Thursday, 19 September 2013

Research:Analysis of an Opening(Horror) - Hide & Seek and the Ring

Hide and Seek

This trailer starts off with informing the audience about the institution of the film, 20th century fox. This could attract fans of the 20th century fox company. At the start of the trailer, two adults are talking about a girl called Emily. This initiates how Emily may be one of the main characters and this is later proven throughout the trailer. The discussion between the two adults introduces the narrative of the film by hinting the death of a partner, which causes the need to move away.

The lighting through out the trailer is fairly dull which sets the mysterious and sinister mood of the film. The first half of the trailer contains slow music in the background as this half of the trailer is setting the story. The tone then changes in the middle of the trailer with a big bang noise and all the creepy and scary behaviours of the girl are shown. This shows how the movie is more than just about relationships and a troubled family - it has elements of horror, fear and suspense.

This film has a great emphasis on children and child-like behaviours. The aspect which makes the story scary is: children are usually associated with innocence by making them evil, it creates a frightening story. The title of the film ‘Hide and Seek’ contributes to the emphasis of child like behaviours as hide and seek is a very popular children’s game. Many parts of the trailer are connected to this title such as the counting of numbers, which is echoed in the background and the reference to the word ‘game’ which is used by Emily. Also at the end of the trailer Emily uses the typical phrase ‘come out come out wherever you are’, which is used in the standard hide and seek game. However, in this context this phrase does not seem innocent due to the narrative we have been told during the trailer about the Emily’s strange behaviours.

Emily in this trailer is sometimes shown with a doll. This doll is a signifier and signified horror, as dolls are used in many successful movies such as 'Child Plays' to scare audiences. Also the writing written in blood on the bathroom tiles connotes death and horror - as death and horror are associated with blood. Also the knife being taking out the holder by someone creates mystery, as we are unaware of who is doing this and what their plans are. The knife also signifies terror and death as knifes are associated with killings.

The trailer ends with lots of fast shots and music building to an explosion. Once the explosion occurs the films name ‘Hide and Seek’ takes the screen, informing readers about the title of the movie. After this Emily is shown again reflecting her major role in the film. This is followed by the release date of the film to inform audiences when the film is available to view. The films name and release date could have been purposely placed at the end of the trailer so that audiences would be able to remember this important information. 

The Ring

Immediately, in this scene, we see a medium shot gradually turning into a close up of a character. As she takes a few steps, we see the light of a TV and sound in the background. It is effective to feature all of these events in one shot, because we can feel what the character is feeling. We almost see it from her perspective. 

Match on action is used to show her turning her head from two angles. An extreme close up is used here. This is very effective, because we can see her expression very clearly. The audience is shown the fear the character is feeling. The camera pans around the corner and shows a turned-on TV. We are virtually seeing it from the character's eyes. "Quit being a b***h. Where's the remote?" is followed by a cross-cut to the remote lying on the sofa. This cut answers the speaker's question, so that no dialogue is needed. Match on action is used when the character presses a button on the remote. We see the TV turn off in the next shot.


When the TV turns on again, the camera very slowly zooms into the character. A sense of suspense lingers almost as if something is going to jump out at us. We then see a close up of the characters face almost pressed against the fridge. Though blurred out, a significant amount of room, in the shot, is left for the audience to wonder what's going to come out down the corridor. Our suspicions are verified when the character also senses something down the corridor and quickly turns the head. The blurriness fades and we now have full visibility of the corridor.
A high-angle shot is used to show the character approaching the staircase. This makes the character appear vulnerable to whatever may be up there. Throughout the scene, mise-en-scene is used effectively. The lighting is constantly slightly dimmed and has a slight blue tinge to it. Darkness is commonly associated with fear and the blue tinge makes the audience feel strangely cold whilst watching it. Effective lighting. 

Comparison

Both film openings have terrified the audience by scaring them within the opening, setting the mood for the film, and showing them what will be featured. Both are strong openings.

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