Frankenstein uses the same kind of shots but uses them in a very different way like the first close up is of frightened boat crew this scares the audience because the people on the screen are portraying fear also it is very fast paced to show the urgency of the scene. This scene is over very quickly but it is the dismissal of this scene that can be quite scary because you don’t know why that scene is important and the audience is scared of the unknown. Frankenstein also uses a long shot of the arctic tundra which makes the audience fear the unknown because you can see the same boat crew trying to move but finding it very difficult and nothing else but whiteness. This is all very mysterious but you know that something bad is going to happen its just working its way up to build tension. Both films use the same kind of shots but they use them in very different ways while sleepy hollow focuses on the landscape, Frankenstein focuses on the characters both interpret fear but they just make it seem very different.
The settings are quite different in sleepy hollow all through the film the scenes are quite dark and foggy while Frankenstein has a range of setting depending on the mood the director is trying to interpret. I find that Frankenstein’s use of setting is far more frightening than sleepy hollow because the style of the scenes change quite quickly and works with the unknown a lot which is more mysterious.
In sleepy hollow the director uses a strange eerie angelic voice against dark and deep music to frighten the audience it’s always a non-diegetic sound and you hear it mainly when something new and mysterious is coming into the film. The director mimics the gothic landscape here. The angelic voice is heard as crane walks into sleepy hollow. There is also some diegetic sounds like the thunder and lightening which is a gothic landscape, scenes lit only by lightening create tension and powerful visual effect. The director uses continuity editing, gradual scenic shots to show how sleepy hollow is black, bleak and deathly. The director uses this so the audience understands that sleepy hollow is an uninhabited lifeless village. The place is perfect to hide murderers.
Frankenstein has the same kind of idea but the voice isn’t eerie and angelic it’s eerie and hollow which can be just as frightening because they sound frightening. But this voice has no background music it is isolated and makes the impact more attention-grabbing. The music is all very dramatic it makes the audience frightened because the music makes bigger gestures. Frankenstein doesn’t use thunder and lightening in the same was as sleepy hollow it doesn’t light the scene but adds to the mysteriousness of it. Lightening is a typical gothic landscape but can be used in many different ways. The editing in Frankenstein is quite different because not every scene is dark and frightening. The director uses an establishing shot to show the house of Geneva. To signify the transition from present to past this lulls the audience into a false sense of security.
Costumes in sleepy hollow are all very simple, most costumes are dark but there is the occasional brighter costume to show purity in this character. The make-up is all very pale foundation and quite dark hair again there is the occasional character that has lighter hair to show purity. The dead bodies are quite believable because there is no head so it is easier to make them realistic. The props are used quite well like the optical allusion which is recurring in the film that symbolises life.
Costumes in Frankenstein are very different they are all very intricately detailed and quite pale colours but as the film gets darker so does the costumes. All through the film the make-up is very normal and the hair is left normally for the most part. There aren’t really dead bodies but there is Frankenstein who has very realistic make-up and looks like somebody who is made out of bits and pieces. There aren’t really props that repeatedly turn up in this film but the equipment victor uses is quite realistic.
Both films are lit in the same way they are mainly lit by candles which created a gloomy atmosphere. Some scenes in both films are shot in darkness only being lit by light coming from the houses, the moon and sometimes lightning. This creates a very sinister atmosphere in both films.
Both directors used the same techniques to scare us but portrayed them in very different ways. Sleepy hollow uses the gothic genre mixed with comedy while Frankenstein is more dark and sinister. Both films frighten the audience by using the unknown and stereotypical gothic scenes. These can scare the audience because they are dark and ominous.