Synthesizing the Stylistic Choices of Multiple Directors

Synthesizing the Stylistic Choices of Multiple Directors

     In class today, we used a chart to analyze two movie scenes. These scenes were the "Shoot Her" scene from Jurassic Park and the beginning scene from Get Out. The chart was organized in a way that focused on the camera, lights, and sound. These are my charts:

Director’s Choices: Jurassic Park

Camera: Doesn’t reveal the monster, but shows its power.

Lights: Dark lighting.

Sound: Deep, dramatic music.

Director’s Choices: Get Out

Camera: Reveals and hides information to enhance the fear factor.

Lights: Dark lighting.

Sound: Juxtaposing music.

     After we had analyzed these scenes we were asked to synthesize the two texts to...

• Nonfiction
• Show how directors use different styles to achieve successful (or unsuccessful) horror.
• Argue for one director's superiority over the other.


• ???
• Fiction
• Write the opening scene of Our Class: The Horror Movie.
• Describe season one of The Netflix Original Horror Show: Our Class.
• ???
This is my group's synthesis:

Both scenes, the “shoot her” scene from Jurassic Park and the beginning scene from Get Out, convey horror very well, however they use different stylistic techniques. As the scene from Jurassic Park opens, the music conveys a spooky vibe, but it changes into dramatic action music. The music in Get Out is very different. It changes from unsettlingly happy music to sporadic violin chords. The lighting in both films is low key, however, Get Out maintains the low key lighting. In contrast, Jurassic Park shows periodic flashes of bright light, making the scene very busy. The camera usage is similar in a way between the pieces. The scene from Jurassic Park never directly shows the threat entirely, just small bits. In Get Out the person is never show directly either, and the car is out of focus for half the time in the scene. The goals of the directors were both successful in achieving fear, but they are different from each other in most ways.


Being able to synthesize texts is a very important skill. Understanding why certain directors made certain choices broadens our ability to critique film. This also sets us up for making quality allusions to other texts.