Durham county textual analysis

The opening shot of the title sequence isn’t the typical establishing shot, it is a zooming mid-shot of a tree, with the colour being extremely dark and desaturated, this is used to disorientate the viewer, as they do not know where they are, whilst also connoting paranoia due to the fear of the unknown. There is only a few leaves on the tree, which suggests that it is set in winter, which is typical for horror, as it is the season of horrid weather and the bleakest, which conforms to the darkness and danger included in the genre. The audio consists of low harmonic piano cords which has a dark but romantic ambience, accompanied by high pitched but also harmonic piano keys, which differentiates from the low cords, as this connotes subtle danger; a psychological danger. The keys have a subtle gothic charm which unnerves the audience due to it’s creepy nature. The text at the bottom of the shot, added during editing is showing the production companies’ names, the editors have used a mixture of upper case and lower case san serif wording, which connotes modernism and suggests that the horror is not traditional, but in fact quite contemporary.

The following shot is a mid-to-long shot of what the audience assumes is a little girl, “she” is wearing a sinister looking mask, this connotes hostility and bares resemblance to the type of masks used in the 2013 horror/thriller film “the purge”, the facial expression of the mask is lifeless, suggesting that death surrounds the story of the TV horror. The mise-en-scene of the red outfit connotes danger and death, especially when in contrast to the desaturated grey background, which would've been deliberately edited to show this. The background itself relates to the previous shot as once again it consists of a tree with no leaves, connoting bleakness, and emptiness and supports the hypothesis that the show is set in winter. The cinematography of a high angle shot makes the audience fell vulnerable in the presence of the girl, as she is presented as powerful especially in comparison to the weakness of the audience caused by their lack of knowledge. The musical accompaniment of the shot is the same as the shot prior, however it also includes a string instrument, presumably a cello, and the score is of a low key and creates depressing mood, but the music is slightly traditional which juxtaposes the contemporary shot types and editing techniques.

The next shot is an establishing shot of a lake and a industrialised area in the foreground, this is the first instance of when the audience can grasp where abouts roughly the show is set, and the first glances represents the area as depressing and eery. The colour once again is destaturated with a grey tinge, this continuity follows suit throughout the shots and creates a very atmospheric and dangerous effect. The text again contains a combination of upper and lower case son serif wording which implies the contemporary nature of the visual shots, however the tradional styled music continues through this shot, the harmonic notes and highly professional composition of the instuments creates a highly dramatic atmospheric nature when accompanied with the visual shots, and along with the highly artisitic influences in both the editing and cinematography, the shot is extremely hard hitting and clearly conforms to the horror genre due to these factors creating a “lifeless” and “unnerving” shot.

In this shot the camera pans in a downwards motion to a close up of a back of a man’s head, this is done quickly and is used to slightly disorientate the audience and also to confuse them. The man in the shot is unknown to the audience and arises questions about who he is, and the speculation isn’t helped by the lack of detail given to them by the choice of the shot. The lighting in the shot is very dramatic, using the rule of thirds, the man is in the centre of the shot and is very dark, whilst the rest of the shot, positioned around the centre and at the edges it is extremely bright this vast contrast of brightness also contributes to the disorientation of the audience. The location is unknown also, as the audience are not given enough information, this means that the audience aren’t in the know and are naïve on the current situation.The sound is edited so that a specific low note is played at the exact same time as when the camera pans down, this makes the shot extremely professional due to the high quality of editing.

This shot focuses out to a clear picture of a basket in a pool of blood, this is the first shot that truly connotes danger and death, with the other shots only implying. This shot conforms to the horror genre as it has a sinister feel and with the blood, and it arises questions from the audience such as; “who’s blood is it?” and “who has done it?”. The shot gets the audience heavily involved. The music to this shot remains consistent with the other shots however it also contains a myriad of rhythmic notes which conforms to the traditional style of the previous music, but however the tempo also is of the norm of contemporary music, and this combination of new and old also makes it contemporary as well. The shot also uses the grey desaturated colour like the previous shots, which really highlights the blood which makes it the point of focus for the audience. The lighting in the shot is very dark on the right side, but very bright on the left side, this contrast is similar to the previous shot and represents the show as artistic. The creates the effect of wonder for the audience as the location is unknown.

This shot once again is of the back of the man’s head, however he moves to face the left. His face still is darkly lit in the centre of the shot whilst the surrounding corners are brightly lit. The movement to the left allows for upper case san serif wording to appear of the actors name, with the forename “HUGH” being white to contrast to the darkness of shading of the man and the surname “DILLON” is in dark wording to deliberately contrast with the bright background. This is one for artistic reasons but also to make it easier for the audience to read.The audio accompaniment is virtually the same as the shot prior and contains the medley of different high pitched piano keys along with the low piano chords that are present throughout the shots, and also with the low pitched cello, once again connoting lifelessness and sorrow.

This close up of what appears to be a rural setting resembles that of the first season of “true detective” and connotes horror due to its eerie nature, and this is amplified when the person puts strands of hair onto an old nail, this creates a sense of nervousness as it is extremely creepy and unusual, also the audience begins to question whether it is human hair or that of a doll, and due to the representation of dolls in horror, as being sinister and subtlety deadly, either option might be considered as seriously scary. The text is once again in upper case and in san serif wording. The lighting is bright in the centre which contrasts to the previous shots, this brightness was probably used in order to show the disrepair of the walls, which suggests that the area is deprived or unused, which causes the audience to speculate on the location, as such locations of disrepair are usually used for murders in the horror genre, which ties in with the cutting of the hair, this scene causes speculation and truly conforms to the stereotypes of the horror genre.

This shot is an longshot of what appears to be a police interrogation room which leads the audience to hypothesise whether the man is a police officer or a criminal, this leaves the audience out of the know, but gets the audience involved. The lighting is bright and the focus is on the man, as he is most lit and in the centre of the shot. The interior is fairly modern which gives the shot a contemporary feel. The sound which translates into the next shot via a sound bridge is the same as the previous shots however a accordion sounding instrument is also playing, it sounds fairly upbeat which is unusual given the mood and tone of the visual shots, this juxtaposition gives the impression of contemporary but might also suggest that Durham County is a psychological horror as it plays with the minds of the audience.

This shot is a close up and is the first instance of which the audience actually sees the man’s face, the lighting is very bright in the shot and is most focused on the man, we see his full facial features and expression, he seems to be exhausted and confused, this makes the audience sympathise with him even though they’re not fully aware if he is the protagonist or the antagonist. The music is the same as the previous shot as they are edited very close together due to the shots being extremely short in the duration. No text is used which implies that the creators wanted the man to be the main focus of the shot. The mise-en-scene of his clothing does not suggest his occupation, so once again the audience is not in the know, however later on the audience learns that he is a police detective which when looked back on the interrogation room setting fixed into the narrative of the story.

This extreme close up is of a toy figurine which doesn’t necessarily connote horror, however once again a bright red pool of blood is shown to be “oozing” out of the figurine, this personifies the figure, whilst also connoting danger and death, this conforming to the horror genre. The figure is that of a detective, which the audience later on realises that the main character is, which suggests that he will face such danger and life threatening events later on in the show. The shot is again edited with the desaturated grey colour and the redness of the blood is the only true colour shown. The audio remains consistent whilst transitioning into this shot, however piano keys are played in quick succession when the camera pans to the right and focuses, this somewhat disorientates the audience before displaying the bleeding figurine, this plays with the mind of the audience and is typical of the horror genre.

This shot is an establishing shot, however it is not used at the beginning of the title sequence, so it can be argued to just be an extreme long shot. The shot shows a town, on first glance it looks deprived due to the desaturated grey colour which gives off the impression that the town is bleak, however on second glance, the audience can see that the houses closest at the front all have swimming pools, this shows that the town might be affluent. This suggests that the people of the town are the ones that are being represented as dangerous, not the environment, also suggesting that they’re not to be trusted and might withhold information from the protagonist, which is a typical occurrence in the horror genre, where the hero is usually deliberately kept naïve from the reality of the criminal events. The audio continues the melody of the prior shots.

This shot is of roses in a lake, the audience might presume that it is the same lake as the lake seen in the extreme long shot a few shots prior. The colour is again desaturated and grey, apart from the petals of the roses, which are blood red, which connotes danger and death, however it also conforms love, which roses are a global physical representation of. This contrast allows the audience to speculate, involving them in the show. The fact that the roses are in the water could suggest that they’re in memoriam of a passing person, which ties in with the representation of love from the roses and the horror genre, and the death that is associated with it. The shot also includes upper case san serif wording, of actors that play presumably smaller roles than “Hugh Dillon” as these actors’ faces are not shown in the title sequence like “Dillon’s” was.

This shot is a long-shot and portrays what appears to be a man dancing with a doll, this is very creepy and unusual and unnerves the audience due to the abnormality of it. He also is dancing in front of a car which arises questions from the audience on whether it is his car or whether someone is spectating this awkward and eerie event. The lighting is highly contrasted from the pitch black of the night to the bright lights being emitted from the car, which “subtly blinds” the audience. The text once again is upper case san serif and along with the unusual actions of the man creates a contemporary and creepy tone.

This shot is a mid-long shot due to the man’s legs not being visible, it shows a rural background which ties with the previous shot of the rural decaying interior, this could suggest that the show is set in the American south or midland states. The lighting is extremely bold as the whole bottom left corner is bright whilst greatly contrasting with the pitch blackness of the top half of the shot, this is to highlight the location and also the vulnerability of the man as he is the clear focus of the audience and whomever he is encountering in the shot. Once again the colour is desaturated and grey, continuing the continuity of the title sequence. The music score is consistent also in this shot with the previous shots.

This shot is a close up of the main protagonist and shows the tiredness that he is facing and the fact that he wakes up abruptly suggests that he suffers from nightmares and maybe is emotionally scrred frim a past experience. The lighting also contrasts with the left side of his face being bright whilst the right being dark. This could suggest that although he is the protagonist, he might possess a dark side.

This longshot shows the protagonist walking towards the camera down a hill, the mise-en-scene of a suit shows that he is fairly important and conforms to the stereotypes of detectives such as Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Morse. The colour is desaturated and grey and when accompanied with the lifeless tree and thee ugly electrical pylon creates a bleak and creepy picture, with this lifelessness conforming to the horror genre, as the stereotypical setting for horror is during the winter and in rural areas. The lighting however is extremely bright which is atypical but is probably intended to draw full attention to the man, whose black suit contrasts greatly to the whiteness of the background. The shot is edited so that when he walks down the hill at one stage he is walking backwards this reversal might imply that he goes round in circles, which ties into his known occupation.

The final slide is that of the title which is in upper case san serif lettering, however in the wording, the A is replaced by a red triangle, with the red being the only form of real colour in the shot, with the red connoting danger and death, this conforms to the horror genre and gives the piece a contemporary feel, this is supported by the bleakness of the surrounding background. The musical score finishes without a crescendo, which might be considered atypical, only adding to the contemporary style.