My Film Still Analysis (BLK)

The iconography of my chosen shot could be described as signifying my chosen genre of Horror/Thriller as the vague nature of the shot forces the audience to question where the hand is coming from and why it is there. This air of mystery helps to suggest my genre as the audience experience the 'fear of the unknown'.  The fact that only the hand of the being can be seen in this shot also encourages this as it makes it less personal as so little details are known about whoever's hand it is. Lacking information is typical within genres such as thrillers as it helps to increase the surprise felt by the audience later on in the story. The curled fingers also help to suggest my genre as they distort the shape of the hand, making it appear abnormal and therefore scarier. The format of my shot also creates a disturbing feel as the angled positioning is unsettling as the lines  within the background are not parallel, foreshadowing the unnatural and un-composed  nature of the film.

 Within our shot we only included a hand to arouse suspicion and make the audience question the motive of the hand. To achieve this effect we ensured that the iconography of the shot had high key lighting so that a shadow would form around it. This would further connote our genre as it intensifies the sense of darkness within the shot. 

Through this shot I was attempting to communicate a sense of mystery and fear because of the unknown origin of the hand. I wanted the audience to question things such as ‘who’s hand is it?’, ‘where has it come from?’and ‘where is it going?’. These questions will then wok to emphasise the thrill of the film as the details are revealed later on in the movie.

 I think that the lighting of my shot was successful as we were able to achieve a very effective shadow of the hand. I also think that the angle at which our shot was framed was successful as we were able to make an irregular composition of the shot through the use of different perspectives. The LA shot also helps to create the illusion that something is coming toward you. 

In hindsight, we would insure that we used a model that did not have nail varnish on as the bright colours are not fitting with our very dark genre. These bright colours could alter the dominant reading of the shot by our audience as the bright colours could possibly connote happiness or femininity rather than fear.