Sound
A lot of non-diegetic sounds are used, such as the club music and the eerie music in the background being played for the first 30 seconds. The vampire hisses and growling are also non-diegetic. Its purpose is to display the animalistic side and the zoomorphism of vampires as they are seen to have no morals and are ferocious/feisty. The sound effect of a punch was used to add to the reality of the opening, but to also depict the strength of a vampire. The club music comes to a dramatic halt as the American is at the feet of a mysterious character.
Camera angles/movement
Camera movement is unsteady and jagged in the opening where the two characters were in the car, mimicking the vehicle's motion. A tracking shot is used when following the workers in the meat locker, examining their pale faces with dark undertones. This cold colour palette adds to the lifeless image of a vampire. Mid shots and two shots of the main subjects are also used. The shot of the red headed woman is taken at a low angle, allowing her to overpower the male and provoke the feeling of fear. A tilt is used to track the male's gaze as he looks up to this woman, conforming to Laura Mulvey's theory. The close-up of blood on the male character's hand foreshadows the brutality of the film and the relationship with this iconography, establishing the media text as a horror. The fact that it is a close-up resembled its importance to the storyline. There is also a close-up of blood blasting out of the sprinklers in the nightclub, followed by a pan of the bloodbath to display the surrounding area and the enjoyment of the vampires through their body language (dancing) and facial expressions. Zooming and arc shots are used in the club scene to add to the hallucinogenic atmosphere. A male vampire punches the camera at a head on shot, including the audience into the storyline as they feel as if he has punched them. This shot asserts the dominance that vampires hold over mortals. A high angle shot is used while the American man was on the floor, to show that he is the inferior one in the situation.
Editing
Shot-reverse-shot is used when the two main subjects are in the car, and also in the club when the female dressed in black and white glare at each other, as if they're in some kind of battle between evil and innocence - which isn't the case as we then find out that they are both vampires. Lighting is made to appear blue and misty with a cool palette and dark undertones, representing the dead, cold factors of a vampire's life. However in the night club lighting is limited, provoking confusion for the audience and makes them depict their own image of what they think is occurring. As the storyline develops and more is revealed, the lighting becomes brighter. Jump cuts are used to display fast movements and mimic the vampire's swift ability. Shot durations are fast when the two subjects get into the club, to reinforce the clubbing atmosphere. These shots are also out of focus to depict the blur and excitement that the vampires are receiving. There are ongoing credits in a red coloured font to illustrate the main element of the film; blood. The colour red is also symbolic of death and danger, but also lust - typical of a vampire due to their promiscuity. There is a montage of shots, reinforcing the bloodbath scene and how much everyone in the club enjoys it. Abnormal slow motion shots are used to show that the vampires are not in control of their actions as they are zoned out - which is possibly why they didn't realise that a human had entered their night club in an instant. Match-on-action is used where the vampire punches the camera, cutting to the American male taking the impact and falling on the floor (continuity editing). Towards the end of the opening, the camera constantly cuts away from the mysterious character in black to create more tension as we are determined to find out who he is and what he looks like. He is positioned in the right third of the frame to reveal that he is, in fact, a negative character, not a hero - as their framing is usually centred. His negative ambience is also recognised by the vampires getting up in fear and backing away from him - he has dominance over them as he is shot from a low angle.
Mise en scene
The opening is set in a meat locker - an odd place to own a night club - which has connotations of death. The female protagonist appears to have red hair. This colour is symbolic of the danger that she will later give rise to. She also wears black lingerie, representing the lust darkness within her. Females in the opening are dressed as if they are shot from a man's gaze, again depicting them as promiscuous. The male is perceived as a stereotypical American, what with his blonde locks, blue hat and simple clothing. The blonde hair depicts his stupidity while his hat is the colour of oblivion, portraying him as not the brightest character in the film as he is easily manipulated. The meat locker setting embeds dead bodies in bags frequently, yet subtly in the background, hinting out to the male character and the audience what is soon to happen next. The conversation between the female and the club bouncer is not in English. They seem to converse in an eastern European dialect, making the idea that they are vampires more conspicuous as they are said to be from the Transylvanian region. The film was released in the 1990s as vampires were the main fear of that time, so this embedded dialect holds great significance in terms of foreshadowing. In the club, there is a female dressed in white, contrasting with the image of purity as she is, in fact, a vampire. This makes the audience question whether or not purity is a deception or a myth. There are flashing lights in the club, disorientating the audience and making them feel as if they are also present in the night club. The vampires perform promiscuous acts - through kissing and the giving of oral sex - a typical trait of this type of creature. Regarding performance, the vampires eye the American up and down as they are unfamiliar with him. He is not seen as a human, he is meat. As the pan of the bloodbath occurs, the camera is positioned behind the hook. This hook represents torture and inflicts pain, but also reminds the audience of the setting outside of the night club; the meat locker. There is a female in the night club dancing with a bag on her body. This creates an enigma as to why she is protecting her clothes, which is then answered when the bloodbath occurs. It seems as if she wears this insisting there is going to be a mess of some sort within the club. On the other hand, this also foreshadows the event that someone may end up in a body bag at the end of the night, giving reference to the body bags seen earlier in the opening. The mysterious character that appears towards the end of the opening doesn't seem to be covered in blood as he rises above everybody, implying that he has an important role in the story nothing has been revealed about him.
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