While researching the horror genre, I decided to watch IT to get an idea of common techniques that are used in popular horror movies. IT came out in 2017 and was widely successful when released. Therefore, I thought it would be a good representation of horror films and the techniques applied in them. While watching the movie, I took note of common camera angles and sound that was used in the film. I also paid attention for specific editing techniques and elements included in the film.
Camera Angles
Common camera angles used in IT include eye level shots, low angle shots and hug angle shots. It also includes long shots, over the shoulder shots, and two/three shots. The variety of shots keeps the person watching interested and the angles help add to the scenes, especially in the more scary scenes.
Movement
There was also an array of common horror movement techniques used in IT. These movements consist of pans, tracking shots, zooms, and tilts. The use of these movements is crucial to the horror aspect, and are used in the majority of scenes with the antagonist on screen.
Costumes
The majority of the characters are wearing normal everyday clothes for the time period that the film takes place in (The 80’s). There is a character that wears a cast that says “loser” on it but the “s” in the word is scratched out and replaced with an “l”. One of the characters where’s a yellow rain jacket and matching yellow boots that has now become well known for their character. The antagonist wears a dirty clown costume during the entire movie.
Lighting
The lighting in IT is a mixture between brightly lit scenes that take place outside, and low lit scenes that are inside. The low lit scenes are very suspenseful and often are lit with spot lighting to add to the fear factor.
Actors
The main characters are played by Finn Wolfhard, Jaeden Martell, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Wyatt Oleff, and Jack Dylan Grazer. They all portray their characters very well and fit the characters nicely. The antagonist is played by Bill Skarsgård who is able to make the antagonist as creepy and scary as intended.
Makeup
The makeup is minimal for the characters who are wearing makeup. The antagonist wears the most makeup as they are wearing a full face of clown makeup.
Props
The props used in the film include a lot of small props that aren’t extremely significant and a few important props that drive the entire plot. The less significant props are things such as a lighter and can of hairspray, a knife, and an inhaler. One of the very important props is a small paper boat that begins the conflict in the film. Another important prop is a letter that one of the characters writes to another.m
Setting
The setting is a in a fictional town called Derry, Maine. The town is supposedly haunted and is quite small. Settings inside the town include a library, the school the main characters attend, the characters different houses, and the sewers where the antagonist lives.
Editing
Common editing techniques used in IT include cutaways, jump cuts, and point of view shots. These add to the fear and suspense during the more tense scenes in order to captivate the viewer.
Sound
The sound in the film relies on dialogue and has very little background music. There is quite a lot of ambient sound in the film. Even in more tense scenes, it is still relatively quite to create more suspense.
Elements that I enjoyed
I enjoyed that the main characters were all young teens who are working together to defeat a supernatural entity. The use of kids as the main characters makes it more intense and makes the viewer more fearful for the characters well being as they are still just kids. I also enjoyed the comedic aspect of the movie which was always a nice break from the more scary scenes.
Elements that I disliked
I disliked how predictable the scenes tended to be, an often occurrence with most horror films. It took away the element of surprise at times and therefore made the movie less scary during some scenes.
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