Prop Deconstruction

Prop Deconstruction

I started by brainstorming the types of props that we could use in our film opening, which we would like to be a hybrid of psychological and slasher horror. I researched specifically into the psychological horror and found the main areas of props are:

• Religious Symbols 
• Keys and Locks
• Dolls
• Masks
• Mirrors

Each of the categories had hidden meanings as to why they are conventionally included. Shattered mirrors connote broken lives and personalities and regular mirrors show reflections and could suggest the idea of multiple personalities within a character but are also used in the film to introduce other characters without the victim directly seeing the antagonist. 

In the film Oculus, the mirror is the main part of the film, and some of the shots use the reflection in order to show more than one perspective as to what to the characters can see, as they are also able to see what is behind them. 

Masks are used to disguise evil within a horror film. The use of a mask removes facial expressions from the killer, but as the eyes are able to be seen, makes them unnerving and allows the audience to see a glimpse of emotion, or lack of, in the killers eyes.

This mask is from the film Friday the 13th, there are holes for the eyes but the audience can't see who they are, which adds to the tension as the characters don't know who is targeting them. 

Dolls usually represent innocence, nurturing and childhood, which is why using them in horror films makes the audience feel unnerved. Within films, dolls can be prominent or subtle, both have different effects as the subtly suggests that they are 'watching' the victim who may be unaware. Prominent use of the dolls in some cases, is more eerie, as the dolls appearance is somewhat like a distorted human, with oversized heads, unblinking eyes and exaggerated features. Clowns are also known to have been used as they are associated with happiness and slapstick humour but due to the over-use in horror films have lost the majority of their effect.

In 'Annabelle', the doll is a prominent part of the film, which starts off as what the family think is an ordinary doll but turns out to be haunted by its past owner. It clearly has distinguishable features such as the large grinning mouth and big eyes. In the first picture, it seems to fit in with the other dolls in the room, but at the same time is clearly larger and placed on the centre of the shelf shows its importance to the owner.

Keys and locks connote secrets and confinement, and are sometimes used in horror films. The more obvious use would be for locking doors, to keep someone in or similarly out of the room. They could also be used for locking away journals or trinket boxes which adds the sense of secrecy and keeps some of the ideas away from the audience, creating tension and mystery. 

In The Babadook, the main characters attempt to lock all of their doors in order to keep the 'Babadook' out. There are frequent shots of the doors being unlocked as well as shots of all the different keys that they have for all of the doors, suggesting that there are lots of entry points to their house and rooms.

Religious symbols are a key genre convention of psychological horror so are most commonly used and exaggerated throughout the film. Religion in general is associated with themes of life and death, as well as spirituality and good vs evil. The props used may be from Christianity, such as the crucifix and Bible which are the most common, but also satanic and voodoo. The use of religious symbols are usually to highlight to the audience why the antagonist is killing people, and how there may be an idea that they are possessed or doing it for 'God'. 

In 'The Devil Inside' there are lots of religious symbols such as crosses and crucifixes which are which are highlighted in the images below.