Analysing the use of Camera, Editing and Mise-en scene used in the opening scene of this thriller.

Drama, Crime & Thriller

Shot One: Over shoulder shot to show the conversation going on between the father and daughter.

The daughter says “necklace for mum” in a innocent and naive tone showing that she is happy but unaware of what will happen next.

This first scene sets the story line of a happy family minding their own business and enjoying life. In usual thriller movies it is expected for this ‘perfect’ family to be broken or destroyed some how. However the loud knock on the door might be a trigger point suggest that the destruction will start at that point of the clip. There seems to be an emphasis on the knocking as I gets lowed and more aggressive building up the tension and suspense making the audience wonder what will happen next.

The diegetic low-tempo music that plays in the background creates the calm, homely atmosphere the family are in.

Naturalistic lighting

Shot Two: At this point loud fast moving music begins to play creating suspense and moving the action that is taking place.

The guy is wearing black coloured clothes with an evil looking grin highlighting that he is a villain set out to destroy the happy family.

The fast pace editing creates a sense of action, gripping the audience.

This ‘bad’ character has the upper hand because he is better equipped with the baseball bat making the victim and underdog who is unable to fight back because he is being defeated.

As soon as he comes into the scene the music instantly goes up shocking the audience.

The low angled shot helps imply that the character is powerful.

Shot Three: Close up showing the guy slide the knife across the victims shit, this gives the audience a full insight to the action taking lace. This action makes the audience shocked and scared sympathising for the victim going through pain.

The character is an underdog because he is helpless and unable to fight back. This is a usual convention of a thriller where the main character starts off as an underdog but throughout the film he gains the upper hand.

The non diagetic music being played in the background moves the action along, making it more horrific and thriller like.

We also hear the victim breath heavily and letting out hurtful cries, this emphasises on the pain he is experiencing.

Shot Four:The close up exaggerates the characters helplessness by showing his facial expressions.

The sweat running down his face and the fear in his eyes emphasise on how afraid he is, not for himself but for his family. He is helpless and unable to save his family.

The tape on his mouth makes even more helpless because he is attempting to shout for help but he can’t.

We see him looking at his daughter as the guy walks over to her, this point of view shot draws the audience in making them more scared about what will happen to the little girl.

Shot Five: Wide-shot shows the damage the guy caused and the amount of pain the character is going through watching what is happening to his daughter.

The blood stain on the characters shit and on the floor shows that he is badly hurt and is very weak with the amount of blood loss.

A small section of the woman’s dead body is shown which emphasises on the damage that has already been caused.

Almost as if he is trapped because he is tied up and to far away to be able to save his daughter.