Analysing Opening Sequences - The Others

The Others

 In the first 2 minutes of this film, there were a lot of credits in the beginning. These were composed of  line drawings of a house, which gradually fade into the real location. This established an idea of time passing and a sense of continuity through history, which is effective for a ghost story.  Once the titles had finished the transition of fade to black was used conveying that the film proper was starting.  This was followed by an establishing shot allowing the audience to orientate themselves and to get a sense of where the action is taking place.

 The first character seen has the most screen time, which automatically tells the audience that this character is going to have a big part. There is also a POV shot from the character’s perceptive of the clock in front of her, which could possible portray that this is a key prop.

 The location is a stereotypical place for a murder as it is foggy and in the middle of nowhere, the only light provided is the moon light, however mysterious things normally take place at night time. This  indirectly tells the audience a bit about the film genre.

 

The titles and music are interrupted by a women screaming taken from canted angle shot of the actress’s face, to show that something is wrong and that the character is confused and disorientated. There is then a close up of the character’s face which reinforces this, showing the significance of her emotions and allowing the audience to see her reaction.

 

Titles and Credits- _ The Others

 The title and credits were effective and represented a sinister theme. The first 2 minutes mainly consisted of titles and pictures. The credits were laid out amongst the shots of the drawings.    The colours used are mainly black, white and brown, which are not normally stereotypical colours used in horror films but which add a sense of the time period. However the titles and credits are white making it stand out against the blacks and browns. This creates a mysterious and sinister  look, with a sense of adding to the atmosphere and quality of the film.

The Use of Sound

 There is an important use of sound in the first two minutes of this film. The music is played along with the titles, this is a very mysterious and eerie tune played through out. After the music has built up the suspense, this is then followed by a 4 second pause of silence indicating a tense moment. However the audience are alarmed by a women screaming after the silence and fade to black, which forces the audience to concentrate on the character. After this has taken place, it is then followed through out with the use of ambient sound, of the background sounds helping create verisimilitude and a sense of atmosphere.