Critical Theory in a Digital Age, CCU, ENGL 483 2017

Uncanny Movie Effects

Flatliners tries to draw out as many uncanny effects as possible in the film. The lighting of the movie is one of the first things that tries to draw the uncanny feeling. Throughout the movie, most of the scenes are not filled with bright lights. Even when it is daytime, there is some light that shows what time of day it is, but there is also a dark undertone which makes the day look gloomy. Majority of the movie is in a midnight blue lighting During the scenes that take place at night, there is also no lighting that brightens up the room. The lights that are on gives a blue, purple, or red accent, which makes the movie seem more creepy. The medical school that the students go to is also very run down. It looks like the school is in an abandoned building. There is graffiti on the walls, the bathrooms look out of date, and there is not to much lighting when it is time for them to practice surgery by operating on dead people. The empty building that the students use to do their experiment is also another abandoned building. The building has ancient statues, statues of gargoyles, and cobwebs everywhere. These effects allow people to produce strange feelings because of what the eyes see. 

The sounds that are heard from the movie also gives the viewer an uncanny feeling. The background music that plays during some of the scenes are very dreadful. The notes drag and makes the songs sound really slow. There is also times when the music is really intense. The intense music prepares the viewers for something that is important in the movie, or that something bad is about to happen. Normally when the music is intense in this film, the actors began to pant and breath heavy as well. Other sounds that make the movie uncanny are screams and loud bangs that come out of nowhere. Sight and sound is key to drawing the uncanny feeling in the film. 

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