The Ring
Year: October, 2002
Genre: Horror
Writer/Director: Gore Verbinski
The opening scene begins with a dark screen there is no image straight away but you can hear the diagetic sound of rain in the background. A large house fades into the scene. The setting is dark and rainy. The house automatically looks creeps because of the rain and the huge tree which is dominating the house. The camera slowly zooms in on the house, this gives the audience a chance to become familiar with the setting. There is a non diagetic sound of a girl’s voice talking quite loudly in the foreground, the scene them jump shots to a bedroom with two girls in. The blonde girl who is talking is lying on the bed and another brunette girl is sitting on the floor looking slightly bored whilst flicking through TV channels with the remote. The sound of the rain is still apparent in the background. The camera slowly begins to zoom in on the girls. Both girls appear to be wearing smart work wear, this gives the impression that they have just finished work and are now relaxing at home.
The blonde girl talking on the bed continues to talk whilst playing with her nails, this gives the impression that the character is self absorbed, she doesn’t seem to mind that the other girl is not listening or replying to her. The brunette girl sitting on the floor lets out a sigh and hands the remote to the other girl. The camera is still continuing to zoom in on the girls. The camera then switches to the television. The brunette finally becomes interested, she sits on the bed and begins talking to the other girl about a rumored video tape which ‘kills you if you watch it’.The camera shot is now shot reverse shot whilst the girls are talking about the tape, the brunette girl seems excited and interested by the tape whereas the blonde girl seems wary about it. The brunette has a tone about her voice which implies she is trying to scare the blonde girl, and she is talking the camera slowly zooms on her face, this creates tension for the audience. When the camera flicks backs to the blonde girl her facial expression is scared and she has tears in her eyes. This is done to make the audience feel sympathetic towards her and to make them feel more frightened about what is going to happen. The blonde girl becomes angry and demands to know who told the brunette about the tape, she then whispers in a frightened tone that she has in fact watched the tape. The two girls continue to have a conversation and the editing is still shot reverse shot. This is a good opening scene for a horror film, as it isn’t maybe as predictable as other horrors, however there isn’t any parts which make you jump in the opening two minutes which i think there perhaps could be, but on the other hand this could be a good thing as it builds more and more tension for the following scenes.
A Nightmare On Elm Street
Year: 1984
Genre: Horror
Writer and Director: Wes Craven
The opening scene begins with what appears to be a man’s lower leg and feet walking through a cluttered room. Throughout the scene there is a non diagetic soundtrack in the background of a scary high pitched sound. The man seems to be walking carefully. The man reaches down and picks up a tatty bag off of the floor. The shot is a close up on his legs which pans from right to left as he walks. As he is walking you can hear a diagetic sound of him heavily breathing, there is also the sound of what appears to be machinery in the background .The shot then jumps to a bird’s eye view shot of him emptying the content of his bag on a table full of tools. The sound of clanging when he empty’s the bag is a diagetic sound. The man picks up a piece of metal and a knife and slowly pulls it out of the cameras view.
The camera then switches to a side view of the man’s hand reaching for a pair of gloves. For the next 20 or so seconds the camera is zoomed in on the man’s hand, the man appears to be making something, throughout the 20 seconds there is various diagetic sounds of his tools making a noise. It becomes apparent that the man is making a claw when he places his fingers inside of it, he does this very slowly and it therefor causes tension for the audience. The camera switches again to a bird’s eye view shot of the man’s hand wearing the claw. He suddenly and very quickly opens his hand out to reveal the claw, as he does so a short loud growl is heard. This part of the scene is likely to make the audience jump because they are so tense from the previous parts. The man then slowly turns his hand around. After he has turned his hand round the scene seems calmer this is done to make the audience feel less on edge, the scene then cleverly switches to a large sheet covering the whole screen , the man’s claw then cuts through the sheet and a loud screech is let out. This is done to catch the audience off guard and scare them.
The scene then jump shots to a girl on a white background. The girl appears to be looking around cautiously as if she is running from somebody. The camera switches to a one shot close up of the girls face, this is done to show her full emotion so the audience can try to understand the character. The music in the background gets louder and higher when the girl appears however it dips down when the camera is focused on her face. This gives the impression that she is listening out for someone or something. The camera then switches to a long shot, this shows the girls full body running down a dark and damp tunnel. The girl continues to look around cautiously, this informs the audience that she is scared of someone who may be following her.
For a second you can hear the non diagetic sound of a child’s laugh, the girl then runs faster and becomes more panicked. The sound of clanging metal is in the background, this is also non diagetic. As the girl hears the clanging she pauses and looks to her left. She continues to run towards the camera until she hears a heavy breathing sound, all of the sounds coming from the clip makes the audience feel tense and on edge. The girl pauses and stands still. The camera again switches to a close up of her face, this time her face is sweaty and is half in shadow, this creates a scary feel to the scene. The camera switches to a mid close up and the girl turns around. The camera slowly zooms in on her back. By doing this it gives the audience an impression that somebody is behind her and slowly getting closer. The music in the background in still the same however it is getting quieter towards the end.
In my opinion this film is brilliantly filmed and edited, the audience can fully feel how scared the girl is. This also makes the audience sympathetic towards the girl. The fact you never see the mans face makes the scene more tense as you are unaware of what is going to jump out. This is a brilliant example of a classic horror film.
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Year: 1997
Genre: Horror
Writer: Lois Duncan and Kevin Williamson
Director: Jim Gillespie
The opening scene begins with audio first rather than image, the first thing you can hear is a non diagetic sound of loud rock music. The establishing shot is of the sea the camera is tracking forward very fast, this gives an impression of somebody flying. The scene is quite dark however there is a sun in the background. The sun makes the audience question whether it is a sunset or sun rise. The camera is a tilted down mid shot, this enables the audience to fully recognise the setting of the film. There is also a diagetic sound of the waves crashing against the rocks. The sea seems a bit rough, this gives the impression of action and lets the audience know that the continuing scenes are not going to be calm. Up until this point all of the camera movement is quite fast, this keeps the audience interested in the scene.
The camera tracking forward begins to slow down as the view of large rocks and cliffs appear in the scene. The music also dims down slightly at this point and the sound of a male singer on the track can be heard, the male singers voice is quite deep and could be seen as creepy. The camera begins to rise as it approaches one of the cliffs , the music gets very high pitched and sounds like a typical horror film soundtrack. The camera begins to turn right in a 180’ rule action, the camera also begins to focus on a road. By focusing on the road it gives the audience an idea that something may be about to happen on the road. The camera begins to move away from the road and continues to get higher, the camera then shows a full birds eye vies of the beach. The soundtrack continues to get slower but higher pitched. At this point the shot is an extreme long shot.As the cameras continues to circle round it becomes focused on a cliff edge, the camera slowly zooms in on the cliff, while doing this the pitch of the music gets higher and higher. The camera continues to zoom in on the cliff and an object on the cliff is becoming clear. The object is a male sitting on the cliff edge looking miserable and dazed with a bottle of beer in his hand. It takes a while for the man to become clear on the scene, this encourages the audience to continue watching and makes them curious of the characters story.
The opening to this film isn’t perhaps as jumpy and scary as a typical horror film however it does draw the audience in to the scene by the music and camera work.
Scream 4
Genre: Horror
Writer: Kevin Williamson
Director: Wes Craven
The opening scene beings with audio before image, the diagetic sound of a telephone can be heard. An image then appears of close up of the telephone ringing. In the background you can slightly hear a soundtrack of a typical horror film, this is done to establish the genre and create tension for the audience. The phone continues to ring and an arm reaches in to grab the phone. The camera follows the arm up to the characters face. The character is a brunette teenage girl.
The teenage girl goes on to answer the phone, a husky male voice replies to the girl. The male’s voice comes across as creepy and intimidating. The scene then jumps from a close up of the girls face to a mid-shot of her, this establishes her setting, the setting is a typical lounge room in what appears to be an average American house, this is done to make the audience feel on edge in their own home. The camera pans from left to right following the girl into the kitchen. The brunette girl appears confident and hangs up after simply saying ‘wrong number’.
The scene then jumps into a conversation shot between the brunette girl and another girl, the other girl is around the same age and has lighter, almost blonde hair. The two girls begin to discuss scary films. The brunette girl jokingly pulls out a kitchen knife, as she pulls out the knife you can hear the diagetic sound of it. The conversation then moves on to the blonde girl’s possible Facebook stalker. The topic of conversation in which the girls discuss is chosen carefully, the two topics are there to scare the audience. The brunette girl then walks around to the girls shoulder to look at a picture of the ‘stalker’. The camera is zoomed in on the girl’s faces to continue the conversation and to show their reactions and emotions.
The phone then rings again whilst still zoomed on their faces. The camera follows the brunette from right to left as she goes to pick up the phone, the camera is a mid-shot of the girl. The same husky voice is on the phone, he begins to make threats towards the girl however she doesn’t seem fazed by it. The camera switches between both girls faces to show their reactions. The brunette hands the blonde the telephone and she begins to talk to the man. The blonde seems more panicked by the man on the telephone. The camera continues to show a typical shot reverse shot between the girls. Both girls continue to walk out of the kitchen but are stopped in their tracks by the phone ringing again.
In my opinion this is a great opening to a horror film as it builds up so much tension that even just the phone ringing can make you jump. The camera work, editing, Mise en scene and sound were all used cleverly in this scene to create a horrified aspect to it.
