Sound:
Throughout the opening scene, there is eerie music playing as
the camera pans through the child’s bedroom. This is used to create tension and
make it seem like the child is or will be in trouble. The music start quiet and
crescendos louder which also builds tensions. If this film was shown in the
cinema, the sound would have a bigger impact on the audience as the volume
change would be more noticeable. The way that the music gets louder also makes
it seem that the music is coming from somewhere; it makes it seem that the
music is coming fro the other room. This makes the audience think that the real
danger is only round the corner from the child which makes them worried for
their safety. The crescendo in the music is a convention of horror as it builds
tension and lets the audience know that there will be a scare at some point but
they don’t know when. The fast paced violins when the shadow appears makes the
tension the highest it has been in the scene. This signifies to the audience
that the shadow shouldn’t be there in a normal setting and the violins make it
clear that this character will be the person who creates the horror. This is
all non-diegetic sound as none of the characters in the scene can here the
music. After the violins, there is a sudden silence. This is a type of cliff
hanger as this leaves the audience waiting for the scare. This is another
convention of horror as it leaves the audience to think that maybe that there
won’t be a major scare but then there is a jump-scare when the title appears.
The loud screech has been used to make the audience scared as they weren’t
expecting it after the silence. This could be interpreted as diegetic sound but
we don’t know because we can’t see any characters on the screen as it’s just
the title.
Mise En Scene:
The Mise en scene is where a lot of the horror conventions
are. The opening scene is in a child’s bedroom with various different toys
dotted around. It is set at night when the child is asleep so the setting is
dark and the child is isolated which is a common convention of horror. There
are areas that are pitch black which symbolises the common fear of the dark
that children have. This means that the audience can’t see the whole setting
which creates a scary tension as the audience doesn’t know if anything is
lurking in the dark spots. The toys are significant to the scene as it shows
childish innocence of the child in the bedroom. This could indicate that the
child will be involved in adding to the horror element, whether that’s by being
harmed, or by supernatural means such as possession.
The light in the scene is also significant. There is only one
light source at the start of the scene which is the moonlight. This is a
convention of horror as it connotes that the scene is set at night which is the
time of day that children are seen as most vulnerable. Children that are
vulnerable in horror films normally have a main part in the storyline. As the
camera pans through the room, there is a creepy character with a candle under
their face. This type of lighting is a very common horror convention as it
casts odd shadows on the characters face which makes the face look abnormal.
The candle also has the connotation of being old and gothic. This makes the
audience think that this character is old and unnatural as they don’t look like
they should be alive. This is scary as it is seen as unnatural and abnormal
which is creepy and not full accepted by most people.
Camera:
The scene doesn’t have different cuts in it as it is one
continuous pan through the room. The beginning of the shot is an establishing
shot which gives the audience an idea to where the scene is set. It also gives
the audience chance to take in the feel of the room which is creepy yet
innocent as it is a child’s room with the child sleeping. The way the camera
pan’s is done creepily as it is smooth instead of a more hand held shot.
Normally this wouldn’t be scary but combined with the music and the setting; it
makes the camera movement seem unnatural. By making the shot continuous, the
director has given the sense of realism as it is filmed in real time. This
could also be interpreted as a first person shot as it looks like the camera is
in the view point of someone looking into the scene. The camera also pans into
darkness in the scene which creates terror as the audience can’t see what is
happening. This compliments the lighting as it highlights the significance of
the dark spots.
Editing:
At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much editing in the
scene as it is a continuous shot. However, there is some editing even if there
are no cuts between shots until the title screen. One piece of discrete editing
is the way that the setting has been made darker. The director would have had
to shot in the day because filming at night can sometimes not have the desired
effect. It is also harder to lighten a scene than it is to make it look darker.
By making the scene darker, the director could control how dark they wanted the
setting and where he wanted the light to come from as well as what type of
light was to be edited into the scene.
The title is also an example of editing. The shot of the
scary character cuts to a blank black screen, then the title appears suddenly
in a specific font. The director has used a bright red colour for the font
which has the connotation of blood which is a convention of horror. The title
is also in capitals in a gothic looking font. This suggest that there are going
to be gothic features in the film which could be seen as a convention of horror
as gothic themes are often seen as gory and chilling.
