DECONSTRUCTION.

Deconstruction

Hurtwood House Boogeyman Opening sequence (Student)

The opening sequence shows a man trying to escape an underground room but as he goes back we see a man standing there shaking his head and tutting and he waves a knife infant of his body. This Thriller opening sequence matches the conventions of the Thriller genre as it has created suspense and anticipation as the aim is to make the audience alert and at edge of their seats in this case it is to why he has been kidnapped and to why he can't leave - even when he escapes. We see that the protagonist is in the mercy in the antagonist. There are loads of micro-elements used in this opening sequence to help create the tension, and to help portray the right tone over through to the audience. The lighting in the films very low-key to help contrast the shadows. This opening sequence ignores one of the stereotypes in this genre (Thriller), and which is that a man is being help hostage rather than a women be held captured and being shown as vulnerable. However, the person in charge is a man, which is shown throughout the sequence, this links to the representation of men being strong and powerful. 

 

0.01 - We see the production title (Yashasiku Holdings), in the background we see purple which is a signifier of cruelty. Within the purple background there is a flickering which looks like a shimmering water but as you look at it closely its a fan spinning round quickly showing the woods outside. With this we get the sense that someone is trapped and being treated horribly. 

0.02-0.07 - There starts to be some dietetic noise - water running. This signifies fear, state of shock, obsession and trauma. This gives the audience a sense that something is not right. We also start to see some opening credits for the production "company" and others. The some part of the titles are in red to represent danger, which makes the viewers subconsciously think of danger and death.

0.08 - The screen turns black. Black signifies death, mystery, fear and power. This can create stress for the audience as they start to fear the unknown of what is happening and why the screen is black. 

0.10 - There are no credits, the only thing we can see it the fan spinning around, in front of the "forest"with a blue tint on top of it. This creates a more eerie feeling to the film. The fan causes the light to flicker giving us a sense that this is from someone's point of view, this gives the idea that someone is stuck in a room, in the middle of nowhere. Behind the sound of running water there is a high pitch noise with a lot of jumps back and fourth in the music, this creates an atmosphere of worry because the music gives off this tone. Titles do start to appear on top of the scene to inform everyone who created the film

0.15 - 0.35 - The camera starts to slowing move around from the fan down towards the man chained to the wall. There is a lot low-key lighting with dark colours such as purple, black, blue tones edited over the scene, which helps contrast shadows, low-key lighting also helps give off a scary and intense atmosphere, this can intrigue the audience as to why he is trapped their and if he will escape. From the M-E-S of the room the audience is given the impression of that a man has been kidnapped and being help hostage as you can see him moaning in pain lying on the floor. During this 20 second clip we see him struggling to catch his breath as we see that he has been hit as there is dirt on his back showing that he is vulnerable to whoever has captured him. The camera focuses on how his hand is chained to the wall, this is done by the camera zooming in slowly on the chain only for 10 seconds. The chain symbolises imprisonment and great pain. We hear him cough at the beginning of the clip, which then leads to him groaning in confusion and struggle, this leads to a loud cry with lots of coughing and whimpers for help.

0.38 - Switches back to the opening credits, with the directors name Requis Chiake. In the background we hear upbeat music which changes the atmosphere of the  movie but still gives off a creepy tone as no everyone is curious as to what is happening. 

0.41 - The scene flips to a man driving in a van turning up the music. We can see his married so that starts to create a history and backstory for the character is makes us all wonder as to whether he is the man in charge or if he is the protagonist as we are not given much information. 

0.44 - The camera angle flips from a closeup of his hand to a medium close-up of a side angle view of his body, we can see the background which is a country lane with big green bushes. The green symbolises both nature and money. This has made the audience believe the maybe the man is being held hostage for money. 

0.47 - The scene has flipped back to the man on the floor, the music is still playing in the background. They have used a sound bridge — the music has continued from a man in a car to a different man lying on the floor in pain

0.51 - The camera angle changes and shows us that there is an axe near him, we see it from his point of view, the angle and lighting help focus on the axe as it is an important prop within the opening sequence. When the man sees the axe he stops groaning and coughing in pain he stops and you can hear him breathing (panicking). 

0.52 - 0.56 - The angle changes to a different point of view as we watch he struggle and work hard to reach the axe. In the meantime the music is still playing, the music has a smaller increase in volume this creates suspense as the audience have gathered that the man in the van is getting closer. 

0.57 - 0.59 - There is a now a birds eye view showing us that he grabs the axe just before, the camera flips to show the van stopping abruptly. Within the next 2 seconds a lot happens. The scene flips back and fourth between the van and his hand slowly grabbing the axe this brings the audience to the edge of their seats as they want to know if he gets out on time. 

1.00-1.03 - The music stops abruptly, the same time that man pulled the gear this creates the idea that the "antagonist" turned off the music in the van and that they are linked together. There is nothing but a black screen fro 1 second then the title of the film appears in red, this colour is the signifier for danger, blood and determination — as the man is determined to escape. 

1.04-1.09 - The scene back up again, but now we have a view of a water pipe with water dripping onto it, we hear the water running through the pipes, as well as hearing the water we also hear the man heavy breathing as the camera slowing pans around to reveal to us that he managed to get out of the chain but he is moving very slowly, as he is limping and leaning against the wall — this is a sign that he is weak.

1.10-1.13 — The camera angle switches from different angles to show where he has been injured first it is to a long low shot this gives the helps the audience focus on that he is limping his way out of the building to show that he has injured his leg, then to him placing his hand onto the wall — grabbing the audiences eye we see that his hand is wrapped in something white, with blood stains in it, this shows us that he cut he had trying to get out of the chains. The camera then zooms into his hand showing us in a closer detail that his hand is badly injured, we know this because the camera keeps focusing on the camera, 

1.14 - 1.17 - We get a point of view shot from behind. During this we see that he has found a way to escape, because of the bright whit light which signifies a respectful "beginning" and safety. The audience get a feeling of relief as he has found his out of the creepy building. There is no music, the only sound is him walking on the metal. We can not see what he is looking at which also leaves the viewers to use their imagination. The lighting in this scene has a red tint on top which can create the idea that he may not get away with his escape and that he may get caught. The editing technique from the shot and the next is a cutting on action shot as he is still in the frame.

1.18 - 1.20 - He is outside of the building, we see he has some relief as he swings his arm around a pole. There starts to be some brighter lighting, this gives an idea that it is cold outside as there is also a blue undertone to the scene. Blue can be a signifier of serenity (calm) the audience feels like this because he is outside and managed to escape. The camera angles in this clip is following him backwards (he is moving forward while camera moving back) this is camera angle is showing him leaving from a persons point of view. This technique is called viewpoint, this viewpoint is from a long shot because we can see his location and him. There is a little bit of added sound to this clip all we can hear is his footsteps against the gravel and an ongoing bass note, which has given an eerie feeling to the sequence. 

1.22-1.26 - The camera angle has flipped from a viewpoint angle to low angle long shot, this viewpoint can encode the impression of him being vulnerable making the person who appears on the balcony more powerful and stronger than the man because he has to look up to him. At first we don't see the man look over as the weak man seems to be searching for him to make sure that he is not there. 1.24 we hear a change in the music as he suddenly appears looking over the balcony in the centre of the camera making seem like it was from the hostage's point of view. He is wearing all black which is a signifier of authority and power, whereas the other man is wearing all white showing that he is innocent and "pure". The way the camera suddenly stops spinning shows that both characters have locked eyes with each other and that he is in trouble. 

1.27-1.29 - The camera angles changes 3 times from showing the hostage's face, to the powerful man back to the hostage to create the tension and suspense and the audience know that danger is ahead. The camera angles are close ups to each of their faces to show that they are both too have found each other (not in a good way). We also can tell that something bad is going to happen due to the music behind the scene, it gets high pitched and every time the camera changes we hear another note, this makes the audience feel queasy and uncomfortable.

1.29 - 1.32 - The angle changes again to another point of view, this one is giving the audience the idea that someone is watching him slowly run back to his room. The camera doesn't move we just see him quickly move into the building again. The scene got darker giving a more sinister tone. We can hear him quickly running down the stairs. Between these 3 seconds the camera switches from outside to inside with a quick jump cut because the subject is still in motion, this makes the scene go more quickly stressing out the audience more. 

1.36 - 1.44 - The camera angle is a point of view of who we think is the Boogey man. We know this because it is a medium close up and by the facial expression the hostage pulls when he looks down from the stairs to see that he is standing in the doorway. The look of shock and horror in face makes the audience feel sick to their stomach as everyone has a feeling that he may get killed. The lighting around his is very low key with an undertone of red making the clip more spine-chilling. The tutting at the end of the sequence is the first bit of dialogue we hear, the creeps the audience out and makes them feel sick.

Hurtwood House Silenced Opening Sequence (Student)

This opening sequence is about a group of girls, going to "work" as a creepy old school/hotel/house, we see that there is an antagonist who is forcing the girls to clean this place. Throughout the opening sequence we get an understanding that the girls are the "victims" which match the conventions of a Thriller as the female roles normally place the victims, being held against their will by a strong male. As the scene continues we start to get a bit more information that one of the girls is missing, this causes a mini chases scene between the man and the girl, only for there to be a little plot twist at the end. A lot happens in this opening sequence, there is a lot of dialogue but only through the male character, this gives the idea that the girls are Silenced but we don't know why and that what we hope to find out. 

 

0.01 - 0.20 - The first thing we see is the inside of a school bus. It is a long shot and the camera is in the centre of the bus. The way the camera is placed is to show the audience the school children and where they are. This camera angles helps the audience prepare the audience for what may happen or what make them think how this will link later on in the sequence. The lighting in this scene is very dark with a very blue undertone. The dark blue tone is a signifier of knowledge and seriousness. We get a sinister feel to the first second because there is dark lighting, apart from a little girl at the back of the bus where there is brighter lighting above her head which portrays her as innocent. We also see the the production company name which in this case is Water End productions. This camera angle doesn't change as the scene goes on, nobody is moving all, however, the background is moving, this makes the audience curious as they are unaware of where the children as going. The sound in the background is low tempo and bass music, this creates a more intense and eerie tone. We can also hear the coach noise as it is driving along the road. All the kids are sitting in silence which is weird because normally kids are so loud, this can make the audience feel confused. The way the camera is shaking a long with the bus, is interesting as it makes the audience feel like they are watching them from them being on the bus, this technique is called process shot as it is focusing on the kids on the bus while the background is moving making there be two focus points. During this opening scene we also see the name of the film Silenced written in white which is the colour of purity, and the names of the main characters appear. This shot is 20 seconds this is to help the audience understand the surroundings. 

0.21-0.27 - The camera angles switches to a medium-close up of three girls, it is now clear to the viewers that these 3 girls are some of the main characters. We start to see who the casting is done by. The sound behind the shot is the same as they have used straight cut as they are going from one perspective to another. With the close ups to the girls fees you can see that they are miserable by their expressions, we know this by the way they are staring at one thing (each different) they are also all sitting by themselves on each row, this gives a sense that they are all in trouble.

0.28 - 0.40 - The camera angle flips back to the centre showing all the girls again, sitting like ducks, this makes the audience feel uncomfortable as the normal representation of children in movies is them laughing and talking loudly, instead they are just sitting in silence (this links to the title). The music gets louder giving off the impression that they are getting closer to their destination. All the girls look confused at this point as they too seem unaware of they are going. 

0.41 - 0.50 - There is a sudden change in the camera angle - we know see a man, who is driving the van, this matches the representation of men in Thrillers because they are known for the evil antagonist and in this case he is ruing some young girls childhood. The lighting in this clip is emphasising of where they are. They start approaching a building with a massive start outside. This means it could be something to do with religion or spiritual aspects. He starts to speak which is the first bit of dialogue we hear. Which catches everyone off guard as we were not expecting the driver to be rude to the little girls. While he is talking to the girls. You can tell the children are being forced to "clean the place up" as he check his watch and says it is a harsh way. You can't help but notice the white star this makes the audience remember it as it may become important later on.

0.51 - 0.52 - The scene changes location to a corridor (in a school or hotel as there is a fire exit sign). The camera angle is at a low shot to show that they have no power and are weak. It is an establishing shot with a mixture of a long shot as it helps the audience establish where the children are and if they are safe there. The editing technique to get from the previous scene to this is a smash cut as it was a very abrupt change of scenery than the previous as now they are in a dark room, with very dark undertones edited in this makes the audience feel like the place they are in a haunter, old or sinister.

0.53 - 0.56 - We get two different close ups - one of the girls face and the other of her cleaning the table. This helps the audience get a full understanding of how she is feeling, by her expressions. This is the same girls from the previous close-up this makes the audience think she has an important meaning to the film as it builds up suspense as we know (from thriller stereotypes) that something will happen to the girl. 

0.57 - 1.16 - The camera angles smash cuts to another location in the house this time it is a stair case, this can give the idea that time is passing by as we start to the whit van drive away, this makes the audience worried as they don't know what will happen to the children. We see that the children are surprised when the camera angle gets a close establishing long shot including one of the girls looking confused. The camera quickly changes angle to show the main girl cleaning the stairs (from the little girls perspective) looking outside worried as she looks at the little girl who runs away. We see she runs away because the camera zooms out to present us a long shot so that we can see both girls reaction to what is happening. This creates a suspenseful atmosphere for the audience as they are confused as well as the girls. 

1.17-1.22 - We get a high angle shot inside showing the white van approaching the house again. This makes it seem like "an hour" has passed be cause he left and came back again, this worries the audience as they don't know what will happen if the girls haven't finished in time. Will they get hurt?

1.23 - 1.31  Again there is another smash cut to yet another different location. This time it is by a corner of which we know someone "ideally the man" will walk around. The music stops and we hear him approaching this can make the audience feel stressed as we don't know anything about the man or what he is capable of doing. He starts to tell the girls to come down stairs while doing this the camera switches back to the first location in the house to show the girls reacting to him, this technique is called an L-cut as the same audio is being used from one shot to another, this helps the audience understand how the girls are feeling about this strong man. 

1.32-1.36 - The camera angle changes, to a low over the shoulder view, this is so we can see both the girls standing on the steps and the man, both in the same frame and shot, this makes it easier for the audience to focus as they can see all characters that have been introduced. There is still no music, we only hear the man demanding the girls to come down the stairs. This angle is also to make the audience feel smaller than he is giving him more power to control how they feel. 

1.37-1.40 - There are 3 separate camera shots, quickly put together (fast past cut) this is to build suspense and make to throw the audience off focus as they get confused on what is happening. It quickly cuts to a medium close up of his face and shoulders helping show the audience that he is annoyed that he cannot find the main girl. The dark tones help contrast their shadows against the wall. 

1.43-1.50 — the music starts up again creating more suspense as he starts to get annoyed at on of the girls, the camera does a quick shot of her face and the quickly cuts back to him, right before he starts chasing her, this makes the audience feel sick to their stomach as he is using his authority against this girl. The man is stereotypically going to be faster than the girl, meaning he will find out where the missing person is. The camera angle is from a low shot perspective of the room, helping give off more detail about the room and how quickly either one of them are moving. 

1.50-1.57 There is a point of view angle shot to show the girl running through the corridors this happens in all different places for the next 6 seconds, this creates a lot of tension for the audience as none of the shots include the man, so we are unaware of whether he will just pop out somewhere and catch her. She stops running, there is a medium shot of her and the mini staircase behind her, she is wearing black which is a signifier of fear and mystery which is related to this scene as the mystery is where is the man. When she turns her head around the corner the camera angle changes to show her face and what her facial expressions are (in this case SCARED). 

1.58-2.00 —  there is a smash cut with a J-cut (audio still in shot) of the man opening and closing a door, searching for where she has run off to, this shot makes the audience worried as they don't want the girl to get caught as all she was doing was protecting her friend. 

2.01 - THE END - We get a smash cut back the girl, worrying about whether he is going to appear. The door behind starts to opening, which builds a lot of stress for the audience as the man was just opening doors to find her, giving the sense that he is the one opening the door, all for us to discover is that it is her friend pulling her into the room helping her escape the man (antagonist). This is done by using a medium long shot and we can see both the two girls and a bit of the background. This helps relieve the stress from the audience but also increases the mystery of the story because the audience would want to know what happens to the girl and why they where there in the first place.

M. Night Shyamalan film Split 

This opening sequence is showing us that its someone's birthday, there is some dialogue between a family and the brown haired girl called Casey. They get into a car, while the girls are in the car the dad is putting stuff away in the boot, all of a sudden he turns around and is confused. Casey hears a thud and looks in the wind mirror. 2 seconds later a strange man gets in the car confusing the girls he sprays them with a gas, causing them to pass out. Casey tries to escape but the door makes a noise and she gets sprayed. There is a lot of stereotypes in this opening sequence which is, the young girls get kidnapped by a smart, sneaky man, the girls are being shown as vulnerable and scared and weak whereas the man comes across as powerful, strong (as he just killed or harmed the dad) and smart as he has planned how he would kidnap them. The opening sequence matches the thriller character conventions and the narrative conventions as there is a lot of suspense building up, as to what will happen to the three girls.

 

0.09 - 0.28  - This is when we get the first glimpse of the main character Casey, we see her through an establishing long shot, which starts to zoom into her face and her expressions, this helps the audience know who the main character is in the film due to everyone else who is in the background getting blurred and the main lighting is on her. From this clip we can see that she doesn't fit in as she is wearing darker colours and sitting away from everyone else who is wearing brighter colours. The dark colours she wears represents mystery and coldness, whereas the bright colours represent warmth and openness and fun. This shot is nearly 20 seconds long, this helps the audience understand what is going and gives them time to wonder what is going to happen and where she is, and why she is there. The camera is placed within a green plant, this can signify self-awareness, jealousy and envy, this makes the viewers think that Casey is jealous of her friends as they may be happier or have more things than her. There is not much sound in this shot, we can hear her friends talking in the background, but it is faded out and very muffled as we are focusing on how Casey is zoning out, staring into the distance. 

0.29 - 1.33 - There is a straight cut from the perspective of Casey to a following point of view shot from behind her friend Claire, who we gather invited to her birthday, The way the camera follows her while she is walking towards her parents, is giving off the impression that someone is following her, it creates a little bit of suspense for the audience, as there is a bit fo foreshadowing of what happens later in the film, as they are being "followed" by Kevin (the man who kidnaps them), this can create a tense atmosphere between the characters and the audience as they know what will happen unlike the characters. The dad is holding a lot of things which gives off the impression that Claire and her family are more wealthy them in this case it is Casey, this is stereotype as there is always on "victim" in thrillers who has more money than the other people. There is some dialogue between Claire and her parents, as they are trying to sympathise for Casey. For 1 second the camera flips to behind Claire and her parents from this we can see Casey on the phone, not participating with everyone. The camera flips back to a medium shot of the family, it is a medium shot to help show the audience the facial expressions and body language. This happens back and fourth until 1.33 as some detail are revealed. 

1.33 - 2.07 - The camera is following Casey, Claire, Claires's dad and Marcia, making it look like someone is walking behind and following them towards the car. There is no added sound to this shot as they are trying to show how quiet it is. This builds suspense as the audience are curious as to why it is so quiet and why the camera is at a long shot away from everyone. Once the girls are in the car the camera starts to come close to the man faster than before. The audience know that it is trying to represent someone walking as the camera is slightly turning each way whenever there is a mother step. This creates a stressful atmosphere as the audience don't fully know what is going to happen. The following camera angle turns into a point of view shot, within the same take as Claires' dad breaks the forth wall and starts talking to the camera, this can make the audience feel like he is speaking to them and that they might be in danger. There are red boxes on the floor which naturally symbolise blood and danger. He starts to speak to the camera making everyone realise he is supposed to be speaking to someone in this case it is Kevin. 

2.08 - 2.19 - we see Casey sitting in the front seat while her two "friends" are in the back. We see her through a medium close up from the perspective of the wing mirror on the car. This is so we can see that her friends are in the car laughing and she is sitting there in silence this can create a lot of sympathy and emotional connection between the audience and Casey as she may feel like an outsider. The camera slowly moves from the wing mirror to right in front of her face so that we can see what is happening in the background. The camera slowly moves back towards  the wing mirror perspective to show her facial expression when she hears the thud of the dad falling to the ground. 

2.20-2.39 -  the camera angle quickly cuts to Casey's perspective towards the wing mirror. This makes the audience curious as to what she might be able to see and what she is looking for. The camera angles switches back to her face only this time she seems more stressed out, as she aswell as the audience are curious as to what us happening. The movement of the camera happens again to make the audience feel more stressed out  We see that there is food is on the floor as the boxes have fallen over, as the camera does a close-up her face we can see that she is confused. 

2.40 - 2.48 - The camera angle changes to the perspective of Kevin who is now sitting in the car. We see Casey slowly turn around as we know she has figured out what is happening. The way she turns around shows that she is petrified and is in shock. This is why she is moving slowly. As she moves the girls in the back are still laughing and now the radio is on, this confuses the audience as the girls in the back must have noticed that, there is a strange man sitting where the dad should be. At 2.47 we see the realisation and disturbance in her face as she starts to get scared. 

2.49-3.03 -  the camera angle switched to Casey's perspective of what see she's. This is the first time we see the main male character. He is wearing a grey/green shirt with glasses this can signify the man is an intellectual with an unchanging nature about him in this case he is a psychopath kidnapping 3 teenage girls. We see him from a medium shot this is so the audience can see what he looks like and his body language, in this shot we can see he is shocked that he just did what he did and that he might get away it.  He picks up a yellow towel which signifies betrayal, dishonesty and hazard. 

3.04 - The camera switches back to Casey heavy breathing sounding like she is having a panic attack. The shot that is being used is a medium shot.

3.05 - 3.20 -  The perspective switches back to Casey, we hear Claire speaking, making them both turn around the way that this is shown is through surveying pan shot. This is still a medium close-up as it is trying to represent how Casey would see things happening. The audience can see the looks in both Claire and Marcia, which in this case is confused and suspicious as to what is going on. The camera twists back to Kevin, putting on a white mask as he sprays the two girls in the back with a gas, knocking them out, all of this is shown through Casey's point of view

3.21 - THE END - We see Casey sitting there in shock not knowing what to do. Again it switches back to Kevin cleaning his hands, then back to Casey. We start to see her hand slowly move towards the door, as she is staring in one place. The camera starts to show her hand opening the door by a little bit, this makes a dingy noise making Kevin realise she is trying to get away. We see the terrified look in her face, as the camera angle switches to show Kevin getting his mask back on and about to spray her face. Once this happens the scene cuts to the opening credits. This scene has created a lot of stress for the audiecne as they don't know what is happening and what the danger might be.