The Thing In The Apartment

https://vimeo.com/129756191

"The Thing in the Apartment" is a short horror film with a stereotypical title and a somewhat stereotypical storyline. However the 'girl calls friend about the weird thing she just saw, now friend is unwittingly about to face weird thing' storyline here does pack a punch, creating genuine jump scares while also involving interesting camera shots and editing. The title of the movie was so obvious that it did make me click on it, obviously something that you want your film to do; with films with foreign titles I don't understand or ridiculously pretentious ones when the context of the film is a simple slasher, my attention is immediately withdrawn. With our preliminary task we simply named it 'Stop Me.' With our final task, while a name is not on the tops of our priorities when shooting it, it is something we need to consider. Short and simple is the best both within the storyline of a horror and thus in the title also. The film plays on our primal fear of being young, in your first apartment and facing something unknown and terrifying alone. Another thing I enjoyed about this film is the fact that the character immediately called for help, didn't stick around to investigate what was going on and refused to re-enter the apartment. The kind of things most protagonists in such films fail to do, and tend to leave me rolling my eyes. We feel no sympathy for those who are basically asking to be attacked right?



Mise-en-scene

The film begins with something very typical within horror, a mobile phone. The object is used in horror when the character fails to try to get help, or when the stupid teenager isn't paying attention to their surroundings or when the babysitter is talking to their friend on the phone and jokingly laughing about how they are totally not going to brutally murdered. In this case the phone is used in an unusual case: the character actually managing to contact someone and get help. Against the stark dark background the phone plays it part to tell us that something bad is about to happen, establishing the characters and the situation. The girls are both normal typical girls. They are neither wearing makeup and dress how anybody would; the girl who was the subject of the supernatural monster is simply wearing her pyjamas, as anyone would be if this actually happened to you. If you look at films such as 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' or the worst of the worst 'The Human Centipede 3' the girls are dressed in order to appease the male gaze. In this case there is no sign of that, making this that much more realistic and therefore terrifying. When picking up her friend she parks outside of a church. Again this is something very commonly seen in horror ('The Exorcist', 'Rosemary's Baby') as it is a place of worship, where no harm can seemingly come to you, another example of how horror enjoys to play on contrast. This is a signifier of all things bad, however in here is where her friend comes and she begins to feel more comforted, therefore the church is playing its part in a way it is supposed to. It is also the only source of light in this scene, a shadowy effect caused by the darkness within the car. Lighting is also played with when in the next scene the only source of light is her mobile phone, and also the light that shows us said 'thing.'



Camerawork

In the beginning the shot gradually zooms in as she is having a conversation with 'Lindsey' before cutting to an extreme close up of a distressed looking 'Lindsey.' This serves to shock the audience and immediately make us aware of the situation by answering the questions Who, What, Where. The film is a fan of shots from doorways also. This allows us to only see a part of the action as though we are peering through the door, or someone/something else is. Interesting shots are also used when the two characters are in the car. Low angles are used, as though we are someone crouching in the back seat watching the events take place. Over the shoulder shots are also used, again giving us the feeling that we are somewhat 'outsiders' peering over and looking at the characters.

Sound

The film begins with the sound of a phone vibrating, as mentioned the phone tends to work as a signifier in horror, and so we are aware that something bad is about to happen. Something I found greatly effective was the switch back and forth from 'Lindseys' voice on the phone to her voice in real time. The sound is jarring and unnerving, making the viewer feel that much more involved. The music used in minimal. Just the occasional low violin note to  accentuate what was happening. This is rare in horror films, particularly short films; sound tend to be what cause the horror and tension in the first place. However the desired effect is accomplished because of this, particularly when the monster is revealed and all we hear is the noise coming from the girls phone. The sound of the monster screaming is far more 'jump worthy' due to this. Again as shes looking round the house there is no sound present, creating the feeling of something bad about to happen constantly and consistently, upping the anxiety. There is a gradual increase in sound when she realises the monster is behind her, and when Lindsey watches the monster attack sam, it making the audience's heart rate rise along with it. The sudden stop when it attacks makes it obvious to us what has happened and therefore more abruptly shocking, which again happens at the end of the film when the monster makes its final attack: gradual increase in music, sudden silence, then the sound of the monsters sudden attack. This effect makes the whole film in my opinion, they almost serve as cue cards for when we should feel tension.

Editing

The editing is somewhat simple throughout. Particularly at the beginning, the only editing seen is simple jump cuts, making it run together simply and coherently. Slow motion is used when she is shown running from her apartment. The normal paced voice over atop this scene creates a realistic sensation and more high action. Of course, CGI is used. However it is done is cleverly and realistically. Nothing makes a horror film less scary than a badly animated monster. We only see short glimpse of the monster and what we see is well edited and of an unknown creature, again playing on our fears of the unknown.