Conventions of opening sequences - Horror #3

Film title: 'It'
Genre: Horror
Director: Brian De Palma
Release date:1990
Part 1 clip:

1) Sound

At the beginning of the film you hear the conventional horror music, high pitched and eery followed by a smooth transition into calming soothing music which is there to create suspense for the viewer. After the introductory music we hear a little girl singing which, in typical horror films is seem and perceived as frightening and sends a shiver down your spine. This predicts the future immediatly of the young girl and she is seen to be the main character. Soon after you hear a childs laugh which again sends you warning signs and makes you feel on edge. Directly after the childs laugh you hear a clown laughing. This again makes you frightened for the young girl. The sound of what you think is joy and happiness soon tirns into conventional horror film music which makes you feel anxious and uncomfortable. Shortly after the terrible incident that occurs, you hear sorrowful music which helps the audience to sympathise in the moment. A few minutes later you hear a mans voice which seems to be non-diagetic sound. You can hear his thoughts and feelings out loud which helps the audience understand what is going on and to create enigma codes.  Again another common feature of a horror film appears when we hear the phone ring and a dark voice picks up which creates suspence for the audience especially when the character does not reconise the voice on the other end. After this scene we hear piano music which you would think would lead to some kind of climax but only shows you who is playing the melody. These two scenes create cliff hangers and hooks which turn out to be nothing out of the ordinary. This method is used cleverly to keep the audience on the edge of their seat.

Sound effects are used widly to emphisis closing doors and dramatic points in the film which are inteneded to be noted with care. They establish the main points in the film and grip the viewers attention by causing suspence and fright.

2) Mise-en-scene

The location is typically rainy and the sky is full of dismal lightning. Typical of a conventional horror film.

We then see a little girl on a tricycle which shows the wet and damp ground from where it has been raining. This is typical of a horror film. The lighting is, however, very light unlike the other horror films which have been dark and hard to see.

Costume is very important int his film whereas it wasnt so much in the other two. The costume the clown wears does not only ditinguish his character but is memorable throughout the film so we dont forget him. It plays on our mind and makes us feel nervous whenever it is seen. It scares us as the costume is so bright and noticeable and somewhat familiar.

Props are also important in this film, we see a little girl on a tricycle and playing with a dolly. This reminds us of how innocent and nieve the little girl is and how what she though was a friendly figure (the clown) was far from it.

3) Colour, font and positioning of titles

As this film was taken from a book written by Stephen King, the first name to appear, unlike the others, is the original authors name and not the films title.

Then the title of the film appears in a smooth transition in bold red writing centered which signifies blood and danger which immediatly provides adrenaline for the audience.

 The titles of the main actors also appear inbetween the old fashioned photo memories of the town in past times. The old fashioned look with the pictures and the black and white as the main colour scheme not only make the main film title stand out and stay in your mind but also makes you ask questions as to why the pictures are there.

In the next picture you can see a smooth transition between and old fashioned picture and the real world where the picture becomes reality. This creates many enigma codes and leaves the audience wondering what is going to happen.

4) Enigma codes
Many questions are raised in this opening scene such as;

1. Why are the old fashioned pictured used in the opening sequence?
2. Why is the clown so twisted and evil?
3. What happened to the little girl when the clown attacked her? What led to hear death?
4. Why did the clown pick her? And what happened to the other children the clown attacked if he did attack them?
5. Why are the police so unaware of the problem?
6. Who is Georgie?

5) Cinematography

High angle shots are used to make us feel afraid of the scenery and to feel intimidated by what will happen. It sets the scene for the genre of film by pushing us to feel scared before anything has really taken place.

The match on action shot gives the effect of endless time. The smooth edit into it also creates the effect of a single shot. It creates suspence in the scene of what is to come.

The extreme long shot in this picture makes you feel tense and scared. Something about the shot, whether its because the girl is almost silloetted it makes you feel on edge and unsure of how safe she really is.

Last of all the shot of the clowns close up is so sudden and vibrant you jump and fear as you know there is danger just by looking at his face and by the effect of the close up. This makdes the audience feel frightened and fear for the characters in the film.

6) Editing techniques and effects

When the sheets are blowing in the wind and you hear the clown laugh you cannot see anything the first time, it looks clear and as though it is all in the young girls mind, that is until the edit is brought in where the clown appears and then dissapears. It give the effect that this may all be in the young girls mind which makes the viewers wonder if it is real or a dream-like situation.

Another great example of editing is when Georgie looks down the drain and sees the clown looking back at him. The edit of the clowns face in the drain has a great effect which is used to scare people.

7) Character representation and establishing

The first character we meet is the little girl. She is shown to be adorable and sweet. Small and blonde the little girl is defenceless against anything bad which may happen to her. A typical character for a horror film, a naive little girl who seems so sweet and daintly that if any harm to her the audience would be upset which is the main effect of picking such a character.

Next we are introduced to the mother, a caring woman. Not a main character at all, but creates sympathy with the audience after the dreadful incident.

Next we meet the devilish clown. The main person who brings supence, thrill and horror the the film. When we first meet him, we see him as a wicked person who will clearly cause damage and heartache through violance.

Our final main character is the inspector. Questionable to the mystery we know for sure he is a main character who will help solve the crimes that have been happening lately. He questions the main police inspector and will clearly take matters into his own hands to find out and uncover the crime.

8) Iconography
The main thing which is conventional in most horror films which is seen here is the small child singing in the introduction. This scares the audience as they know typically a young child singing is not only spooky but also leads to danger. The harmony cant last forever.

Next we are faced with the clown. Many horror films do contain figures of people or familiar items which are twisted to seem scary and dangerous to the audience.They ofetn know something is not quite right due to the genre of film. This makes them very aware of the danger and the fear.

Lastly we have the insepctor, of course trying to solve the crime. This isnt rare to find in a horror film, a single person trying to reseolve the problem. We instantly know this person is in trouble as soon as the audience understand that they are interfearing with the crime.

9) Target audience:

The target audience, much like the other two films analysed, are clearly aimed at people 15+. Clowns who younger children may find funny or friendly will soon change after the film. They take a clown and turn them evil giving the child scary thoughts and frightening them. This film also contains inappropriately scary images for younger children which could play and stay in their mind for a long time.