What we don't see in monsters

         Hello again! Today, we're gonna be researching techniques in horror/action/any movie with a focus on big things. Are you ready? Neither am I, but let's get started.

        I'd first like to name a few of the objectively best horror movies (and you aren't allowed to disagree). Alien (1979), A Quiet Place (2018), Jaws (1975), The Cabin in the Woods (2011), and Reign of Fire (2002) are among the best, both in the amount of detail and creativity put into composition as well as the astounding effort put into having everything come out the way it did. I will try to not talk too much, but if you appreciate horror and good filmmaking, check those out, as each film includes the techniques I will talk about in this post.

        To start with a very well-known example, we'll take a look at Jaws. We all know it was a scary movie and not because of what was shown, but rather what wasn't shown. The lack of the shark in many scenes could be blamed on mechanical malfunctions (who knew it was a robot?) and a comparatively low budget, but because of the movie's pacing and unique approach, the substitution of any shark shot with a POV did not seem forced, and played into the movie's elements perfectly. When watching the clip below, notice how infrequently the shark appears, and when it is shown, it is usually obstructed by something, such as blood, darkness, a cage, or the edge of the frame. This obstruction and framing makes it seem like we are seeing something tangible, that is able to interact with the environment, while at the same time making the subject much more threatening and massive.

        To hit a higher word count and help you understand these concepts a bit more, here are some more examples. Remember that both techniques can be used seperately, or joined together to create any sort of shot.

        We very clearly see how massive the dragon is in Game of Thrones, but not because of a size reference. If you are able to recall the Jaws scene you just saw; how many shots included a full view of the shark? Not many. When you obstruct something that the audience clearly knows is larger than normal, said thing appears to be much larger. Similarly to how a low or high angle shot makes a subject appear larger or smaller, cutting out parts of an already massive thing makes it seem even larger.

        In this shot from Pacific Rim, the kaijus are given a sense of size by the comparison to the surrounding buildings, but the focus of the shot is the occlusion that is happening. While we know that kaijus aren't real (yet), we see that they are real at last in the movie, given how they interact with the environment and other physics. The same technique was used in Jaws, as the shark was hidden behind the cage and other elements in the scene.

        Obviously there are more differences and specifics to these techniques, such as some characters being physically real, while others are CG, but the incorporation of occlusion and framing remain the same. I will eventually go over the incorporation of these techniques in both a real and virtual environment, but I will leave you with an overall view on occlusion and framing for now. Until next time.