Coffer - Genre Analysis

Short Film - 'Coffer' by David Sandberg and Lotta Losten

'Coffer' s another short film created and directed by David Sandberg and Lotta Losten, a coffer is a strongbox or small chest for holding valuables, which is the center object for this short film. In most horror films it's become a common convention to use an item such as a chest or doll to be possessed o a gateway, for example in the prequel to the 'Conjuring', 'Annabel' the subject of the film was a doll that was inhabited/possessed, these household object help store fear to the audience as these normally harmless objects become the stuff of nightmares, successful films make the audience members actual fear these objects in real life as a result of this.

Again like the previous short film the directors have chosen to use text that appears as hand written chalk, this could suggest that this director is an auteurs as they have chosen to use the same style again. Looking at the semiotics, first the synatic is the chalk writing of 'Coffer', but it represents the title of the short film, and is symbolic of horror films as I explained in the previous analysis.
The firsts scene is a woman sitting down reading  book setting the scene for the rest of the short film, here it seems calm and relaxed this engages the audience making them have their guard down for the horror film as the rest of the short film contrasts this tone.

The camera then transitions over to the coffer as it's making contrapuntal sound, as if something was trying to climb out, this makes the main character aware and confused as she begins to approach the coffer, this also allows the audience to make their own theory as to what is in the coffer, there is only one lamp in in this short keeping the set lit, this causes a shadow to be cast over the coffer, this shadow adds another layer of depth to the scene as the dark makes it appear more mysterious, as the dark is a prime example of horror film conventions.

The next shot is a close up of the actresses face displaying her confusion as she slowly makes her way to the coffer, she appears jittery, this causes the audience to be engaged in the film feeling the same emotions as the character.
This is similar to the previous short film that I has analysed using the same narrative and story telling both short films use the same actress that is interrupted by an unusual/supernatural event, in this case the sounds coming out of the coffer, and it 'Lights Out' it's the woman in the shadows, both short horror films then have the woman attempt to hide from the creature before a jump scare occurs, this is a plot line that both short films have followed but have different events, locations and scares, a lot of directors do this using similar plot lines but change various things in the film, to the causal audience member they won't notice this therefore appealing to a mass audience however horror fanatics pay attention to these details a criticise films for using the same formula over and over again.
The next short is of the coffer again however this time it's slightly open with a close up shot on it, to represent the woman getting closer to the coffer this again engages the audience as they feel they are in the scene, almost making it a P.O.V. camera shot.

The woman can now be seen in a wide shot sitting on the coffer in an attempt to keep it shut before running away from it allowing it to open up and continue the plot of the story, tension builds as the audience expects something to jump out however it has not.

The next shot gives the audience a direct view of whats inside the coffer as it appears to have a very deep hole going through the floor with a pitch black bottom this helps to create tension as the audience can't see the bottom or what is in the coffer, this additional element of mystery was used in other horror films such as 'The Hole' which did a similar effect. The director used a crab shot from within the coffer to show the expressions on the characters face as she peered over the edge of the coffer to look inside. The next shot is off the side of her face displaying her emotions to the audience as she looks into the coffer before a contrapuntal sound accompanied by a hand grabbing her face, this jump scare is really effective as the director has had a plethora of opportunities to scare the audience but hasn't. The various anticlimax's causes the audiences guard to drop as they aren't anticipating a jump scare.

A black hand reaches out grabbing the woman's face pulling her into the coffer never to be seen again.
The camera then transition to inside the coffer where a dark figure can be seen emerging from the coffer before it cuts to the credits, leaving the short film on a cliff hanger.