Textual analysis: Lights out

Lights out (2013)

Lights out is a Swedish short film, directed by David F. Sandberg that has become a feature length film because of how successful it was. It takes place in the home of a woman who is about to go to bed. However, her usual sleep routine has been disrupted due to the fact that as she switches the lights off, the woman sees a silhouette of another woman. Out of fear, the woman tapes the light switch and heads to bed, leaving the door slightly open. However, she then hears creaking and the hallway light turns off and rampant footsteps, hiding under the blanket. She then peeks out to find the bedroom door wide open, and the desk lamp plugged incorrectly, flickering. She then plugs it back, with everything reverting. She then sees the creature, who turns off the lamp, ending the film.

What made this short really effective is the lack of dialogue, the use of sound and the camerawork. The MES of the film is effective in which it is set in a natural setting, the home of a young woman. Usually, homes would be considered as a safe space for many people from the unknown, however for this short, it is not. This gives the audience an impression that no one is safe from the antagonist, even in their own home or anywhere that they may redeem as safe.

Another thing about the MES is the use of lighting, considering that the main theme of the short is related to lights. Within the film, lighting has been used especially as the protagonist switches on and off the lights and seeing as the antagonist appears only in the dark, the darkness makes it hard to see what the monster looks like, creating suspense for both the protagonist and the audience due to the idea in which we fear the unknown. Moreover, lighting has been used effectively when the protagonist's lamp starts flickering when she's hiding from the monster. This is usually an indicator that the monster is near, but it also puts the protagonist in a complicated situation because she will have to sort it out knowing that the monster is out there, and so this heightens the tension that has already been built.

The use of sound is particularly effective considering that there was barely any dialogue as most short films don't include much dialogue. This is because of shorts mainly concentrate on imagery to create more meaning; that without dialogue, the director is more likely to concentrate on their MES, camerawork and editing skills to execute the required plot effectively. Moreover, the use of SFX such as scratches and rampant footsteps helps the tension to build up mainly due to the fact that they are loud and sudden, making the audience more fearful of what is making the sound.

Looking at editing, the use of the short-reverse-shot between the woman and the monster gives the audience an impression of how unsure the main protagonist is of the situation, this is clearly evident as she continues to switch off and on the lights after seeing the antagonist for the first time. Moreover, the general edit of the short is continuous, it gives of a simple flow to the story as it progresses, allowing the tension to build up at a gradual pace without any major disturbances.

In terms of Camerawork, the use of a close up onto the hands of the woman as she reaches down the side of her bed to sort the flickering lights out, is effective due to the fact that we can see under her bed as her hand goes down. We can see how dark it is down there and knowing that antagonists usually appear in the dark gives us an impression in which we should be worried, because the possibility of the antagonist grabbing the protagonist's hands at that point is high. The tension built up then would have made the audience prepare themselves for a possible jump scare.

All in all, I quite like the camera shots used in this short and I may look at similar ideas for using a close up similar to this short. I also like the idea of how it was set inside the home of the protagonist because of the concept that no one is safe wherever they are. Personally, I feel that the film had done well with building up the tension and this is obviously evident because of how many awards it won and it got recognised to the point that it became a feature length, but also how creative it was in such a short time. It may not be my type of horror to watch, but I am willing to watch it again.