Gothic Horror: Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro is used by artists and cinematographers all around the world and they are used to create a shadowy effect and show strong contrasts between light and dark.  It is often used to make a dramatic and noticeable effects in movies.

This picture is taken by the 1922 film, Nosferatu.  Chiaroscuro is used here to create an effect in the movie but it also helps create an effect on the audience.  The effect this picture has is it helps create a scarier atmosphere.  It makes the audience question what is going to happen next and it also confuses the audience as they cannot see Nosferatu's facial expression so they cannot figure out how he is feeling.  Shadows are usually a fear that people have when they can see them in the dark so this picture could highlight people's fears.

Another famous example of Chiaroscuro being used in movies is in the film Frankenstein.

The use of chiaroscuro here highlights the monster's features.  It makes the monster look a lot scarier than he is and it creates the dark, evil atmosphere.  This makes the picture scarier and the fact that you cannot see into his eyes as they just look white.  The monster being in the dark also highlights the audience's fears as they would be scared of being in the dark and having monsters under the bed.  

Chiaroscuro seems to be used mainly in horror films that were made in the 1920s.  I believe that they made a scarier effect and a more tense atmosphere and I believe that they scared the audience more.