Conventions: Settings

Conventions: Settings

Throughout horror movies many different settings are portrayed, from having old houses with history into the woods and how the woods convey the isolation with the world. I am going to look at some settings which movies use and I am going to talk about why they were used, and how I could portray this into the sequence in which the group is going to create.

I Am Legend

This is the establishing shot of New York. This shows the skyscrapers to define that it is in an urban area but also shows how empty of life it is. It also shows the flood on the main freeway which shows that nobody has seemed to sort that out which also shows the derelict environment. You can also see grass growing from the concrete, this shows how cracks are made through the ground and how unattended the environment is. All these environmental aspects of this shot show how isolated this world is supposed to be. This also creates an idea of freedom and a purge-like scheme, having the cities as a playground for the living.

But it also shows how people tried to escape the outbreak of the virus with the cars all piled up to the tunnel which people must have gone under to feel safe. Also cars are piled up on the junction roads at the side too.

The buildings also look dirty, with a unclean tint to it, it could show that nobody has maintained the buildings in so long, and with the buildings, the environment around it being cloudy, it also gives the isolation feeling to the audience, making it very tedious to see as for a city which people see as lively and busy, it seems to be very different.

The Walking Dead

Although this might be a photoshopped scene with the colours being different than they would be to real life. I feel that this photo is good for some elements as it pops out the country-side element to zombie created productions. This is used with a house which also shows the element of being isolated. The producers of this production intended on making the environment seem derelict but it also gives an insight to the actual production, showing that the following plot is going to be based in the country-side, away from the urban areas. 

What ideas of setting do we gain from these shots?

• Environmental flooding, showing unmaintained sewage, abandoned.
• Cars are also abandoned, showing that people tried to escape, obvious that they wasn’t able to make it.
• Grass is leaking through the concrete of the roads, which shows that the roads have been unmaintained for the last several years, showing that the cracks are created from the winter.
• Buildings are dirty and dusky looking, showing that they are also not maintained, having the dull colours to show how the city isn’t how it was.
• The skies are overcast, usually typically used in zombie horror movies just to create an aspect of isolation, and in my opinion, creates a tedious aspect to the story.

What should I take from this idea of an apocalypse?

• Unmaintained overgrowth to land items, showing more wild-life maybe?
• Overcast environment to create that tedious aspect to a zombie horror.
• Nobody is in the scene, showing the isolation. The group needs to create the sequence in an environment where not many people walk by, and the odd couple of shots in central points.