Attic Panic

Attic Panic - Short horror film from David F. Sandberg on Vimeo.

Mise en scene
Editing
Sound
Camera

Media Language

The sequence begins with non-diegetic sound of strong, aggressive wind. The title fades onto the center of the screen in big black font on a grey background which looks like it could be a wall.











There is a fade to black and diegetic sound of a door opening as it fades into the next shot where the setting looks like it is a storage room. There is low key lighting to suit the horror genre. The camera moves across and stops as we are introduced to our first character (LS) who is a female. There is diegetic sound of metal clashing against each other as she shuts the storage door and puts a padlock on it. She turns to open the main door however it is locked. It cuts to a close up of the women from a side angle and her facial expression is confused as she attempts to open the door. There is an eyeline match to the handle. There is cut to a close up of her hands on the handle of the door as she continuously tugs on it. It cuts to a close up of the back of her head, there is diegetic sound of a squeaking noise and the women turns her head. Her facial expression is confused as she walks over to where the noise came from. It cuts to a POV shot, and she is looking through the glass (MS). Her eyes are squinting which creates spectator positioning as we're wondering if she has seen something/someone.














It cuts to a POV shot from the womens perspective of a ghost-like figure wobbling (MS) and back to the women as she hears a high pitched noise (off-screen diegetic sound) and looks above her. It cuts to a close up of a light switch where the high pitched creaking noises continue, and back to the female character. It cuts again to the white ghost-figure which moves.














It cuts back to her who jumps back in shock and gasps (on-screen diegetic sound).
















It cuts back to the light which suddenly turns off, creating an enigma code as we can predict something sinister will happen now she is in the darkness. It cuts to glass falling and smashing the floor, with on-screen diegetic noise of it smashing which echos to add terror. It cuts to the ghost figure which moves so that we can no longer see it anymore, and back to a high angle BMS of the female character as she steps back in a panic.












There is off-screen diegetic squeaking sounds as she turns her head, and there is an eye line match to the light. The camera zooms in closer to the light as the squeaking continues. There is non-diegetic sound which sounds like an air-aid siren. It cuts back to the female character and the camera moves as she walks towards it. It then cuts to a close up of her her trying to reach the light.















There is on-screen diegetic sound of her heavy breathing and panting in desperation. It cuts back to her as she climbs onto a ladder (MS) and cuts back to the light as she reaches and touches the bulb.












She quickly takes her hand away as it's too hot from the heat and there's diegetic sound of her gasping in pain. She puts her hand back on the bulb and tries to unscrew it. It cuts back to her face (CU) which is full of concentration as she tries to unscrew the bulb. There is diegetic sound of something moving on the other side of the room which makes her quickly turn her head the other way and there is an eye line match to another light switching off; meaning there is even less lighting. Frantically, she jumps down from the ladder and the camera tracks her as she runs to the door and attempts to get out in desperation, looking behind her. The door doesn't open so she turns to face the camera (BMS) and gets her keys out to unlock the storage door she previously locked. It cuts to the white figure appearing, and back to the women as she opens the storage door and gets inside it. It cuts to a CU of her hands trying to put the padlock on the door, then cuts to her face with her keys in her mouth, looking around the room paranoid. Her facial expression look distressed and terrified as she desperately tries to put the padlock on.














It cuts to a high angle BMS of her and she backs away from the door. The white figure appears in front of the camera, blocking the female character. It cuts to a CU of her as she looks at the white figure helplessly. It cuts to a POV shot of the white ghost figure standing outside the door facing the female character.













There is a CU as the figure puts its hand up on the other side of the door and then puts its fingers through the bar.














 It cuts to a CU of the female character kicking the ghost figures hand with on-screen diegetic music of a loud crash as her foot makes contact with the door.












It cuts back to her face and back to the ghost figure as she grabs the white sheet and pulls it towards her (CU).











It cuts to a CU of her face as she looks at the white figure, scared, shocked and curious at what is beneath the sheet. It cuts back to the ghost figure (BMS) as the sheet is being pulled off. There is a shot reverse shot sequence as it cuts back to a CU of her hands pulling the sheet towards her. This creates suspense and spectator positioning as the spectator is unaware of what is under the sheet and what they want. It cuts back to her face with an eyeline match to the white ghost-figure, and back to the white ghost figure as the sheet is nearly pulled off. The sheet is completely pulled off and drops to the floor with nothing underneath it.















It cuts back to the female character who looks around confused (CU). There is a cut to a CU of her feet (eye level) where she leaves the sheet behind her. She walks forward and there is on-screen diegetic sound of her footsteps. It cuts to the female character who is looking round the room silently (ECU). There is a cut where we see the white sheet rise and it cuts back to the female character when there is a creaking noise (off-screen diegetic sound). There is an eyeline match to something that we cant' see as she quickly walks closer to the door and is looking up with a panicked facial expression. It cuts to a light, which is what she was looking at. It cuts back to the female character(CU) who is composed to the right of the frame. There is non-diegetic scary sound which becomes louder as the white ghost figure rises behind her.











She turns around quickly and then it cuts to a black screen where we wear off-screen diegetic sound of smashed glass. Credits appear on a black screen in white font in the centre of the page.

Representation

Attic Panic represents femininity in the way that it supports the stereotype as the protagonist finds herself helpless and vulnerable. However, it rejects the stereotype that girls are submissive and timid as she is courageous and brave when she kicks the hand of the ghost-figure.

Narrative 

David Bordwell and Kristen Thompsons theory:
The short film is presented in a linear structure as it is in chronological order. The plot is that the female character is in a storage room and a ghost-figure targets her. The story isn't presented here which adds to the enigma as it leaves questions for the spectator such as why she is there? Is it her place of occupation?

Todorov's theory:

• Equilibrium
• Disruption
• Confrontation
• Resolution
• New Equilibrium established  

This theory doesn't fit with the film Attic Panic, similarly to most short films. There isn't a new equilibrium established due to the fact that the film ends on a cliffhanger, as we're unaware as to what has happened to the female character - although our imagination leads us to think that she is dead. This builds to the enigma of the story which leads me to Roland Barthes theory.

Roland Barthes:
Roland Barthes is a Structuralist literacy theorist whose work is very influential. He identified narrative codes such as enigma codes and action codes. This is presented in this short film - the enigma code is conveyed throughout the sequence as there is spectator positioning such as why is the women there? What is under the white sheet?
Action codes are also presented, such as the light turning off or the glass smashing on the floor. This hints to the spectator that something is going to happen, without giving away what it is.

Genre:
The genre of Attic Panic is horror. This is shown through semantic codes often used in thrillers such as lights suddenly turning off, smashed glass, ghost-figures, low-key lighting, ect. Rick Altman introduced the theory of semantic codes, and expanded by talking about syntactic codes. A syntactic code in this horror would be the ending, where it cuts to a black screen and there is off-screen diegetic sound of smashed glass. This is a typical convention for a horror.