Annabelle:
The white dress implying innocence, but juxtaposed by the fact the woman is possessed.
The big, curly hair showing possible dishevelment, like a deterioration of the person’s true self is shown through her hair.
The irony of the innocent looking doll being possessed implies an evil in the child, again something unusual to the audience, and thus fearful.
The blood on the wall in a child’s room is quite a gruesome image, but also shocking. The red strikes fear and anger into the audience.
The actress lurking behind a door is a jump factor, it’s unexpected. The dark in the shot also leaves mystery and allows the imagination to think about the face of the character.
The features in the room allow ‘scare factors’. For example, the radio switching stations, lights flickering. The establishing shot allows the audience to envisage more.
We see an opposing character. An unpossessed victim dressed in a suit as opposed to the dishevelled lady we assume to be evil.
The innocence of the mother sleeping by the cot of the baby, to then be contrasted by the possessed woman is and interesting technique as it takes innocence out of the film. It implies there is evil.
The fact this happens whilst the mother sleeps will also strike fear in the audience, as sleep is something they relate to themselves and also the film is so realistic due to not using CGI to create the monster will be scarier.