The first thing that the darkness fades into is a picture of a bulb, which immediately shows that the setting is indoors of this opening sequence. The bulb then cuts to a woman walking into a small room, which looks like a basement which is dark, which gives it the edgy feel that thriller films strive to have. The small bulb in the room is the only light source in the room and it looks like the place is shut off from everywhere else and seems desolate. The woman then walks over to the side boards with a confused/ wondering look so the audience want to know what she is looking at. Because of all of the wine bottles that are down there you can see that it is an old wine cellar, also because of the dust there it gives it a creepy, old and rustic feel. Because of the wine cellar and large house the audience assumes that the people in the film have a lot of money as it is a big house. As the opening sequence goes on you see the type of area that they live in, and you see that it is quite posh. The woman at the beginning is dressed normally, like any woman with money might dress. She is simply wearing a purple dress, and her husband is wearing a jumper and trousers. These clothes are quite Representative of the money that they have, because they look quite posh and upper class clothes, as if the man has a job, it creates a stereotype of wealthy businessman. Also with the props used, for example the trophy that he has also shows that he is a successful business man.
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The camera work is quite intricate in this film as it is more modern. The first shot shows the light bulb close up, then the second shot is the whole room with the light bulb in. and the camera is put behind the props used so that the actor walks into where the camera is. Eye line match is also used a lot, especially when the phone is on the floor and the woman is staring at it. A shot is also used where its a low angle shot and the man runs into the cameras view when he is running after the little boyThe title font is large and bold again but it does not fill the frame completely, it looks lonely and deserted in the middle of the screen, by having the words like this is creates a further spooky and edgy feel to the opening sequence. This works effectively with the viewer because the titles help to set the scene and mood of the film.
The story of the film is spooky, and works well because the story slowly unfolds. For example the sixth shot in my sequence shows the phone on the floor, and when the viewers see the phone on the floor they can tell that something isn't right. This leads onto the man in the bathroom who is first presented by a shadow which the woman sees and shrieks which also builds suspense, by keeping the mans identity hidden for a short period of time, the viewers want to see what is in the bathroom (on edge of seat). Then the story is slowly presented, the man is clearly mentally unstable and we find out the profession of the man, who looked after the boy before. When the main character is shot, it leaves a small cliffhanger which creates suspense because the audience wants to know what is going to happen next and start to ask themselves if the character is going to survive the shooting or die.
The opening sequence shows that it is a thriller film by keeping it spooky and eerie. None of the colours used are bright happy colours, they are all dull and look uneasy. Also by having the man hiding in the bathroom where it is steamy (looks like fog) it creates uneasiness. Also by using a couple of close ups and mid shots it focuses on the fear in the two characters faces, and it also shows that its a thriller. By using close ups its also shows the audience how the characters are meant to be feeling, and some of that feeling will be channelled through to the audience.
The first characters are introduced as a normal and innocent couple and as they go upstairs, things get more spooky. Although at first when the woman is first introduced and she is in the wine cellar on her own and you can tell that she is scared of being on her own down there. When the mad man is in the bathroom, the husband shows his loving side, and the wife her vulnerable side because she hides behind him and he puts his arms round her to make her feel safe. The man who is in the bathroom is portrayed as scary and mad, although the audience may find the man originally scary, they may also empathise with him because he clearly has mental disabilities. But because of these mental disabilities he also becomes very frightening because you can see he is really scared, and looks manic therefore he could act unnaturally. The special effects used are slow motion especially, when the man gets shot and then falls back onto the bed. The woman runs over to him and presses down on his stomach, slow motion is added to this shot, because of the slow motion added to the shot it shows that when something bad like this happens, time seems to almost slow down. A diagetic sound is also added with the gunshot, when the man shoots himself in the head a diagetic gruesome sound is added to make it more effective and vile, by doing this the audience feel like they are in the movie instead of just watching it. It also makes the movie more credible and realistic.
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