Scares of It Follows

    It Follows is a horror film that was designed to scare it's audience. The story follows a victim that acquired an entity that kills after reaching the victim. Every aspect of the film, from the story to the setting, creates the perfect area to create tension through music and camera focus. Several elements, from the special effects of the makeup, camera work, and music play onto the emotions of the viewer. 

    The makeup in this film does wonders for the shots of the dead figure. We see several people that portray the monster, or ghost that chases the victim. Most of these figures are unsensored, or different versions of what they would be in real life. Specifically, they had little clothes, heavy bags, or dark eyes. Two figures that stick out are the little boy and the tall man that walks in the bedroom behind the friend. Both have dark eyes and dark makeup that draw the viewer to the eye. This makeup lets the viewer know that this is in fact the entity that continues to haunt the victim. The viewer can recognize this from just the makeup. 

    The camera work on this movie was consistent and worked in favor of the story. Blurry shots worked incredibly well in this story when required. For most of the figures, the camera would be focused in on the main person, the victim, and sometimes we could see just a blurry figure walking somewhere behind towards them. One specific scene that I really loved was on the beach. Everyone was having a good time, and then suddenly behind the main victim we see a figure slowly walking towards her. It totally kept viewers on the edge of their seat wanting to give a sort of heads up. While the viewer could see it, the fear of when the character does lingers. This made for very effective buildups to the actual scare when they got close. 

    The music throughout the entire film is used to build tension and create drama. Several lines of the eerie noises that sound electronic build the climax for the scary point in the film. There are several times right before the monster reaches, or gets close to the victim that music is used to build up tension for the right moment. When the monster is seen walking in to the neighbors house, and when the girl goes in, there is music to relate the emotions of the girl to the viewer. Music is used to convey the tension and feelings of the victim to the viewer. That is why music is so effective.

    It Follows was a movie that I had never seen before. For a good horror film, there has the be the fear of the unknown, tension, and surprise. This move covers all three aspects for me through the use of makeup, camera work, and music. Overall, every aspect of this film worked together to create an easily understood storyline that effectively inflicted a sense of fear from the viewer.