The text is written in an old typewriter font, displaying a date. This small caption informs the audience that a backstory is being told, setting the scene.
The extreme close-up of the male is blurry and various positions of his face are overlapped, representing his fragmented mindset. The faded voices in the background are slightly echoed, adding to this zoned out feel and forcing him to think irrationally. The voices are typical of the psychological subgenre of horror. The constant non-diegetic thunder sound effect is a form of pathetic fallacy. The weather depicts the mood and atmosphere within the scene, which appears to be harsh and terrifying. The close-up of the alarm clock forces the audience to fixate on the time displayed and remember it. This is used because the displaying of this time is significantly reoccurred throughout the film, keeping these strange voices and the action in the audience's mind as they can only relate the time back to this opening sequence.
There is a flash of the religious cross displayed on the wall and a book laying on the table that says 'Evil is proof of God', referring to the thought of strong faith banishing an unwelcome spirit. Being frequent viewers of the horror genre, the audience is able to infer that these Aztec symbols on the television screen relate to satanic scriptures and rituals.
The portrait pictures in the male's room show that he comes from a loving family. The placement of these photos indicates that they are dear to him as he has placed them on his bedside table. From here they are the last people he sees before he sleeps. This is discouraging as the images are displayed right after he gets up with his gun in his hand. This weakens the audience as they feel discontent and ask themselves why he would listen to the voices in his head telling him to kill them when he loves them so much.
The constant flashing of light from the thunderstorm compels the audience to focus on the action rather than the characters themselves, as they who they are individually is not used to drive the narrative. The narrative is driven when the first piece of dialogue comes from the little girl, followed by the shooting male. The flashing is also used to hide the action of him actually firing a bullet at his family members as the film is certified as a 15, and any action promoting or persuading someone to inflict this violent behaviour on someone else is prohibited. Pictures of the murders are then exhibited to show the result of this man's actions, but to also keep a log of what happened so that it remains a part of history. This offers authenticity to the story.
A reaction shot of the girl is used in reaction to the gunshot so magnify her fear and how she is powerless in this situation. The fact that only these two characters speak proves that their presence is significant to the narrative and won't be forgotten throughout the film. The audience is told their names for a reason. This may be because members of the audience might have heard about this terrible crisis back in the 1970s, and therefore can relate to the familiar names and clarify the accuracy of the opening sequence. The swinging sign at the front of the house emerges in a beam of light but is then overcome by darkness, suggesting that hope isn't real.
Archive footage and audio are then heard and displayed, informing the audience further on this real life event. Sections of the footage are shown in a tilted frame, declaring the event as almost nonsensical to the audience but absolutely panicking and insane to the public eye of the time.
After the montage, a happy family is presented with their loving gestures and glowing faces. This contrasts with the tragic fate of the previous family, suggesting that an event will occur in order to break this new family apart. It's almost as if the past if 'jealous' of the present, and wishes to catch up and take over.
No comments:
Post a Comment