Crimson Peak clip Analysis

Crimson Peak Clip Analysis

 

The clip from Guillermo Del Toro’s Crimson Peak opens with a mid-shot of Mia Wasikowska’s character, Edith, and the camera begins a slow zoom out. In this shot there is low key lighting and the only thing lighting up the screen is the Blonde hair of Edith as she wakes up in a cold sweat. Throughout this opening the use of non-diegetic sounds is overwhelming the diegetic sounds as although we can hear a dog bark in the distance, a louder drone of eerie music is heard implying that something creepy is going on in the house. The genre of this movie is a Gothic Horror / thriller so already from the low key lighting and the creepy non diegetic soundtrack, a clear genre is established just 10 seconds into the clip.

As she gets out of bed the camera tilts upwards from focusing on the dog running towards her, up to a close up of her holding a candelabra as she walks out of her room. The camera then tracks 90 degrees around Edith to focus on her entering the walkway. A diegetic sound of a door creaking is hear and so the camera tracks another 90 degrees to follow Edith as she illuminates the room with only a set of 4 candles. As Edith walks through to a new room, the camera dollies forwards with her, all the while all that can be heard is the dog barking, and the non-diegetic sounds of ‘the house’ and how the wind may be playing tricks on her. As Edith speaks out for someone, her voice falls flat in the house slightly, this infers that no one is around and she is all alone, which as a viewer can make the feel similar to Edith and tension is beginning to build. There is still a maintained continuous camera shot throughout which is a very effective method of filming in my opinion and it shows a higher level of camera technique, albeit hard to shoot sometimes if one thing is out of place or time it will have to be re shot. The beauty of this continuous shot is that it develops the scene and we really get a feel for how big and empty this house is.

As the shot progresses diegetic sounds can be heard throughout making Edith feel on edge, and the higher frequency of camera turns implies this as well. The glow of the candles is still present however a tall window is seen at the end of the corridor however it only illuminates part of the house and not the areas around Edith, which suggests the horror lies within you just have to look further. The continuous shot ends when Edith opens the door she believes the dog is behind and as she whispers to herself, the creak of the door opening loudens the atmosphere. Added to this, there is then a long shot of Edith from the perspective of looking over the dog at a low angle shot. The visual scale of this is interesting as it effectively captures the sense of feeling alone and weak within this house.

As soon as Edith realises it’s not the dog in the room, a zoom close up shot occurs and suddenly a quick edit to a mid-shot of a creature, Edith and the candles is on screen. While this may have been used to have a jump scare effect, it also brings in a contrast to the previously used colours. No longer are the main colours white, black and a glowing yellow, we have a blood red coloured creature which could be an implication of future events to come, so now we are on edge as an audience as well as Edith because she is actually experiencing this.

As she re opens the door she finds nothing but a dusty cupboard, however there is a very interesting extreme long shot of looking past the dog who is sat silently staring at Edith while she investigates the cupboard. In this shot a very slow but present zoom is apparent which maintains a build-up of suspense and there is only the blue shine from the window and the glow of candles to highlight this shot. As a director, Del Toro has chosen to use this because it further exaggerates the main film genres and if there was a bright light shining throughout, the film would have a very different feel to it, straying from the obvious gothic horror conventions.