Analysis of Clip 4

ANALYZING MISE EN SCENE

The movie is set in some American mountains, although the location shown in this clip is the cave which they were trapped in. Its fits in with the whole feel of the clip, since it is very dark and difficult for viewers to make sense of what they are being shown. As well as this, the shot showing the large open space is almost used as a huge revelation about where they are in. Not only that, but this shot is similar to the shot of the group in the room after they were caved in, showing the audience that their situation is escalating.

Location

Costume

As expected, the group is wearing the suitable cave exploration gear; helmets and track suit styled flexible clothing to make movement easier. To make the movie seem more believable, the girls are seen without any make up and as minimalistic as possible. Although the movie makes it seem as though not much time has passed in the cave, the girls hairs have been made to look dirty and unclean due to the oily look. The crawlers have also been made using prosthetics and a large amount of makeup, in order to successfully transform a human into animalistic creatures, with the right features like slimy skin and pointy ears.

Lighting

Lighting in the Descent is used in a way that makes the viewer wonder what is truly going on in the scene, due to how dark it is. Therefore, this enhances the relief of having the light that is being emitted from the flares and the light from their torches. The sequence also interprets the camera’s night vision feature into the shot, which puts the audience in the characters shoes and enhances the shock of the scene. The night vision is also very effective in showing realism.

Props

There are a variety of props shown throughout the sequence such as ropes, pick axes, torches and the bones spread around the floor in the large open room. These small touches to the shots give a more realistic feel of danger and death around the area, subconsciously informing the audience that nobody is safe in the scene. The pick axes are also given a lot of attention from close ups, which hint at them being the saviors of the characters that wield them.

Acting

Like any horror movie, actors are made to act as though they are scared and in danger, and its usually portrayed through screaming. However, the producers went a step further to achieve a realistic reaction by isolating the female cast from the male cast that played the ‘crawlers’. This in turn would cause the girls to react to the creatures as they would if they were real, making a more believable performance. On the other hand, the crawler’s acting was realistic enough to question whether they were actually the monsters they were made to look like, through their outstanding performance.