Location Inspiration

Location Inspiration One

Shadow of hooded figure in woods carrying noose. The woods/forest is a typical setting for horror, the restricted view due to many trees and bushes allow the audience to see less clearly, making them use their imaginations more (which can produce something scarier than could ever be visually created. 

Image of a large pond, with light reflecting in the water, surrounded by trees and other greenery. I thought the use of reflection could be interesting to manipulate as it can be related to by the audience (looking into the water and seeing a reflection,) and made to look scary. Would look good under natural moonlight.

I captured the image of a girl crossing the stepping stones over shallow water as it can be seen as child-like or risky, both of which can be twisted and turned into part of a supernatural horror storyline. Could work well as an establishing shot and introduction to the main character. If a younger character is used a high angle shot would make the character look more child-like and vulnerable.

The lake is lined with trees, adding a mysterious depth as we cannot see properly what is underneath the layer of greenery. This is good to add tension as the audience begin to wonder what could emerge?

The girl looks as though she is taking a risk trying to cross slippery, uneven land across the shallow water. Creates suspense in the audience as it could be easy for her to fall.

This images as well as the one below shows trees and greenery (in which the girl is standing,) which makes a good setting for supernatural horror as there are lots of places to hide and objects to cast shadows. It will allow characters to be hidden and this can create suspense and increase tension. 

Perhaps using this setting at dusk could be more interesting as it would allow more shadows but still filter some light through. The enclosed space around the character could look more effective with the use of under lighting. 

The fact that we cannot see the girl clearly gives a mysterious and creepy feel, whilst allowing the audience to use their imaginations. A setting like this is good as because it is not letting the audience clearly see all of the scene, it allows for red-herrings, key to keeping the audience in suspense and the tension high.

The steps in this image help to add depth and levels to the setting. Could work well to add depth to the background of a mid-shot of the character.

There is a small gap between the two main trees, which would be good to create tension as it catches the audience's attention, will something appear? If something did appear it would still be hidden by some greenery, allowing the audience to use their imagination.

In these images I captured the girl standing across from a huge pond, adding distance but also making the mood represented much more eerie as you cannot see the girl that clearly, and there is so much greenery that anything could jump out of anywhere at any moment (building suspense.)

The reflection is key, as a lot can be done with it. If the characters reflection is different it plays with the audiences mind, and if the reflection is unpleasant to look at it acts as a shock and can make the audience feel disturbed, which links nicely to the supernatural horror genre.

The images above and below show a scruffy, uneven footpath which could be interesting as the curve would be mysterious to the audience.

 If a character follows the footpath where will they end? Or if the character appears where have they come from?

The image above is interesting, as the trees almost look like a 'hallucination' like the audience or character (if from their view- point of view shot) are seeing more than one of the same object. It could create tension as there is a lot for the audience to focus on, e.g something could be behind any of the five main trees. Could be especially interesting in a panning shot as the amount of trees along with the camera movement could create a very surreal feeling.

Here the girl is standing deadly still facing the water, she is fairly far away so the audience are not completely sure of their characteristics. What does her face look like? It allows the audience to question the significance of the water. 

This willow tree hides around half of the frame, this would be appealing as it allows the audience to use their imagination, what is behind the willow? It also makes the setting more creepy, the leaves look floaty and spindly. Would work well as part of a long shot.

House from the supernatural horror Insidious. Typical, modern, suburban family home in a quiet and friendly neighbourhood. This type of setting is extremely common within supernatural horrors as it makes what is happening seem more realistic and relatable to the audience, causing more distress.

I took a picture of a local suburban road at around 7pm, just as the sun was setting. The street lamps against the dark pavements and dreary sky give an eery feel. Many horror films use friendly streets such as this to make things look a lot more realistic, to distress the audience more. This helps it link fluently with our chosen genre.

I took a video (below) to see how it would come out to have someone walking down the street in the frame. I used the flash to pick up on extra detail, which I also felt helped to highlight the streetlights and dark sunset.

Would work well as an establishing shot. Contains artificial lighting.