According to Stephen King, people crave horror movies to renew our sense of normality and to satisfy the evil in us (King3). Films such as Roman Polanski's, Rosemary's Baby captures a change in the quotidian as Rosemary experience an encounter with the devil. The movie begins with a young couple, Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse, who rented an apartment in Manhattan. Rosemary's husband, Guy, is a rising actor, who has been part of several T.V. commercials but nothing big. Her husband's ambitions of becoming a well-known actor lead him into making a deal with the devil. Guy in exchange for fame agrees to give his wife and his first son to Satan. The use of lighting and the composition of the frames reveal the main character traits.
In the beginning of the of the movie as Rosemary and Guy are moving into the new apartment, the only light the audience sees is the light coming in through the window. The lack of light represents the absence of the divine and the presence of evil. The darkness gives the audience a sense of terror. The light coming from the back window provides Rosemary with a glow. On the other hand, Guy is mostly in the shadow with minimal light. The lighting suggests a divine and naive touch to Rosemary. In contrast to Rosemary's glow, Guy being displayed in half light which is an indication of an inner conflict in the character. The light used to shoot this scene provides the viewer with an insight to the difference in nature between Rosemary and Guy. The lighting provides a clue to the viewer of what will later become the conflict of the film.
In addition to the lighting, the composition of this frame provides the viewer further details about the main characters. In this scene, the viewer can see Guy up while rosemary is kneeling down unpacking. Guy being in the foreground of the scene gives him a sense of dominance over Rosemary who is in the background. The areas near the bottom of the frame in such Rosemary is placed suggests vulnerability in the character (Giannetti 53).
