Analysis of the conventions and media language in a horror opening.

Strangers, Horror, Opening scene, 0-2:30 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWp14gtZ-u0

Strangers was released in 2008, the plot follows A young couple staying in an isolated vacation home are terrorized by three unknown assailants. It was directed and written by Bryan Bertino.

The film opens with a pitch black screen, eerie ambient non diegetic sound is played, the viewer is quickly recognises that the film is a horror from this dark sound. The music continues as the production and distribution companies names appear on screen. They are kept simple so as to create a sense of reality. This sense of reality is further implicated by the writing that appears next, “what you are about to see is inspired by true events” , the world are read by a narrator with a very monotone voice, this chills the viewer, and thoughts that this could happen to them appear in there mind. The man goes on to read facts about violent crimes in the USA to scare the viewer, and show how common  it is, nearly 1 in every 300 people. He tells the viewer where they were coming from (a wedding) and where to ( family summer home) and that the brutal events that took place there are still unknown. This helps the viewer understand what is going to happen on screen, and where it is.  The main characters are also identified early as well.

The screen fades, and a diegetic noise of an car engine is heard, with a soft undertone of non diegetic eerie sound , of a synth. The next scene is a a slow montage of shots, from the perspective of someone within the car looking outside, the shots cut after every house they pass, the colour tone is quite bleak, the houses slowly get more and more rural, to show how isolated they are.

The screen then fades black, the viewer hears the police pick up a phone, with a distraught young boy quivering on the phone, you immediately recognise that he is in trouble, whilst crying he tells the police officer on the phone that they need help, as there are people there, but he does not know where they are. The viewer is scared by the mere thought of this. Whilst the he is on the phone, the camera is panning across to a car with a love heart shaped smash in the window, it the boy and his friend earlier,  discovering what had happened, blood is splattered across the walls, whilst showing a gun on the counter. The shot then fades, and scene ends, with the world “The Strangers”.

The opening uses very little shots, and there is no dialogue on screen, only narration, the small amount of shots gives the film a very realistic feeling, and sets the film up later for an exiting plot.