Research - Analysis of Opening Sequences

Analysis of ‘Nightmare on opening credits
 

The credits begin with a small screen appearing that does not take up the whole screen, which connotively makes the audience pay closer attention to what is going on. It also allows there to be credits on screen without interfering with the action on screen so no focus is being taken away from what it happening. Under this small screen, the credits begin to appear, the first of which is ‘New Line Cinema’ who made the film.

On the screen, are only close ups. It starts with the camera panning round what appears to be a boiler room, focusing on a man’s feet as he walks. After that, there are only close ups f his hands, as he fashions fingers out of knives. These close ups connotively make it creepy because you cannot see anything else at any point and so the audience wonders what else it going on; it causes the audience to pay closer attention again. He puts the glove on his hand and it is a horrific image of him stretching his fingers with the knife fingers on them. Over the top of all this, is only the sound of heavy breathing. This is creepy in the same way as the close ups: dennotively, it is a non-digetic sound, which means that the audience pay closer attention to see if they can discover the unseen source of the breathing. 

The title of the film comes out of the bottom of the screen, eventually taking over the small screen so that there is nothing else against the black backdrop. The word ‘NIGHTMARE’ is written in red writing connotively used to represent blood. It is also bigger that the words ‘ON ELM STREET’ because the word ‘nightmare’ has a more frightening connotation, and so seems more scary. At this point the sound changes, although it stays non-digetic. It becomes an organ playing, something that has become a code of convention for the monster in a horror film.

The gloved, with knives, hand is then seen ripping a sheet, connotively making it seem even more threatening. Also, as the hand has been shown on the screen a lot alone, it connotively shows the audience that the hand is going to be vital to the film.

A close up of a blonde girl, followed quickly by an extreme close up of her fearful face and then cutting quickly again to her running and stumbling down a corridor is part of the codes of convention of horror. 'A damsel in distress', normally an innocent blonde girl, is always shown getting killed towards the beginning of a film, usually as the first death. Many more close-ups, extreme close ups and middle shots are shown of her looking around, dennotively creating suspense because the audience, like the girl, is waiting for the man with the knifed hands to jump out and for something to happen.

The credits are being put on screen, down the left and right hand sides whilst all of this is happening, so they don’t distract from the action. They are white to contrast with the darker, dimly lit corridor. Connotively, it is dimly lit to create atmosphere; also, running down a dimly lit corridor or hallway is part of the codes of conventions of a horror film. It creates suspense as they’re running. 

There are then long shots of her running through the boiler room that he was making the knife-fingers on at the beginning, which is dennotively to show that they are in the same place. This is further backed up by the short, sharp close-ups of him half-hidden and watching her. Connotively, this is to show that the lurking danger is still there, hidden from her. The shots of her running through the boiler room are to show how difficult it is for her to move around and that when she needs to run away from him, she won’t be able to run very far or fast; she is helpless.

The sound of him laughing as she tries to creep around connotively give the impression that he is watching her and she won’t be able to hide from him. This is common for a horror film: the villain having much more power and knowledge than the other characters. 

The last credit, the writer and director: Wes Craven, comes up as there is a close up of her fearful face, connotively reminding the audience that she is scared and helpless. The credit disappears as the close up of him ripping the sheet with his knifed fingers is shown again and they finally appear on screen together. Dennotively, this is because the action is about to start, rather than the foreshadowing of the action.

Analysis of ‘Final Destination’ opening credits

The film opens with music, played on a violin. This is non-digetic sound. Connotively, this is daunting. On the screen as the viewer hears this is ‘New Line Cinema’, the company logo. The use of this music sets a daunting atmosphere. Also, there is a crash of thunder and a flash of lightening; connotively, this confirms the film as a thriller because again it contributes to the atmosphere.

The title of the film is set against a window, outside of which it is raining, which connotively sets the atmosphere for the rest of the film. It also gives us a sense of place, as the viewer is now aware that the setting is inside a room. The title is written in small, white letters, which contrasts greatly with the background. Also, it is a colour that is connotively associated with death

Dennotively, the camera pans downwards onto toys hanging by their necks from a piece of string, which implies murder or suicide. This connotes with death and sets death up as a theme for the film. This also is part of the conventions of this particular genre of film. Next, the camera zooms in on his passport, and then on his seat being number 13; connotively this is an unlucky number. 

There is a close up of a fan going round; this fan appears a few times and is a motif within the opening credits. The sound of the blades turning can be heard, even when the fan is not on the screen. It does, however, still play an important part of the opening credits. The wind from the fan blows the pages of a book until it stops on a page with an execution taking place. This again connotes with death. Another book flips itself and the words visible are “evil” and “death”. This gives the audience an idea for the narrative of the rest of the film.

The music changes at the end. The pitch gets higher and it increases in speed, which, connotively, creates suspense. A woman’s voice can be heard calling “Alex” as the non-digetic sound begins to fade. This acts as a sound bridge for the rest of the film to start.

Analysis of ‘Poltergeist’ opening credits

Dennotively, the credits start off with non-digetic sound, the American National Anthem. This creates a sense of place. Connotively, this is so the audience wonder where the sound is coming from, and also so they wonder the significance of the anthem. As this is happening, against the black screen, the name of the company who made the film: ‘Metro Goldwyn Meyer’ appears across the screen. Then, the title: ‘Poltergeist’ in the same white writing, connotively making it stand out. 

The scene starts with a close up of a television, connotively indicating that televisions are going to be important to the film. It then zooms out to show a man having fallen asleep watching the t.v. The dog sleeping next to him gets up and wonders around the house, showing all the people who live in it, connotively giving the audience an idea of where the main part of the film will take place.

The last room that it goes into is the bedroom of a little girl and once in this room, it begins to zoom in on the little girl asleep in bed, where as before it stayed in a mid shot all around the house. The little girl is cute and blonde: the perfect damsel in distress, which connotively is part of the codes of conventions of horror. 

The little girl gets up and goes downstairs; this is being shown from a point-of-view shot of the t.v, connotively implying that the television is going to be almost a character itself.  The little girl starts shouting at the television that she “can’t hear” it. She then starts talking to the television as if she were answering questions, which connotively implies the supernatural, which is creepy. Dennotively, there is low key lighting with flashing lights, which sets the atmosphere of a creepy film.

As the credits start, there is calm, happy music. The camera pans over a green, grassy hill onto a town with white walls. The next few shots are of cars driving along the road. In each set of shots, the audience is getting closer to their destination: the setting of the film. Connotively, this is making it seem just like any other typical town in the suburbs. This presents the setting for the film. 

The first credit, after the film title, is ‘A Steven Spielberg Production’. This is because Steven Spielberg is a famous name and the audience will instantly recognize it.

‘Scream’ Analysis

The title of the film: ‘Scream’ is the first thing to appear on the screen, in red, dripping letters, which connotively represent blood. This sets the scene for gore and horror. At the same time, there is non-digetic sound of the phone ringing, which becomes digetic there is a close up of the phone. This acts as a bridge between the title and the film. 

The person that answers the ringing phone is a young, blonde woman in the alone. The killer, who claims he is outside the house, is on the other end. The first scene revolves round him chasing and killing the blonde woman. This is a typical code of convention of a horror film: the young, innocent blonde woman is the damsel in distress; the setting is also typical of a horror film because the killer says to her “we’re in the middle of nowhere”. Having a character killed at the beginning of a horror film to introduce the killer is quite common.

The next scene introduces the main characters. It starts with a close up of a girl’s – Sidney’s - face, so she’s instantly recognisable as the main character. She is characterised as girly and innocent by the clothes she wears and her room. This mise-en-scene is created by lacy curtains and pink bedding.

The scene after involves the reaction to the first murder. As is a code of convention in a horror film the small town is left shaken by the murder and everyone is under suspicion. The next scene shows the main characters reacting by wondering who could have killed her. Connotively, this is because the audience is wondering the same thing and most of the film is about trying to work out who the killer is. The music over the top of these scenes is a piano repeating the same few notes over and over again, dennotively to create suspense.

A few scenes later, the killer is in the main character’s house. The piano forte is still there; only this time is undercut with dramatic sounds from an organ to create a lot more suspense. The reporter, shown a few times previously reporting, who arrives on the scene to find out what’s going on and who the killer is represents the audiences want to know who the killer is.

The killer, who everyone believed had been caught, once again phones Sidney and informs her that they’ve caught the wrong man. As realisation sets in, there is an extreme close up of Sidney, connotively to create tension. This is part of the code of convention of the narrative of a horror film, to have the killer caught, only to find out that it is not the killer.

The sub-plot, about Sidney’s mother having been murdered a year before, becomes much more significant to the central plot. During the conversation between Sidney and the reporter, Gail, it is filmed with just shot-reverse-shot editing. It is filmed in close ups, extreme close ups whenever something significant is said and as the conversation gets more intense, more and more extreme close ups are used.

The next few scenes are set in the school: people’s reactions to the killer attempting to strike again, the killer attempting to kill Sidney at school. The mise-en-scene of the school is created by lockers in the corridor and banners about prom being strung up on the ceiling. Also, the extras in the scenes are of student age.

There are several deaths in the film. All of these deaths have he same music involving an organ and a violin; this is a sound motif for the deaths of the film.

The town is portrayed as a typical suburban town, part of the code of convention of horror. The mise-en-scene of this town is partly done by pale pastel colours on the houses. The next scene, after the montage of the town reacting to the murders, is the police discussing how they think that they know who the murderer is and that he’s after Sidney. This is common in the narrative of a horror film, for some character to (think) they know who it is and the main character does not know. Also, the audience (think they) know who the killer is, but the protagonist does not; this is dramatic irony.

At a party, every one leaves because their principle has been killed. This leaves only the main characters in the vicinity: Gail and Dewy – the reporter and police man – walking in the woods; Sidney and Billy – her boyfriend – in the bedroom; and their friend downstairs. After supposedly killing Billy, the killer then chases Sidney all over the house. This is the main event in a horror film: the killer chasing the main character, trying to kill her. During this sequence, there is very dramatic music being played on a violin, different to any other violin piece so far, in order to show how important this event is.

Gail and Dewy seem to be Sidney’s only hopes, as they are the only other people seen to still be on the premises. However, while Sidney is looking for help, Gail swerves to avoid hitting her with her van and, over the suspenseful screeching of a violin, Gail crashes the car. Then, as the screeching comes to a stop, there are a few more violin sounds as Dewey stumbles out of the house, dying, effectively leaving Sidney hopeless.

When the killer is eventually revealed, it is Billy and his friend, Stew. Billy was the first person to be accused of being the Woodsborough Killer, but was then believed to be innocent. When it is revealed to be him, there is a close up of his face, connotively to emphasise the realisation

During the final showdown, Sidney manages to run away. Gail shoots Billy and Stewie, but, as with all horror films, Billy is not really dead, coming back to try to kill her one last time. Sidney shoots him. There is a close up of her face as she does: it is a very different expression to the one she had on her first close up. She has lost her innocence. This is the typical sequence of events for the narrative of the ending of a horror film. 

Summarised Findings

I found that there are some characters that are part of the codes of conventions: the protagonist, trying to figure out who the killer is, or what is going on; the damsel in distress, feminine blonde girl, who usually who dies early on in the film. The setting also has codes of conventions: the film has to be set in a small, conventional town or a house in the middle of no where so that the finale can take place with no interruption from neighbours and all seems hopeless.

The narrative of a horror film contains certain things: an element of mystery, whether that’s an unknown killer, unknown motives; a final showdown at the end between the protagonist and antagonist. It also must be hard for the monster/killer to be caught or killed, connotively to create tension.

The narrative of the opening sequence is slightly different. It has to he familiarise the audience with either the killer and his methods, or the setting if the setting is significant to the film. The opening sequence has to prepare the audience for the film in some way. Part of doing this is setting the atmosphere, which can be done using the music. Usually, music from a violin or an instrument similar does this.

For the technical aspects of the opening credits, it is common to have close up of the victims face, connotively to show the fear of the unknown monster/killer. Also, the can camera pans around the room in order to familiarise the audience with the setting of the film before the film starts.

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