The Moonlight Man - Short Horror Film Analysis

For this analysis, I'm using an actual short horror film as opposed to a horror parody like mine will be. I feel this will be extremely useful to me as I'll be able to pick out some of the cliché and overused features of the film and parody them within my own film. Being able to parody these points is the main goal of my project.


The first thing I noticed is the dark and gloomy atmosphere of not only the setting, but the typography and tone in general. This is obviously going to be common in a horror film, but it's an element that needs to be added. If I were to record in daylight in a seemingly safe area, it wouldn't have the same effect as recording at night in a woods. The basis of every horror film is the tone, and this is set usually by the setting and lighting of each scene. The setting of a horror almost becomes a character in itself, setting the mood for everything that happens.


Another thing I'll go over is the enigma associated with the antagonist in the short film. The main character is shown on camera a lot, almost every shot is the female with close ups, medium and long shots making her relatable and easy to follow as a character. The antagonist, however is very rarely shown and its' presence is only clear due to the fact that the main character is afraid and there are small hints that there is something wrong. This is shown in specific scenes like the doors of her car locking by themselves. This doesn't overtly show the antagonist, but makes the audience aware that he is there and is a threat to the character. I think this is what makes a horror film scary. Not disturbing or scary imagery or music, but the atmosphere these things create. In my own production I will aim to create a scary atmosphere along with a ridiculous or silly plot line, hopefully creating humour.


One more thing I noticed is the use of audio throughout the scene. There is a lot of ambient sounds like things you would regularly hear in a city, perhaps giving the character some sort of security. This is mixed with an ambient, scary background noise that makes the audience feel nervous for the character as if there is obviously something wrong in the scene. This, mixed with the occasional shot with the frightening antagonist makes for quite a spooky atmosphere. Like the area she's in should be safe but isn't. A lot of horror directors actually aim to do this. Taking a seemingly safe and secure place and associating it with horror makes people nervous.


All of these elements are very useful to me as I'll be able to use them in an unconventional way with an unconventional story hopefully making my own short film scary as well as humorous.