Opening Sequence Analysis

The opening scene ends at 3:20, however I couldn't find a shorter clip.

The film I've chosen is Silent Hill, which was originally a popular games series, but with such an extensive and graphic storyline that was known worldwide, a film was to be anticipated.

The first thing the viewer see's is a high angle of the film's main character, Rose (Radha Mitchell), screaming her daughter's name. The shriek in her voice and the breaking towards the end of it imitates the terror that we come to expect from this film. We also see that her husband (Sean Bean) is above her in the background, although he is out of focus, the asynchronous sound of his troubled shrieks that echo his wife's, emphasise the effect of the terror. We are already confronted with some themes of classical horror, such as darkness, and muffled sounds of traffic. Next, we witness another typical aspect of horror's, when we see Rose running frantically, looking for her daughter. Usually running in horror films is associated with running away from the horror, rather than running towards it. However in some cases, such as is, you see them running toward the danger to help someone in need. We then see another high angle of Rose as she picks up her daughters teddy bear, giving us a clue that she is in fact looking for a child. This adds to the anticipation, as in horror films, a child can often be the villain or the subject of horror itself, for example in The Exorcist, when the child becomes possessed. The setting that Rose is running through is a woodsy type of area, which is a common sight in horror films. As she runs through the woodland area, we see a various amount of shots, including long shots to establish the surroundings and add an effect of eerie-ness to the scene. There is also a few tracking shots to mirror Rose's feeling of terror as we follow her on her sprint. As she is running under the bridge we here unstable sounds of traffic of the setting above, and the graffiti on the walls gives a feeling of an unstable area. The water surrounding her also shows us that she is going to be slowed down by this and has us anticipating the outcome. We then see a low angle of her coming out from under the bridge, making her look inferior, as if she is going to fail in her attempt to save her daughter. That is when we see her run to the edge of a waterfall, and we then see that there is danger, and also a dead end, another common sight in horror films. The camera shows us a low angle of the waterfall and where it stops, which is at a very low down and steep bottom, almost like a bottomless pit, as it is difficult see because of the dark. There is then a long shot of the waterfall with Rose standing on it, still repeating her daughters name in rapid shrieks, imitating the rapidness of the waterfall. That is when we finally see a low angle of the subject, Sharon, swaying ever so slightly at the edge of a cliff, giving the feeling of unstable again. There is then a panning shot around to Rose again, who then realises where her daughter is. Then there is a close up of her face, looking abruptly horrified, as she mouths the words 'Oh my god', followed by another shriek of 'Sharon!

We then see Sharon at a high angle, mumbling unfathomable words. Giving the feeling of unknown. Then we come to see her at low angle, still swaying at the edge of a cliff, which makes us wonder whether she will fall or not. The camera then plunges rapidly down the bottomless pit and shows us a brief glimpse of what seems to be hell and of the horrific face she is staring at, grinning back up at her. She then begins to fall slowly but surely, until we see a long shot of Rose run up to her and slam into Sharon pushing her away from death, whilst shrieking 'No!' In the background we see a lit up crucifix, which evidently, we come to see later in the film. This is followed by a shot of her husband running across a busy road, with a droning sound of beeping coming at him, giving us a feeling of danger. It then shows us Rose again with Sharon, as Sharon screams things we are unable to understand, until she starts to repeat 'Silent Hill', followed by Rose trying to sooth her by shushing her and saying 'wake up' which then makes us understand that the child has a sleepwalking disorder, another common theme in horror films. A dialogue then begins between Rose and her husband about them 'finding away', as Rose replies 'No' and 'She said it again' it gives us an idea of the coming plot in the film. This is followed by the heavy breathing of Sharon, and the shot of her wriggling and jerking about, as if she is trying to get out of her parent's grip. We then witness the final long shot of the family embracing in the grass, again seeing the lit up crucifix in the background which is accompanied by the very slight eerie music of the piano, which is a common sound bridge throughout the film. This is then followed by the title of the film in 'creepy' font, and the wisps of ash flying around it, another theme from this particular horror. The sequence then comes to an end at 3:20.

Sarah.