DanielleEssay

Fear in //The Ward// [] - link to the movie

//The Ward //, directed by John Carpenter, is a film designed to thrill and scare its audience. The premise of this film is that the ghost of Alice, a previous resident of the ward, is out to get the girls and slowly pick them off one by one. Fear and suspense is invoked in the viewer through not knowing when or where Alice is going to show up next, or who her next victim is. While this film is not a classic, it does use many cinematic features to thrill and scare its audience. A particularly well done sequence of shots to induce fear in the viewers is found at 0:22:50 – 0:23:45. While this sequence of shots is short, many cinematography aspects (lighting, off screen space, and discontinuity being the main ones) are used to put the viewer at the edge of their seat in fear and suspense.  The sequence starts off with Emily, Sarah, Iris, and Zoey dancing while Kristen watches them. The scene is set in fairly low light with low-key lighting. This, combined with the storm that can be seen outside the window sets up the sequence of shots that are going to follow. The low-key lighting creates a sort of discontinuity, which does not allow the viewer to settle down and feel completely comfortable with the setting and the events that are taking place. Nor does it allow the viewer to completely focus in and take in every detail that is happening; again, adding the suspense and thrill. The storm happening outside, indicated by the lightening seen through the window, is often the form of weather used to indicate impending doom on the characters. This is something viewers are conditioned to and begin to expect something unexpected or bad to happen during the storm. 

At this point in film Alice has already been introduced and viewers are aware to be watching for her. Her presence is foreshadowed though the long shot that begins at 0:23:03 that then slowly zooms in closer to the girls; almost as if someone is silently watching them and walking closer towards them. This further puts the viewer on edge as they have the point of view that allows them to be aware of an entity approaching while the girls remain completely oblivious as to what is taking place. Again, this is filmed in low light, giving the setting a spooky feel that invites the viewer to feel the suspense and anticipation of what is about to happen.  Lighting is also used in //The Ward// to indicate the evil, malevolent force that is at hand. Though having the entire film shot in fairly low light with low- key lighting and then switching to almost no lighting whenever Alice shows up, Carpenter is setting the viewer up to feel the suspense and chills. Low to no lighting often indicates evil or uncertainty or something bad. In this film, and the example sequence of shots, Carpenter is playing off the people’s fear of the dark and the fear that something will pop out and get them. Except, here in this sequence and in the film, he makes the viewer’s fear become a reality in the story world; thus putting the viewer on edge in suspense and fear, and even a little uncomfortable in their in surroundings in the “real” world. Discontinuity is yet another effect lighting has on the film and the viewer. This typically only occurs when Alice shows up, as demonstrated in this series of shots. When the screen goes completely dark, especially if it immediately follows a bright flash of lightening, then the viewer’s eyes cannot adjust that quickly to the differences of light; leaving the viewer dazed and disoriented. The camera also often changes positions and angels, leaving the viewer feeling jumbled as they quickly scramble to figure out where they are in the room, and where exactly they have been moved to. Finally, the quick difference form light to dark startles and strikes fear in the viewer through offering sudden and unexpected images for a brief second. For example, in a flash of lightening the viewer can see Alice sneaking up on one of the girls, and in another flash of lightening Alice is facing the viewer and staring. These sudden occurrences of Alice are amidst a series of shots of the girls, making it so that in the instances that Alice does appear, the viewer is not expecting it. The film’s main feature in this sequence of shots, though, is the length of the shots and the discontinuity the viewer then experiences because of it. The next series of shots are shots that last about a seconds worth of time before it switches to another shot. As in lighting, this very quick series of shots disorients the viewer and keeps them on the edge of their seat, as well as surprises them with random shots of Alice. The difference between this and the lighting is the type of shot used for the quick shots. Carpenter startles his viewers through using long shots or medium when showing Iris, Kristen, Emily, Sarah, and Zoey. However, when Carpenter shows Alice he uses an extreme close- up her eye and medium close- ups of her, with Alice always closest to the camera. This startles the viewer and puts them on edge in suspense through startling them with a closer image of Alice than they were expecting. The use of off- screen space is the final ingredient to the cinematography that is used in this sequence of shots. The viewer is shown quick flashes of Alice, letting the viewer know that she is there. However, the medium close up shots do not allow the viewer to keep track of where Alice is. Not knowing where Alice is and if she is going to cause any harm to Emily, Sarah, Iris, Zoey, or Kristen adds to the suspense and the thrill of the sequence. The technique of off- screen film space and not allowing the viewer to keep track of all the characters in the room is used frequently throughout the movie to continue adding to the suspense and thrill of the film. //The Ward // is not a classic film that will survive the ages of time, however it did succeed in providing a suspenseful film that sends chills down the viewer’s spine. John Carpenter was able to provide this enthralling viewing experience for his audience through various techniques in cinematography. The meat of the techniques used were lighting, off- screen space, and discontinuity. Low- key lighting, extremely quick shots, and not being able to keep track of where a character is due to off- screen space are were carefully made decisions by Carpenter to provide the best viewing experience that he could for his viewers. Throughout this scene and the movie Carpenter remained diligent with his cinematography to keep his viewers on the edge of their seat.