Deconstruction of The Shining Opening Scene

The opening scene from Stanley Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’ is filled with effective uses of editing, camera angles and sound, all to make the opening scene captivating and interesting to watch.

Here is the list of camera angles with their shots, and what they can tell us about the opening scene to keep it effective.

This is an Ariel Shot. The opening is rather startling. The scene is described as “solemn, ominous horns, camera quickly zooming in on, and over, a slim isolated island in a lake shielded by high, barren canyon walls which are reflected in the lake.”  We know this because it is above and looking below at the ground; usually filmed with a camera and a helicopter. There is no sound in this scene apart from the music; which is spine chillingly eerie. The music goes on throughout the entirety of this scene and is high pitched wailing like in its form and it really gives you an aspect of the film, and since the Ariel shot is just of the river and mountain side you don’t know what is happening or going to happen or where the camera is taking you.

This shot is a Crossfade; The camera begins to curve to the right then crossfades to a high aerial shot tracking a lone car traveling a thin "snake like" road through a

forest, anticipating the high overviews we will later have of the maze at the Overlook Hotel. The curve of the canyon wall and the lake is echoed in the curve of the road as it fades in and the Rorschach of the landscape mirrored in the lake subsides. The sound stays the same, and we still don’t have a clear view of what is happening.

 

The third scene in the opening is also an Ariel shot. The camera follows the yellow VW from behind, placing it in context of the lake and imposing ice-capped mountains. With the eerie and shimmery music plays with piano strings and shakers with screams.

 

The final shot is of the hotel, Overlook hotel. This is when the music dims down and the scene relaxes to an end and after the traumatic sounds you are treated to one of few sane moments.

Scream (1996) Opening Scene

Scream (1996) Opening Scene Deconstruction

The opening scene to the 1996 original 'Scream' film is five minutes and seventeen seconds. 

The film begins with of course the title, and it uses an eerie almost broken letter font with some of the words missing pieces, but it stays simple with a black background and a white font large font. The sound effects used are diegetic, the sounds of women screaming, and as the screams go on, the font pulses red like blood, as if it directly correlates with the screaming. The next sound effect is a knife hitting something, and then the scream is louder and carries on to the close up of the phone, and just before this happens the font becomes thick red instead of white, and there is a heartbeat throughout.

There is then a close up of an innocent girl who is a young adult. Her voice is sweet, and you can tell by looking at her that she is innocent, and just friendly, which is why when someone dials the wrong number she understands. Yet, the creepy voice calls again, persistent on wanting to talk with the girl. Once she hangs up for the second time, the shot focuses on the sliding doors of the outside, as if 

something is there, but there is no sound to indicate this. The next shot takes place outside, and establishes the location and look of the house that the girl is in.  

The phone dials again, with the creepy voice continuing to try and talk to her. He then traps her into a conversation about scary movies, almost ironic about what they are in. She also takes out a knife, as if that's what she could use to protect herself, but she is completely vulnerable on how she is just innocently talking about scary movies and if she has a boyfriend. The shot is a tracking shot as it takes her back to the living room with books on the shelf and the TV on standby. When, the creepy voice says something that makes her freeze. "I want to know who I'm looking at." It could be implied that he meant to say something else, but the confidence in his voice is chilling to know that he is telling the truth, and when the woman get's scared there is a closeup to show her fear, and there is a diegetic  sound of strings being plucked at the realization. There is then a non-diegetic sound of a dog barking, as if they have seen an intruder, 

The next shot is a medium shot, and then the editing shows her turning on lights outside on the patio and then locking the door as if she is superstitious that he is calling from outside,

When she hangs up, he calls again, and she curses because she knows who it is. The tracking shot shows her pacing quicker in fear as she hangs up and then gets another call, and threatened by the creepy voice sounding more perverted while he talks about playing a game where he will gut her like a fish, and calls her  blondie. Confirming that he can see her, and within the scenes her talks there is a faint diegetic harp strings, until he says threats, and then you can hear drums. 

She begins to freak out, shouting down the phone about him leaving or her boyfriend will hurt him. This of course has no effect on the disturbing and tormenting voice that tortures her with constant phone calls and ringing the door bell. There is a steady string of notes as the tension rises and rises until he tells her the name of her boyfriend, and the shot goes into a closeup as there is a loud drum beat and then silence, with another strong drum beat every few seconds, until the clip ends.

This is a very effective opening scene, as it adds a lot of tension right from the beginning with implications on what is going to happen. They are very subtle, with the screaming and stab sound in the title, to the close up of the outside and the dark patio door, to her pulling out a knife and putting it away. What adds great tension to this scene is that you cannot see the voice coming from the phone, and it is a great  horror element to not know what is the thing causing all of this, because putting a face to this tension would ruin it greatly. 

Deconstruction of Camera Angles in an Opening Scene

Camera Angles in Halloween

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELF1DCf1ChA

Halloween is a slasher film from 1978, directed by John Carpenter and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis. It is the first instalment from the Halloween franchise.

The film is set in the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois and the opening scene is Halloween 1963. In the film, Michael Myers escapes form a psychiatric hospital 15 years after killing his sister and stalks a girl called Laurie Strode and her friends. His psychiatrist then suspects what Michael is doing and follows him to Haddonfield to stop him form killing anyone.

• An establishing shot at the start of the opening scene shows that a house is the location for the opening scene.
• The opening scene is done in one take with a handheld camera, first it pans across the side of a house showing pumpkins which explicitly show that it is Halloween. 
• it is all done in a point of view shot from the killer's perspective, which we could use for some of the shots in our own opening scene. The use of a point of view shot with no editing makes it seem more realistic and also more dramatic for the viewers. Also, the ambiguity of not knowing who the person is creates tension and mystery in the scene.
• The pan stops at a window which shows a medium long shot of two teenagers kissing on a sofa, then when they run upstairs there is  a quick pan from left to right which reinforces the idea that the shot is a point of view shot.
• Next, the point of view shot pans across back to the front of the house where the killer looks up at the window, where it can be presumed that it is where the two teenagers are.
• The handheld camera then moves across to an open door where the killer walks into a dark kitchen, turns the light on and gets a large knife out of a drawer, hinting to the audience that there is going to be a murder
• The handheld camera moves slowly through the house so that viewers can see the inside of the house. A medium shot reveals a rocking chair in the corner of a room which is often shown in horror films to create a sense of fear in the viewers.
• A high angle shot shows the teenage boy coming down the stairs, making the teenager seem more important than the killer. This could be a hint to the fact that the killer is a young boy.
• The lighting changes from completely dark to dim lighting as the killer goes upstairs which is to allow the viewers to see what is about to happen
• There is a close up of a clown mask on the floor, which the killer then puts on his face. When he puts it on the shot is darkened around where the clown mask would affect his eyesight. We could use this in our opening scene when we do point of view shots from our killer when she has the sack on.
• The killer walks into the room and shows a medium shot of the teenage girl brushing her hair and the camera slowly gets closer to her until it becomes a close up shot and the girl turns around and sees the killer. There are then more close ups as the killer gets closer to the girl while stabbing her, then there is a conventional shot of the knife being stabbed into the woman but only showing his hand and not her body. We could use this as inspiration for the murder at the end of our opening scene.
• A medium shot reveals the girl lying naked on the floor, showing her to be powerless and vulnerable and also conforming to the conventions that the 'slut' dies first in horror films.
• The killer then quickly leaves the house, while still wearing the clown mask. WHen he gets out, the camera changes from a handheld point of view shot to a medium shot which zooms out, showing the mask being taken off the boy, revealing that he is young, which subverts the common conventions of killers in horror films.

Watching this and analysing the different camera angles made me realise how many camera angles we're going to need in our opening scene. This deconstruction has definitely helped me to understand how camera angles can affect the effectiveness of the scene.

Deconstruction of See No Evil (2006) Opening Scene

Deconstruction of See No Evil (2006) Opening Scene

See No Evil is a 2006 horror-slasher/thriller. It is directed by Gregory Dark and is a film of WWE studios. The narrative focusing around a maniac who goes after female victims before removing their eyes, hence the title 'See No Evil'

The first shot of the movie is a low angled shot of police officers knocking on a hotel door. They are wearing police uniforms which we usually associate with protection and safety, the idea that they have been called to this place gives it a sense of danger leaving the audience in suspense as we wonder what the police will find inside. As this is a slasher opening the audience also get the sense that someone  will die. We immediately know it will be these two police characters.

After they open the door, good use of lighting is used as there are candles making it a low lit room to create a horror effect. The use of dark lighting makes the audience scared as they can't see parts of the screen making them wonder what is there. This brings the audience into the danger along with the characters.

A POV shot is used as the police flash their torch over old pictures on the wall. This gives small lighting so the audience can just about see what is on screen. The use of the old pictures gives a sense of aging linking to the idea of slashers being set in abandoned places that people rarely go so there is no help around. Showing the characters to be helpless and makes the danger worse.

Lighting, once again is a key aspect in creating an effect. The light is purposely been postioned behind them to create a silhouette of the police. The slow paced scene makes it suspense full as they suspiciously move through the building. From the silhouette we can see an outline of a gun linked in with idea that the audience will feel the characters will be safe with this weapon as they can attack back but also shows the theme of violence in typical slasher's.

 

There is blood splatters on the wall which we see on a POV shot, as well as this there is an extreme close up of the victim's eyes with their eyes gored out by something, blood. The blood we associate with violence and is a typical convention of 'Slasher' movies, it also shows that horror and gore has happened in this location.

There is a medium shot, as the camera tracks forward, focusing on the cross. In Slasher movies we often see the killer's reason for killing people is due to an obsession with Religion. The idea of the title 'See no Evil' relates to the theme of religion as well. The idea that the camera focuses on the cross gives it importance and shows it is the killer's motivation for what they've done.

An Eye-line match is used to make the object (the picture frame) the focus of the audience's attention on the screen as the camera zooms forward, to show it is clearly an important part of the plot, perhaps foreshadowing a backstory of the killer. 

As the police open the door into where they see the killer's victim there is faced paced editing used. We don't immediatly see the danger in the scene but instead a reaction shock of the police's panic and putting their guns up before showing a longshot of the girl on the floor, huddled over in pain. 

With fast paced editing as the action picks up and the policemen are discovered by the killer, we see a silhouette of the killer behind curtains, raising an axe where the camera focuses heavily on the movement of the axe swinging down. It is typical for slasher films to include a weapon of the killer.

Sound decontruction of a film opening

A Nightmare on Elm Street

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn_DjzN8410

The opening scene to A Nightmare on Elm Street begins with the noises of heavy breathing that is heard over machinery and the killer making tools out of metal. This is effective because hearing the human above the other sounds that should be louder makes the killer seem more dangerous than any of these items. The many diegetic sounds include filing / sawing metal, using a blowtorch and tapping metal to mould it into shape. This is accompanied by non-diegetic soundtrack of high pitched strings playing quietly in the background to build tension and suspense.
 

When the titles appear, the soundtrack starts to play a tune of two notes still of strings. The killer pierces his glove with knives on the fingers through a sheet of material which is accompanied with a scream, heightening the fear felt by the audience. The soundtrack gets lower and a woman runs down a corridor where there is dripping heard from pools of water on the floor, which is an easy sound to make. As she makes it to the end of the corridor, the soundtrack gets louder which generates more suspense and there is low, evil laughing heard at some points by the killer, who remains unseen, creating fear of the unknown in what is about to happen.
 

There is then more breathing before the woman turns around at a jump and a sheep runs into the corridor too, then there is a high menacing laugh, still unseen. The woman breathes in heavily at the scare and runs away. She climbs stairs in what appears to be a factory that is creating these metal, machinery and steam noises. There is a noise of a cog turning slowly and squeaks of machines as she still looks around, moving quickly. The camera pans down from where she is on a path above to the ground below where there’s a shadow that slowly moves and a laugh is heard again, building more and more fear.
 

She slowly walks through a narrow path where steam is heard and seen coming out of machines, and then the killer scratches his metal claw against a pipe to create a high squeaking noise. She turns towards it and we can see his claw tearing through material again and tearing downwards, making a ripping noise and his silhouette bursts through, and she starts to run away, breathing heavily and shrieking. She tries to hide but it is a dead end and he catches up, and she screams extremely loudly. However he walks past and there are many sheep and childlike noises again that get quieter. She walks forward slightly, confused, and then he bursts up behind her and shouts loudly, making her scream very loudly again.
 

This ends up being a dream and there is knocking on her bedroom door when she wakes up in a fright, and her mother talks to her for a minute before leaving.

 

The sounds used are very effective in this opening scene because they add a sense of horror and fear, and build a lot of suspense for jump scares which are always in horror films. All in all, most of these noises can be recreated quite easily. We wouldn’t ever be able to film in a factory that would make the machinery noises so couldn’t make them, nor would it be easy to make steam sounds from pipes. The rest of the diegetic sounds would be simple and effective to use to build fear in the audience. The non-diegetic soundtrack would be easy to make for me because there is a ‘voice’ setting on a piano I own called ‘strings’ and plays string music, so it is quick and wouldn’t cost anything to make or take a lot of effort.

Deconstruction of an opening scene: Saw (2004)

Saw is a slasher / psychological horror film that was released in 2004 and directed by James Wan, produced by Lionsgate Films and twisted pictures.
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAWK9V9Hk_A
 

The opening scene of Saw begins with a man in a bath underwater who wakes up and appears to be in a large, dilapidated bathroom with dirty tiles and rusty pipes everywhere, and blood on the walls. He yells and another man's voice is heard, and the man is revealed later when the lights are turned on. When they're turned on, they find a dead body in a pool of blood in between them, but can't do anything as they're both chained to pipes.
 

The first few shots are birdseye views, looking down on the man, Adam, in the water that we can only see because of a light that is floating around in it, showing some parts of his face. There is a high angle shot of him as he falls out of the bath, showing that he is the victim and already in a horrible situation.

When the lights are turned on, it shows each row turning on one by one in a low angle back-tracking motion, switching between each row turning on and high angle close-ups of Adam as he is blinded by the bright lights. Many of these shots are handheld to give a sense of it being real to the audience. There are blurry point of view shots from Adam to show that he is adjusting to the lights slowly. We see the next character on the opposite side of the room, and it switches to a blurry point of view shot from his perspective when he sees Adam come to focus. The bathroom is revealed to be much bigger than expected when the camera zooms out and moves away from Adam, then looks down on a corpse in a large blood pool. It then zooms out of the body in a twisting effect which is effective as it tries to make the audience dizzy at the sight of the corpse. It is edited using quick cuts in the sequence of Adam shouting and trying to pull the chain off the pipe to create suspense and a fast-paced scene.
 

The rusty drainpipes are one of the many things that add to the look of the dilapidated bathroom. Other props include a toilet, a bath, and tiles on the walls with bare patches where the tiles have fallen off. These are all very effective as they establish the setting to be old and abandoned. Another good prop was the body between them on the floor. It already being there when they wake up adds to the mystery of how it got there and why it is there, with a revolver in one hand and a recording device in the other.
 

The writing at the beginning is a thin serif font, suggesting that their may be a religious aspect as this is a common convention of a horror film that involves religion. It is blue and some of the words are slightly distorted. This is effective because the colour blue can be associated with a cold and gloomy setting, and the distortion is effective because it introduces a supernatural element (it's almost ghostly looking). The writing begins to wave slightly and is matched with a dripping noise, so it becomes evident that the distortion and colour of blue reflect the water that the first character wakes up in.
 

There are many diegetic sounds like the lights turning on and the rattling of chains. These are effective sounds because they are exaggerated versions of what they would be, however would be difficult to make these louder noises like electricity and we'd have to get them from the internet. Other sounds like water draining down the plughole would be easy to make, but we aren't using any water like sound effects.

Deconstruction of an opening scene: Now You See Me (2013)

'Now You See Me' is a thriller film that was released in 2013 and directed by Louis Leterrier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_diRgwPCS8
 

The opening scene starts with J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) performing a card trick to one specific person but with a large crowd around him. The next part of the scene goes to another magician called Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson) performing a temporary sleep / paralysis trick to a married couple. The next short clip is Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) on a boat performing a trick to everyone there, asking people to guess how he does it. The last clip shows Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) in a tank of water, trying to escape before a case of piranhas falls in with her.
 

The beginning point of view shot at eye level sets the scene as if we are involved and makes it seem more intimate to the audience. This gives connotations of the genre already because the audience being involved means that we will be present throughout the film and feel the suspense. There is also the point of view of the magician with the woman in front of him and everyone around looking into the camera, so we also feel as though we know what will happen next as if we're the magician, or playing along with it.
When the trick is almost finished, he throws the cards in the air and the camera tilts up to watch them, revealing a large building in the background with the lights from the rooms arranged to become the card that we saw. This camera tilt is very effective because it follows the path of the cards floating around and establishes the finishing to the trick, giving us a sense of awe. There is then a shot that almost 'shows off' the trick, with a pan shot that tilts upwards. This reiterates the point of the trick being amazing to everyone, showing is in 'glory'. The next shot is looking down on everyone as they're clapping and looking up at the building with the cards still flying around, and it zooms into the magician with a smug look on his face to show that he is very powerful and proud. The colours are dark but vibrant so it doesn't look gloomy, as the audience are amazed by the trick.

 

The next scene shows the next magician performing a trick where he makes the wife temporarily fall asleep so when she wakes up she can't move or speak. He focuses on the man and 'reads his mind' while the woman watches. There are fast-paced over-the-shoulder shots to keep showing the reaction of the man to what he is saying. This adds drama and tension because it is happening quickly, highlighting that the magician is professional and that he can get anything out of anyone. There are quick close-up shots on different features of the man's face as each letter of the alphabet is said to show the man's reaction to what is happening and shows that he is fearful of what may be revealed about him, also creating tension as to what we'll find out.

 

Next there is an establishing shot of the boat that the next magician is performing on. He makes himself out to be a newly starting magician by performing in a public place where no one appears to be interested, however he times it so that the boat reaches the harbour by the time the trick is finished so he can make an escape after stealing a man's wallet and watch - he was acting the whole time. This adds a sense of comedy to the scene because we realise that he is very clever and is able to sneak easily without anyone noticing. The low angle shot of him going down the stairs of the boat still makes him appear powerful and more clever than everyone else because of what he's done.

 

 

 

The last clip is of the female magician performing indoors to a large crowd, established by high angle shots from the far-out parts of the arena they're in and the loud cheering. She pretends that she can't perform her trick because something has gone wrong, that she needs help but can't get out and is 'eaten' by the piranhas, generating a lot of fear in the audience because the large arena and glamorous outfit she's wearing show her to be a well-known professional and it is unexpected that something would go wrong. There is a low angle shot of the large timer on the wall, emphasising its 'power' over what she does.

All of these scenes are accompanied by non-diegetic soundtrack that sounds like it's composed of brass, string and percussion instruments that get quieter and play in the background while they are each performing, and become louder again as they finish the tricks to make it seem more epic to the audience and leave them with a sense of awe. This is effective because it conveys the genre of thriller, being a common convention, and makes it more showcase-like.

Deconstruction of an Opening Scene

Deconstruction of The Silence of the Lambs Opening Scene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sx08_OSXlY

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) is an American thriller/horror film directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Jodie Foster, Scott Glen and Anthony Hopkins. The film is based on Thomas Harris' novel written in 1988.

In the film, a young American FBI trainee called Clarice Starling gets advice from Doctor Lecter, who is in prison, to find a serial killer known as 'Buffalo BIll'. 



The opening scene begins with a woman running through dark, misty woods. We then find out that she is doing an assault course, because she is in the FBI. She gets told that a Mr Crawford wants to see her, so she walks through a building and enters some offices where she finds some newspaper articles about a murderer called 'Buffalo Bill'. Mr Crawford sets her a task and the scene ends. Overall, the opening scene is brief and doesn't give much information about Clarice's character or any other important characters in the film. The male-dominant environment makes Clarice stand out against the others, so she seems important.

A high angle establishing shot sets the scene and gives connotations of the genre of the film because the mistiness and dim colours are common in thriller films and create an eerie and creepy atmosphere. Another establishing shot introduces a new setting to the audience, which is a building so it is less isolated than the woods, creating a sense of safety with the audience. A third establishing shot shows more of the building, showing it as an official place where members of the FBI work.

The camera pans across the woods to show the other side, this reveals the whole location to the audience, showing it to be a stereotypical location for a horror film because it is isolated and makes the character look more alone. A medium shot of the main character, Clarice Starling, introduces her to the audience and makes her seem significant, as she is the only character so far, the shot of her establishes her as an important character. There is another medium shot later on which shows Clarice as she's running, she is sweaty which shows she's been running for a long time, implying that she is a strong and fit character. A close up of a man wearing an FBI hat instantly tells the audience that the woman isn't running from anything but instead that she could be doing an assault course for training in the FBI. This subverts the common representation of women in thriller/horror films being weak and dependent on men as she is represented as strong and unglamorous. 

There is a tracking shot that follows Clarice as she runs through the woods, intriguing the audience about where she's going. When she enters the building, the camera keeps tracking Clarice as she walks around the building, this explicitly shows the audience that she is the main character in the film because she also walks around as if she is important.

There is a large amount of diegetic sounds in the opening scene, there is the diegetic sound of crows in the background, which creates a sense of fear in the audience, there is also heavy breathing, gun shots, helicopters and leaf noises. The first speech in the scene is when a man calls her while she is running, which is when the audience learns her name. The soundtrack is orchestral and is in a minor key, it is eerie and dramatic which creates a tense and fearful atmosphere, this is enhanced with the repeated bass line in the music, a convention of the horror/thriller genre.



There are men in uniform and the training suggests that they are at an FBI academy, which implies that they and Clarice are training to be in the FBI. The blue sky shown in the scene creates the feeling of a calm atmosphere, this could be hinting that something ominous is going to happen. Guns in the background of an area that Clarice walks through connote violence which could be to foreshadow danger for Clarice.




The text is in black with a white outline, sans serif and very simple. This could be because it is quite an old film and they didn't have the same software as they do now so titles are limited in style. Text appears throughout the opening scene.

Inspiration for our opening scene

In our scene, we want to have a girl running away from a murderer which is quite similar to this opening scene because we wanted to use either woods or a field to film in and I like how the woods in this film are all misty which adds to the isolated effect. It would be hard to recreate that unless we wait for a misty morning to film, which would be impractical and hard to plan for. 

I like the use of camera angles as she is running, the tracking shots were good because it allows the audience to see where she's going and the camera could also be the point-of-view shot of the murderer who is chasing after her. I think it would be effective if we use a point of view shot from the killer's point of view in our scene because it intrigues the audience.

Deconstruction of an Opening Scene

Deconstruction of The Cabin In The Woods Opening Scene

  

The Cabin in the Woods is a horror comedy film from 2012 that was directed by Drew Goddard and produced by Joss Whedon. The main actors include Kristen Connolly, Jesse Williams, Chris Hemsworth, Fran Kanz and Anna Hutchinson It is about five college students that spend a weekend in a seemingly deserted cabin in a forest, but it is actually being controlled by a facility that are planning a mysterious ritual.

The camera pans across then slowly pans and zooms in to show a window where a girl in her room, Dana, is walking around and dancing in her underwear to pop music while getting ready and packing. Being in her underwear is stereotypical of horror films and her wearing underwear subverts the 'virgin' character that she plays. 

A low angle shot of Dana makes her look powerful, and there are books in the shot which implies that she is clever. A medium shot that reveals her looking at the book, reinforcing the idea that she is clever and also revealing more about how the character is the 'virgin' of the group.



The opening scene introduces the viewers to all of the main characters which gives them an insight into what they will be lie in the rest of the film. The group are a conventional teenage group that is typical for horror films; there is a jock, a scholar, a slut, fool and a virgin (who usually survives).


The scene is very bright and the people are wearing colourful clothes which sets the tone as relaxed and happy. There is diegetic pop music in the background, which includes drums and an electric piano sound, this is parallel to the happy scene and reinforces the use of bright colours to create a joyous atmosphere.


The text on the screen is red which looks ominous against the happy scene, it is also different to other films which usually use wither white or black text, so it makes it seem unique to other films.


This film is quite different to what our idea is so it'd hard to take inspiration from it, but the opening scene gives us information on how to present the characters to show their role in the film using camera angles and costumes.

Deconstruction of student made film: CAPTIVE

CAPTIVE

I thought this piece was a great example of a student-made horror film opening. Everything effectively conveyed the genre being filmed and looked like it could have been a real film.
 

Location

The opening looks like it was filmed in an abandoned building with an open roof that has broken down over time. This made it bright which wasn't the best setting because slasher horrors usually have a dark setting. The open roof caused puddles of rain on the floor which was effective to make it look more abandoned. The walls are covered in graffiti and it's quite dilapidated, being perfect to add to the eeriness of the genre.
 

Mise-en-scene

The room is empty apart from planks of damp wood where the roof has fallen through and the man in the centre sat on a chair with rope wrapped around his hands. There is also a window and a working security camera, so he is always being 'watched'. His clothes are torn and covered in blood, and his face looks as if the skin has been peeled away. There is blood dripping out of his mouth which adds more gore and horror into the film.

Camera angles and editing

There are various angles, a lot of them being close ups and high angles to highlight vulnerability of the main character that he is always exposed and shown to be completely powerless. A lot of the shots are fast and short which builds suspense, exactly what is needed for a climax of a horror film. After the shot of the security camera, there is a shot split into four sections of the screen from four different security camera angles. They are of different rooms and one shows the man on the chair. There is also a blurry POV shot after the man gains consciousness to show his drowsiness. Towards the end of the clip, there is a flashback shot that keeps showing the events leading up to how he ended up there.

Sound

Diegetic sounds like dripping of blood into puddles, wind, static, heavy breathing and beeping of the security camera are used to begin with and show that nothing suspenseful is happening just yet, although it is sinister to show the silence of the shots. There are also quiet, non-diegetic tracks of string and brass instruments that are either short and jumpy or get louder and louder which builds up a lot of suspense and fear. This was very effective to raise tension and make the audience prepare for a jump scare or to see something that may scare us more.

Typography

For the first part of the sequence, the credits played and flashed up on different parts of the screen, much like the opening credits of 'Se7en'. The font was sans serif and white, and it flickered to appear like static. The font was effective as it matched the font on the security camera, so the feeling of being watched is reflected throughout the video.