I have chosen to analyse the first scene of the film "Wrong Turn".
The Wrong Turn is an American horror film based around the theme of kidnap and torture. When a group of friends become stranded in the woods, they are tormented and one by one kidnapped by a fmaily of inbred "mountain men".
The scene opens with a long wide shot over a forest, there is a long road in view. This image suggests the idea if freedom and an escape, a road will lead to a city and to people. I feel that is then significant that the camera moves away from the road, giving the idea that there is no escape and no freedom. The camera then begisn to "fall" into the forest, connoting the idea that you are trapped in the forest. During this very first scene, white credits run over. I feel it is interesting that the titles are white as whiete is usually used to connote innocence and purtity- not common themes within a horror film. However it is clever how the white titles stand out against the dark background of foliage in the forest.
At the start of the opening, there is non-diegetic minor music played above the titles. This creates an eerie atmosphere and helps to create that "horror movie" feel. It is quite strong music and when it fades out the silence has a significant contrast with it. This music runs over the titles and fades out when the characters come into shot, then the main sound is diegetic speech. This music starts to play again when the main male character "disappears", again creating that "horror movie" feel and also adds to the eerie, creepy atmosphere of the film. The music always builds up when tension or fear is built up aswell, the music adds to the suspense of the film.
At the very start of the film a lot of birdseye view shots are used, this helps to establish the environment of the film and shows where it is set, these are used along with a lot of long shots in its opening, the shots in the openeing, i feel, are used mainly to establish the main setting of the film- a Forest. The long shots are usually shot as a low angle or high angle shot. These I feel have been used in order to give the effect of height (Cliffs and Mountains). At one point in the opening there were a lot of cuts between the low and high angle shots, this gives the feeling of confusion- which helps make the audience feel part of the film. I believe that some of these shots are to give an impression of "being watched", that the main characters are being followed and stalked. This is a key theme in the play, and I feel that it is shown from the very start through particular camera shots.
The second scene of the film opens with the 2 main characters on the side of a cliff, climbing it. They are shown with a high angel shot, looking down on them. This makes them appear to be very small and insignificant. That they are weak and therfore easy targets. Stereotypically the male character is infront of the female character. There are only two characters in the opening of this film, one male and one female. Stereotypically the girl is blonde, wearing pink and "below" the man. When the male dissapears, she is put into the common "Damsel in distress" role and is left vulnerbale without the male character. Like in all horror films male and female stereotypes are followed, having the men shown as strong and protective postions and women in the helpless and vulnerable position. However sometimes this can be broken, in this opening the male character isnt shown to be strong, even though he reaches the top of the cliff first, he seems to be killed very easily by the killer in this film. He is quickly removed from the film without saving the girl or being the "hero".
There aren't really any special effects or CGI used in the first scene. There is a little bit of costume make-up (fake blood) but that is a common effect used in nearly all horror films. Blood is the colour red, an angry colour that connotes danger and references to death. I feel it is significant that it is used in this opening scene, it is an icon of horror films. The colour red has a striking contrast in the opening of the film as everything around it are fairly plae colours so it stands out in the scene.
This film is set in a forest, which is a sterotypical setting for a horror film, this setting creates the feeling of isolation and desertion which is a main theme in horror films. Unusually the opening of this film is set during the day, this is very interesting because horror films are stereotypically set at night. Although i do feel that this works well because it gives the impression that even during the day you arent safe. Also there aren no shadows created by specialised lighting, which doesnt really create anywhere for the killers to hide. During the daytime it is fairly difficult to become and stay hidden, so i believe that this has been done specifically to create the idea that these "mountain men" can be anywhere at anytime and therefore no-one is safe.
After this main part of the opening, when the female character has been dragged off into the woods the screen goes black and moves into the main title sequence, the titles are played over jerky, quite disturbing shots of the forest and newspaper articles which talk of disfigured mountain men. Quite low,minor, non-diegetic music is played over the top of these images. This gives a very mysetrious feel to the scene which is continued with the kery shots- the audiencde cant really understand what is being shown and have to piece it together gradually.
Again white titles are used which stand out agaisnt the dark colours used in the shots. This montage of images last for around 3 minutes until the film gradually moves back into the story.
It opens again with a shot of a road, this time from a lower angle and a car drives by.
Overall I feel that this film has a very effective opening, as it creates the expected atmosphere for a horror film, and also keeps the audience interested into whats happening- so that they will keep watching. It includes iconography of horror films and follows common themes. All of its elements create the right atmosphere for a horror film, building suspense, tension and gripping the audience at the edges of their seats.
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