SlideShow

1

F.L - Analysis of Opening Sequence - Identity (Mangold, 2003)


Genre:
  • A psychological horror is something that ‘relies on the characters' fears and emotional instability to build tension.’
  • It fulfils the generic conventions of a psychological horror because the whole film is based on a man with a mental illness (which is a stock character of this genre), and focuses on his actions and instability.
  • The opening scene is in a ‘creepy’ house and also a prison, which is also a stock location.
Film Language:
  • The use of montage editing creates a fast pace atmosphere that keeps the audience on edge and makes them want to find out more, this captures their attention within the first scene.
  • The close-up shots of the police recording tapes with the ‘patient’ sticker, alerts the audience of the characters situation and also gives them context to the voiceover.
  • The voiceover editing, which is post production editing puts the audience into the storyline straight away and immediately involves them. You can learn the mindset of the character, and the authoritative position of the doctor towards the ‘patient’. 
  • The extreme close-up shot of the prop newspaper, which reads ‘mass murder’ entices the audience, continues the generic genre convention, but also breaks the plot.
  • As you can clearly see, the title is
    aligned to the left of his face, so as to
    not detract from the main scene.
  • There is lightening sound in the background (which is presumably post production editing) and this could be pathetic fallacy; it sets the scene, creates a mysterious and ‘scary’ scene, and also complies with the generic horror film setting.
  • The credits and titles are in a small, white typeface and are to the side of the screen in order to not disrupt the main focus of the scene (e.g a characters face) this suggests that the editor didn’t want to draw the audiences attention from the scene and that they are of low importance. 
Narrative:

  • The opening scene introduces you to the patient, Malcom Rivers, who you are informed, is the murderer, and the voiceover is of the doctor, Dr. R. Mallick, who is interviewing the patient and relaying the idea that the patient is mentally unstable.
  • The audience is given prevalence with the Doctor because he is the man that is shown in the scene, whereas the patient/killer isn’t given much of a face besides his prison mug shot.
  • Tension is created through the background music, for example, it is quiet yet extremely present and gradually builds throughout the scene. Also the branding of the words ‘murder’ and the photos of blood-covered victims gives fear and shock to the audience, and builds tension because they want to know how this occurred.

Representation and Ideology:

  • The main social group that is represented is those suffering from mental health disorders. The murderer is listed as a ‘patient’ and the questions that the Doctor is asking suggests his lack of sanity and control, and therefore shows he is suffering from an illness.
  • This is quite regressive as it is associating negative connotations with those suffering, and suggests a dominant ideological discourse that mental health illnesses are a negative problem.  
Media Audiences:

  • The main target audience would be 15-24 year old males; the most apparent suggestion (besides that that is the dominant age of audiences for horror films) is the use of blood and gore, which would entice and excite males of that age.
  • As a teenager myself, I would easily see that this film, and the opening to it, would appeal to audiences of my age group, mainly male, but also female. I would view the film as a less-scary psychological horror because the main outline is introduced within the opening sequence, and therefore you are more aware of what to expect, however, the opening music and photos would still suggest it as a quite a ‘scary’ film. I think my age and gender both influence my negativity towards this film because I would prefer to not watch horrors due to their scare factor. 

Institutional Context:

  • It is the first scene of the movie and is very minimalistic,
    as if to suggest the importance of the company and this
    ensures that the audience fully appreciate the company.
  • The film stars John Cusack, Amanda Peet and Ray Liotta, not A-listers, however their names are known within the film industry. However, the cast don’t appear to be significant with the advertising campaigning or the reason for audience attendance.It was produced by Columbia Pictures Corporation, a very well known company that has produced 2095 films (if not more) and it could be suggested that this is the reason for its (limited) establishment/success within the industry.
  • It was produced by Columbia Pictures Corporation, a very well known company that has produced 2095 films (if not more) and it could be suggested that this is the reason for its (limited) establishment/success within the industry. 




1 comments:

Ms Johnson

well done Freya, this is a very good film opening to choose. Your comments are excellent although sections like film language could be more developed. You have also left off the first sentence. You will need to edit this post as the highlights are obscuring the words and also the title needs your initial at the front otherwise the examiner wont be able to find it. 17/20

Post a Comment