ESSAY- Analysing the Opening Sequence of Don't Look Now

   

- The opening shot is of a murky river in a field while it is raining. The rain is breaking the waters surface which makes the viewer imagine what is underneath the surface.

 

-The shot then zooms in closer to the water as if to imply that there is something inside it.

 

- The sound of rain hitting the water (diagetic) is very loud, drawing your attention to the water and then to what is in it. This is very effective as the audiences imagination takes over and begins to wonder through the subconscious, slowly building the suspense throughout the scene.

 

- There is a shot of light shining in through window-shutters. The viewer suspects the window to be a window of a church. This then adds a religious element to the scene.

- The diegetic sound of a man humming adds to the eerie effect as it seems quite creepy and out of place, quite childlike.

 

- In a shot of the girl walking with a wheel barrow a white horse runs across the field which seems quite out of place. The horse seems quite magical, adding a sense of innocence, as if it where a unicorn in a fairy-tale.

-The music in the scene (girl walking with wheel-barrow) adds to the idea of innocence as we are reminded of the girls youth as it is quite a childlike piece. The music also adds an uneasiness as the piano playing is quite disjointed.

-Overall it is very eerie as it has a constant sense of danger which is suspended until the very end of the scene.

-The early morning mist adds to the Mise-en-Scene as it adds a slightly spiritual haze to the scene.

 

-The lighting in most of the sequence is natural as it is from the rising sun.

- Low angled shot of the girls silhouette, this is very effective as it adds a religious, angelic view-point of the girl as she is standing in the bright morning light creating a presence of death/angels which seems to be a representation of heaven/the after-life.

 

-In order to show the isolation of the little girl there are shots of the girl in the foreground and the house in the background showing her distance from everyone else.

-There is a shot where her brother turns to look at her in the foreground and then turn his back on her. This forces us to notice that no-one is watching her which gives the sense that anything could happen.

 

-There is a long, wide shot of the young girl’s reflection in the water as she is running along the bank. This then makes the viewer uneasy as you cannot see the angle of the ground she is standing on which makes us believe she could fall into the water at any moment.

- The long-shot gives the viewer a subtle foresight to the tragic event which occurs later in the sequence, which adds to the suspense.

 

-The shot of the boy is uncomfortable as he continuously moves from right to left making it hard for the viewer to keep their eyes on him, it’s quite an uncomfortable image.

-When the boy rides over the broken glass was elevated to make us jump as we have been concentrating on the boy. This adds to the viewer's discomfort.

-Overall the sound in the scene makes the audience feel uncomfortable by the volume of noises made varying constantly. (E.g  the doll is so loud that the viewer feels rather disturbed and there is a loud sound of sticks cracking when the girl is walking.)

-There are scenes, between the girl and the boy playing, which are inside with what we assume are their parents. These shots give us a break from the suspense and allow us to look over the situation.

-The shot zooms into the figure in the red coat and then match cuts to the young girl in the same red coat outside therefore she is the same figure in the image.

- In the photo the girls back is to her father as if they are separated from each-other, the harsh red colour seems out of place in the church therefore our attention is drawn to the child.

-The angle of the photo is low, this makes the figure seem quite powerful, spiritual.


-There is a sense of mystery and the unknown as the girl is hooded therefore her coat is covering all her features, including her body, as if the figure is in the afterlife; reminding us that the girl will soon be dead.

 

- Looking for her cigarettes, the mother, puts her hand to her mouth, the scene then match cuts to the girl with her hand to her mouth; showing us that there is a connection between the two characters giving us the sense of a hidden identity within both people.

 

- The father knocks over his glass it cuts to a shot of the ball falling into the water. The water spilling seems to represent the end of his daughter’s life as it is quick and swift and the girl has been related to water since the beginning of the scene.

- The idea of the water spilling and then the girl dying is quite superstitious which then adds to the overall ambience of spiritual presence.

-When the glass drops the noise is again uncomfortably loud, making the viewer alert.

-When the red-ink of the girl’s coat, on the photo, begins to run through the rest of the image it greatly implies spiritual presence. As if the daughter’s soul is leaving her body, It also seems to represent blood and death; red tends to be a typical representation of this.

-The short-shot of the little girl falling into the water, in slow motion is very effective as we have been waiting a long time for the girl to fall into the water. 

-We do not associate emotionally with the child as our expectation of her death has been building. This then leads the viewer to believe that there was an alternative reason for the girl falling into the water.

- There is a long-shot of the father trying to find his daughter in the water. This puts the viewer on edge as we want him to find his daughter quickly incase he can save her, although we know that it isn’t likely to happen.

In evaluation of the opening scene to "Don’t Look Now" is very effective as it builds suspense and the finally has a climax while adding a spiritual factor to the film and making the audience feel uneasy and confused

Pitching our ideas

Today we tried to think of ideas for our "thriller" opening sequence. First we individually came up with three ideas. Below is one of mine.
House on a Hill;

-An establishing shot of a large, holiday house on a hill.

The shot is held and then a male figure walks into the frame, walking toward the house, slowly.

-There is then a jump shot of a family inside the house. There are three children; two young children aged 5-10 and a teenage girl. The parents are trying to get everyone to sit at the table for dinner; there is an innocent yet chaotic atmosphere.

-There is then another jump shot to the man walking up the hill but he is closer to the house this time. It then cuts to the shot of his hand which has blood dripping off the fingertips.

-There is then another cut to the inside of the house showing, again the family sitting down for dinner, giving us the idea that something is about to disrupt it.

-When the family are finally at the table and are about to eat there is a nock at the door. The farther rises from the chair to answer, there is then a reaction shot of the father when he has opened the door, he is speechless and there is a fearful/shocked look on his face. 

-We then hear the sound of his throat being slit and there is a blackout. During the blackout, we hear the farther breathing heavily, trying to speak, as he is lying on the floor as the title fades in.

(The transitions in this sequence would have been mainly fade in and fade out)

We decided not to go with this idea as it was too clichè. It was also rather un-interesting. The only part which grabs our attention would be the build up in pace/tension.

We each shared our ideas and found one which we were happy to do;

The Deep End

-It woul begin with a shot of a girl diving into a pool and then beginning to swim- training for a county swimming competition.

-The girl would continue to swim back and forth with under water shots/ slow motion shots of coming up for breath.

-Tension would build as she is timing herself.

-The would be POV shots from outside the pool room looking in making us realise that she is being watched.

-We would see the door open and feet walking into the room (track shot).

-We would think the stalker is in the room but it is the father.

-Father leaves an she follows after but we see this through POV so we know that someone is still watching and that she is in danger.

This was interesting as there were many good ideas and it was difficult for us to choose which was best/ appropriate for our thriller sequence.