness in these places makes it more tense and scary due to limited vision.




Costume and makeup:

These are important aspects to include in the making of a horror film as it can determine whether the character is the protagonist or antagonist. The costumes can show a stereotypical version of a character. For example; a little girl would be dressed up in a pink dress, pig-tails, frilly socks etc in order to portray the typical innocence of this character. The antagonist can be spotted by the audience immediately according to their appearance. For example, in the film 'Scream', the murderer is dressed in all black with a scary mask.
Make-up can be used in different ways in a horror film. It can be used to make the antagonist scarier or used for 'battle scars' on the protagonist.

Lighting:
The lighting is horror films is usually dark in order to create a scarier atmosphere and to create better common jump-scares. An example would be a character walking alone in the woods at night time and the villan jumps out at them from behind a tree. Firstly, people can have a common fear of just being in the dark. This can be because of the 'unknown' and not knowing who/what is there. If the scene would have been filmed in daylight, it would not have the same effect on the audience as it would at night or in the dark.


Facial expressions and body language:
Having facial expressions and body language shows the fear of the character in the scene. This is important and it is the only way the audience is going to believe the character a truly terrified with what is occurring. Their body language and movement reflects their shock, fear and desperation.



Iconography:
These are things that represent the genre. For example, the colour red represents blood, gore and anger. The colour black represents death and evil. Props, costumes, settings and credits can all show iconography such as bloody knives.

Visual effects:

These are used to scare the audience more by getting them to believe that its real and that it isn't just actors with fake blood and props. Digital effects are sometimes used when the effects could not be accomplished on screen without the use of some "smoke and mirrors". For example, in a slasher and gory film, body parts being cut and limbs being detached from the body will be shown. But to make it look realistic digital effects are used. The traditional visual effects will be used to such as fake blood is still used.