CB-Analysing an Opening Sequence

http://www.watchthetitles.com/articles/0096-Silent_Hill



Silent Hill

Genre

1.
The film belongs to horror; this is made clear by the dark lighting conveying seclusion, quick movement of the camera giving a sense of fear and fast paced narrative, and mysterious pictures placed in an unusual burnt isolated building pursuing a criminal theme introducing the characters, all being typical conventions of horror.

2.

The generic expectations of the audience by the opening sequence are fulfilled as it is made mysterious and slightly fearful towards the audience. It gives a typical expectation of horror, how the mystery of the pictures and location without an establishing shot give an unexplained narrative but also the dark lighting and unknown ‘evil’ creature conveys evil. This mix between mystery and evil implies to the audience the theme of criminalisation and ‘good v evil’ with a twist of fear.

Narrative
1.

There is no clear narrative in this opening sequence; it is kept ambiguous for a mysterious effect. It gives the audience some knowledge of the unsolved theme of the film and its unexplained effect.

2.

The audience are placed at the start of the narrative but the audience are unclear of what the narrative is, therefore at this point the audience do not understand where they are placed in the narrative. This is made clear by the unknown location as there is no establishing shot, and the dark strange building implies the narrative has already began.

3.

Techniques used include pictures of characters placed in what seems to be a burnt isolated building; this again gives an unclear understanding of who is good and who is bad/evil. This is an original style of the director as usually in horrors the good/evil characters are conveyed purposefully very clearly soon in the film.

The major themes based in Silent Hill are mostly evolved around mystery which includes the theme of evil when the bleak 'death like' creature’s silhouette is shown. This conveys tension through the mystery and evil because the creature and the slight movement of light in an otherwise a bleak scene gives a complex view from the audience, conveying tension.

4.

The mix of mystery and suspense is held in balance along with the fear to portray a clear understanding of the genre but a slightly complex understating of the narrative as the characters are not placed into any particular position. Instead they are all seen as the same in the opening sequence given it the mysterious and criminal effects.

28 Days Later
Film Language
1.

The mise-en-scene conveys the meaning of corruption in the opening sequence as the dark lighting suggests little life or happiness. Whilst the sped up cutting rate and shocking images adds tension and panic within the audience, an obvious convention of horror.

2.

The location is of a lab testing area, without an establishing shot of where it is adds mystery and a feeling of 'aloneness' as no humans are visible. The camera shots are vital in this opening sequence, the sharp close-ups adds shock and panic as the corrupt animals are fearful. This is shown through the quick cutting rate, psychologically changed monkeys, who are conveyed as out of control, giving a theme of altered form and unique.

3.

The meaning again is of corruption, as if something has gone wrong, shown through the modified animals and location. Furthermore in this opening sequence the audience do not learn a lot about the characters as they are not shown, however the sense of survival is implied through the corruption, as if something could go horribly wrong, this gives a sense of mystery and 'aloneness' in the audience.

4.

The characters are not evident but the narrative suggests it’s at the beginning when the corruption began, leaving the mystery of the characters untouched, making the audience think about the abnormal situation in hand.

Media Audiences

1.
The target audience is aged at 16-25, this is because the certificate is an 18 aged certificate but it is appreciated that it will appeal to a slightly younger audience as well. The horror target audience is very similar.

2.

The gender will be male dominant due to the amount of gore and the fact that on a whole there is a dominant horror viewing of men rather than women. It is predominantly aimed at English and American viewers and the western culture because the film has the qualities of a conventional western horror. The protagonist is a young middle class man and the antagonists are an army of killer zombies this is a generic situation in typical western zombie horrors.

3.

Furthermore the actors are predominately white British, allowing them to relate to the same culture. The class and culture is aimed at teenagers (15-18) and young adults (18-25), the mostly likely audience for the film and they will share the similar interest of socialising with friends.

4.

The characters portrayed are also a male of middle class statue and a female of middle class statue, creating a sense of verisimilitude and realism, having the ability to connect with the audience.

Dawn of the Dead (Snyder 2004)
Representation and Ideology

1.
In this sequence the social groups meant to be spread far and wide, as is everyone is fearful of the corruption, this is also conveyed through the hand held camera used as ‘amateur footage’ to convey panic and fear. However the minority social groups are not shown, this is because although the opening sequence is meant to represent everyone’s at a risk, the film does not want to show a minority group as the audience will then believe that specific minority group will be an important factor in this film.

2.

Instead the ‘normal’ staued social groups are shown to represent everyone. Furthermore the amateur footage and news TV/radio shows portray how the whole country is affected and is a world problem, this is pushed when the news presenter is attacked, showing how the ‘corrupted’ are dominant.

3.

In the opening sequence values and beliefs are not fully shown but can be implied, the idea of mass corruption in the country suggests that values and beliefs play a big part within the individual’s life. The idea to ‘start/stop believing’ and ‘make/scrap values’. Although this is not evident it is clearly a major theme identified, mostly through the idea of death and murder. A typical convention of horror, creating panic and corruption.

4.

The main characters, like in ’28 days later’ are not shown, suggesting that the audience will meet them later, keeping the mystery of them untouched and also implying the start of the narrative and the start of the corruption. This also makes the audience think that its effects everyone, not just specified characters, also mysterious of who survives.

Institutional Text

1.

There are a few stars used in this film, this is done to convey very strong acting with someone the audience can relate to whilst holding a sense of realism in the film, giving the ability for the audience to relate strongly to the characters.