Jordan Peele: Redefining Horror One Movie At A Time
Written by Jahnaya Peyton
Since his shift from acting to directing, Jordan Peele has begun to redefine horror — movie by movie, with his cinematic trademarks. With each of his films, he sets a tone using unique filming techniques, unpredictable storylines, and a sense of psychological discomfort that his shots invoke. Peele makes sure to keep similar themes present in his works that not only define his brand, but causes audiences to associate him with works that include these themes.
“I think what people are going to find in Us is that, much like in Get Out, I’m inspired by many different subgenres of horror. I really tried to make something that incorporates what I love about those and sort of steps into its own, new subgenre.” — Jordan Peele
In each of his movies, Get Out (2017), Us (2019), and Nope (2022), Jordan Peele sets up a similar structure in storytelling. Peele makes sure to set a tone of psychological discomfort for audiences before ever introducing the antagonist. He uses color, audio, and shot direction to give the sense that something is off about a set of characters or a situation. In Get Out, it’s the ominous silence that hovers over each interaction, in Us, it’s the eerie familiarity of the family, in Nope, it’s the vast emptiness. This strategy to make audiences feel uncomfortable from the beginning of the movie is a necessary step in the build up of the story, and Peele includes this to influence audiences’ reactions to the series of events that follows. Throughout his films, Peele frequently uses themes of animalistic traits that further cause feelings of discomfort. In Get out, it’s the presence of the deer head and other taxidermized animals, in Us, it’s the animalistic traits of the attackers along with the white rabbits, and in Nope, it’s Gordy the Chimp. All of which seem to establish an animalistic connection with the antagonists. Peele combines these visual aspects with renditions of older songs like “Run Rabbit Run” and “Itsy-Bitsy Spider,” making the plot even more unsettling. Though the storylines of these movies are vastly different, Peele accomplishes his goal of unsettling his audiences in each.
Much of this is also attributed to the overall unpredictability of his works. With Peele, we can expect unpredictability in his films and can trust that nothing can be trusted. In his movies, Peele makes sure to showcase scenes of peace and tranquility that actually invoke the opposite feeling in audiences. When you watch a Jordan Peele film, you know that the feeling of calmness that is portrayed is almost always a lie, and you know not to trust it. This repeated tactic has prepared us for the eminent misdirection that Peele incorporates in his films. Though audiences are prepared for this, the plot and storylines themselves are never predictable, and usually leave audiences speechless. Each work also has a similar structure of overcoming obstacles and fighting past their aggressor to escape, and in each of these, audiences can never fully trust this. Even when the protagonist wins against the antagonist, there are aspects of the film that suggest a more foreboding outcome than what was actually shown.
Whenever I feel like there’s my favorite movie out there that hasn’t been made, that’s the void I’m trying to fill with my films. It’s like trying to make the film that I wish someone would make for me.” — Jordan Peele
To capture and convey these themes of psychological discomfort and misdirection, Peele utilizes unique filming techniques that seemingly stray from the horror industry norm. In fact Nope, was the first horror film shot on IMAX cameras, making Peele the first director in the genre to do so. His collaboration with cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema on what he calls his “most ambitious film to date” turned out to be one of Peele’s greatest creative experiments. The sharp IMAX resolution captured exactly what he envisioned for the film. Even in his other works, Peele’s use of film (27mm and 32mm) and POV shots made scenes stand out visually, being both pristine and artistically appealing. In Peele’s works, shots tended to follow the protagonist as if the audience were them. These POV shots made sure to show what characters were seeing, hearing, and in turn feeling, in order to invoke those feelings in the audience. These unique shots are what make us feel so connected to Peele’s films.
This connection is how Jordan Peele has reframed the way people see horror movies. His distinctive storytelling using unique filming techniques, unpredictability, and psychological discomfort is what makes a Jordan Peele movie, a Jordan Peele movie. Peele is making history as a creative, and continues to inspire filmmakers coming after him in the process. As a creative and aspiring filmmaker myself, Jordan Peele’s works have been a constant inspiration in the type of work I would like to do. Whenever I see one of his films, its creative individuality encourages me to want to create cinematic artistry through my own distinctive way of storytelling, shots setup, and overall production. Jordan Peele is constantly introducing new ways to make the movies that he wants to see, and I aspire to do the same.
Sources
Kotze, Gray. “How Jordan Peele Shoots a Film at 3 Budget Levels.” In Depth Cine, In Depth Cine, 18 Sept. 2022, www.indepthcine.com/videos/jordan-peele.
Tangcay, Jazz. “Why Jordan Peele’s ‘nope’ Became the First Horror Movie Shot with IMAX Cameras.” Variety, Variety, 26 July 2022, variety.com/2022/artisans/news/jordan-peele-imax-format-1235324992/.
Young, David. “5 Trademarks of a Jordan Peele Screenplay.” ScreenCraft, 15 Sept. 2022, screencraft.org/blog/5-trademarks-of-a-jordan-peele-screenplay/.
