Deconstruction of The Witch (2015)

The Witch Deconstruction

The Witch is a 2015 supernatural horror, written and directed by Robert Eggers for A24 production company and is set in a 1630s England with the idea of witchcraft and curses following a family about.

The scene opens to shrill music, with a fade on to a forest. The non-diegetic string shrill music gives an eerie impression that there is something lurking within the woods and straight away sends the audience into a fearful situation as the music builds tension. 

The location in which we can see from this shot is a dark forest, fitting in with the idea of typical horror films being set in isolated locations. The forest looks dark as we can't see much of it only adding to the suspense and mystery as we are hidden from it. 

An important part of any opening scene is to establish the location, in the witch, within the second shot we are given an insight into what time period and culture the movie is set by using mis-en-scene such as horses and carriage, dirty clothing, and swords. Whilst this is not linked to the genre of the film it is important for any film to show the audience the setting in which they are in. 

The family kneel before the sky praying, diegetically saying 'Kingdom of the god' to the sky. This gives it a religious connotation which is found especially in supernatural films due to spiritual 'antagonists' usually found in them. This is added with the typography of the title, as well as the name 'The witch' which shows what genre it is part of straight away (supernatural horror) but still doesn't reveal to much about the plot. The typography including a serif font which is flickering giving a ghost impression and follows the idea of spiritual antagonists that could be used for possession.

It is often found in supernatural horrors that the victim of the story is the innocent one. In this close up shot we see a baby laughing. The baby symbolizing innocence to life and is unaware of the dangers. In the next shot the baby disappears as if a higher force is causing the baby to disappear. This builds on the mystery but also fits in with the typical conventions of supernatural horrors

I liked the creative use of the production company logo which has been edited to have branches going across it to make it look more darker and creepy to fit in with the plot and genre of the story. In our own opening sequence it would be interesting to explore the idea of using a production company suited to the genre of our film.