The Others deconstruction

This clip meets many conventions of supernatural horror as it is based on the contacting of the dead.  The lighting used in this scene is low-key, which is very appropriate for genre as you cannot see the whole room, shadows are created, and so the fear of the unknown is used effectively.  The room is lit by a single candle light which is a prop and lighting technique commonly seen in supernatural horror as it gives a traditional and eerie effect.

The scene features a medium drawing what she sees "in the other world".  Old women are commonly used in horror because they are considered to be creepy or not right in the head.  Her glassed over eyes are quite frightening and get rid of any normality about the scene.  

The children in the scene are dressed in white or an off-white/grey bedclothes which presents them as innocent and pure, but also ghost like.  

When the scene gets more intense, the non-diegetic, string instrument sounds also builds in intensity.  This builds up the tension so the audience know that something bad is about to happen.  

This scene adheres to common conventions of supernatural horror quite a lot.  It features a child girl dressed all in white playing with a children's toy.  The child symbolises innocence and purity, which is intensified by the costume of white lace.  The use of a child increases the audience sympathy for the victim so they are more likely to react if something were to happen to the child.  The children's toy is commonly used because it represents how innocent children are and how they shouldn't be put thorough harsh experiences.

Again, low-key lighting is used as the room is only lit by candle light.  This intensifies any shadows in the room and takes full advantage of the fear of the unknown.  The scene is exploring the supposed madness of the mother.  When she comes back into the room there is an extreme close up of an old, withered hand in place of the child's.  As the mother walks round to look at the child, non-diegetic music builds up slowly in volume and intensity to build the tension felt by the audience.  The sound of string music builds to a louder sound when the child's face is seen which helps to shock the audience further.  It then builds in tension and volume when the mother attacks the child then drops to no non-diegetic sound when the veil is torn off.

This scene uses a very common location of a graveyard.  Although traditional it still does its job of frightening the audience as they already have a view of spooky things happening in graveyards.  Low-key lighting is used to create shadows and extreme darkness in places, combined with the mist and moonlight, a very eerie atmosphere is created.

When Anne discovers the housekeeper's name on a grave stone the non-diegetic sound reaches a crescendo, mainly string instruments are used which make the scene very eerie.Mid-shots are used by framing the young, innocent boy dressed in white with the approaching black figures in the background to create a juxtaposition.  The non-diegetic sound builds again when they start to run from the figures, the volume and speed increases which builds the chase scene tension.