Rev. Graham Hess
 Merrill Hess
 Morgan Hess
 Bo Hess
 Officer Paski
 Ray Reddy

Morgan
BO

mise-en-scene: the arrangement of
scenery and properties to represent the
place where a play or movie is enacted.
(Setting of the Movie)

Setting: the time, place, physical details,
and circumstances in which a situation
occurs. Settings include the background,
atmosphere or environment in which
characters live and move, and usually
include physical characteristics of the
surroundings
A faded image of Merrill, Morgan and Bo.
 A baby monitor with flashing lights.
 A fuzzy screen/like a TV going out.
 Dim blue light
 After the Credits:
 A backyard/corn field/ old swing&table
 Photograph of the family

Bucks County Pennsylvania (USA)
 45 miles outside of Philadelphia
 We know this because the director shows
us.
 Late 1990’s/early 2000

› Cordless Phone

coming from a source outside story
space.

The opening song.

Piano music after the dog dies.

For example: The crickets in the corn field
or the dog barking outside of the house.

(5:51) Rev. Graham Hess is on the phone
expressing his concerns regarding the
crop circles. He is talking to Lee

The camera is placed higher than the
subject, often suggesting a God's-eye
view of helpless and vulnerable people.

5:08 – The Camera is looking down at the
Hess Family and the dogs. They look
helpless and vulnerable.

The camera is mounted on a nonmoving base and films while pivoting on
its axis along the line of the horizon from
left to right to right to left.

36:47

Rev. Goes into the corn field at night to
look for intruders.

A camera shot taken from a moving
dolly. Identify an example of a track
shot. (3:44)

Rev. Graham Hess and Merrill Hess are
running through the corn field in the very
1st scene of the movie. They can hear
the children screaming and the dogs
barking.

- A method of making a transition from
one shot to another by briefly
superimposing one image upon another
and then allowing the first image to
disappear. A dissolve is a stronger form
of transition than a cut and indicates a
distinct separation in action.

Rev. Graham Hess and Merrill Hess have
just spotted Bo, she is alone in the corn
field. She has been screaming.

Also, (11:47) after Morgan killed the dog.

Feel free to talk to your neighbour.
Conventions of the Horror Film: the
monster (Aliens) is the repressed horrors or
fears we have within ourselves and within
society.
 Suspense: How does the director Night
Shyamalan build suspense in the movie
Signs?


Find two scenes in the movie “Signs”
where the author uses this technique to
put the audience on the edge of their
seats even before any scary stuff even
happens.
Scene 1: (1:18) The aliens 1st attack the
house.
 Scene 2: (1:22) Morgan in front of Coal
Shoot.

Point of View: sometimes called “over the
shoulder shot”- the camera takes on the
perspective of the character’s eyes.
 A Reaction Point of View shot:
It is usually established by being positioned
between a shot of a character looking at
something, and a shot showing the
character's reaction.
1:22- We see Morgans reaction to the Alien
through the Rev. Eyes.
This enhances the fear of the unknown

Iconography
 Iconography is the representation of an
idea through an image:
 Iconography is an important aspect of
genre. We expect to see certain objects
on screen when we see a particular
genre, for example, in a Western, dusty
lonely roads, saloon bars, cowboy hats
and horses, jails, sheriffs badges, guns,
etc.; in a modern horror film, we expect
young girls, ‘normal’ objects, use of dark
and light and suspense.


It is old, haunted, coal shoot....

It reminds us of the classic haunted
house stories we heard when we were
children.
Bo does not want to drink the water
because it is dirty. (She is pure)
 The water kills the evil Alien because it is
pure.
 Ray Reddy thinks it is safe by the water.

In the film “The Open Spaces Between
Characters”, “The Repetition of Family
Portraits” and “The Empty Chairs” are all
symbols of “The Loss of Wife and Mother”.
Find an example of one of these three
symbols and write a brief description of
the scene.
 Family Portraits: at the very start of the
movie.
 Empty Chairs: 16:48


When the Rev. Is having a lapse in faith
the film fades out into one of his
memories of his wife.

Thus, the loss in faith is emphasized
through the use of fades.

The idea that a person may turn away
from faith but that faith does not
disappear is reinforced by the repetition
of the cross.
2:58
 48:53

The fact that aliens blend into the
background suggests that evil is
camouflaged in the familiar. In our
modern day society is evil camouflaged in
the familiar? If so, provide an example.
 38:00

Graham’s internal struggles are most
strongly illustrated through the use of light
and shadow. Find two examples in the
film where Graham is struggling internally.
Is the scene dark or light? Are there any
shadows?
 42:20- Rev. Talking about faith/luck and
his wife.
 1:10


Analyze the Alien Shot on the Roof:
Bo Tells Graham, “She doesn’t answer me
either,” Graham’s emotional state is
emphasized by what type of a shot?
Describe the shot.
-Long Shot of Alien on roof.....................
13:26

The image of the house in Morgan’s
alien book.

51:00

Create a storyboard for the “Alien
Attack Scene” on Morgan.

132:59