Genre research; IT

  Hello! The next step in my genre research is to watch and breakdown a film in our genre. Since my genre is horror I chose the movie IT which came out in 2017 and is by Stephen King. This film just like any other has it's own conventions, mis en scene, and elements. The elements for this film would include 8 main characters: Richie, It, Bill, Beverly, Eddie, Stanley, and Ben. The main element in this horror film is eliciting fear. The film incorporates suspense and mystery as well. Violence and pop outs as well is pretty common in this film. And at times a moment of silence to signify something is about to happen. I enjoy the pop outs and the mystery because I feel as though it draws me more into the movie. However, the violence is probably one of my least favorite elements of this movie, luckily there wasn't that much. Most of the fear provoking scenes were done through more creepy than violent visuals. Some common camera angles in this film are lots of eye levels, over the shoulder, low angle, and high angle. Some common editing in IT is flashbacks of Georgie, jump cuts from character to character, it has a high pace editing which creates a sense of urgency for the conflict of the killer clown to be resolved. Cut aways were also shown a  lot so that the viewer could see the characters reaction. For sound, the main of course was dialogue but the creators of this piece also put in background music in some parts to help build tension. Digetic sound was shown a lot such as from stepping in nature, rain water, or wind. But non-digetic was common too, particularly from the sounds made from the villain. IT's mis en scene can be organized through the abbreviation C.L.A.M.P.S. C for costumes. The wardrobe in this film is 80s inspired clothing for all of the characters. The clown , IT, costume was a huge white classic circus inspired costume with matching boots. The lightning in this film is overall low and gloomy which helps build the mood of eeriness. The actors are a group of teenagers who all live in the same town and a man who plays the part of the demon clown. Parents of the children are briefly shown as well. Makeup is only dramatic for IT seeing as though he is the monster clown so he needs that extra effect from makeup while the majority of the characters not really. A main prop used in this film and is known as a type of signature is a single red balloon. Finally, this horror is set in Derry, Maine.