Film Analysis - The Strangers - Brett Cooper

Title Sequence
The title sequence first shows the production company but they are already giving us an insight to what genre of film this is because they are making the sound and images sharp and sudden making the viewer nervous and jumpy. As the titles begin to come a sound track begins to play which is very erry and makes the viewer unaware. We are still yet to see any images of where the film is to begin or where we are but as a viewer we are worrying about what is to come. All this is down to the music and how it makes us feel. From the music alone I can start to believe this is a horror film because the music is not happy or fast it just makes the viewer tense.
We are then told by voice over and text on the screen that the film was inspired by true events this again is a good key element to put into the start of a horror film because it scares people to think that it actually happened adding a realistic effect. Also the voice that is used doesn’t seem real and doesn’t warm us as a viewer we can establish that it is a males voice but it is given an almost robot effect again making us unsure of who or what this is.
The scene is now being set again by a voice over telling us what the characters have been doing before we are shown them. This is a good idea again because as a viewer I am now unsure what state I am to find them in. Also this shortens the build up to the story line for the film because we are given brief information about the events that have happened.
The film then goes to black space but we hear a car engine, the mind of viewers begins to work and to try and figure out what is happening and the first instinct is that we are in a car travelling somewhere. The shot then fades in and we see houses pacing as though we are in the car driving past them. Showing us how the streets are going from filled with houses to one every mile or so as an estimate. The film is beginning to show us some sense of destination. Personally I believe that we are travelling with someone looking for a quiet place maybe some killer or stalker. Maybe it is showing us how these people find the perfect spot for their murders.
The film then takes us back to black space and we her a 911 call a woman says whilst crying ‘There are people here’ the 911 call assistant tries to ask where she is by asking for a address and name and if she is in danger. While this phone call is going on the film fades into a shot of a car windscreen smashed and two young boys stood looking at it. The boys then find themselves in the door way of a house that has been left open. Music is playing we know this from a shot of a record player, also a shot of a ring box with petals around it makes us wonder is someone has got engaged or is this just a present. The key shot a knife on the floor with blood stains on it now we understand that some kind of violence has happened here maybe it is the events we were told about in the title sequence. The producers are now making us worry for the two young boys which have entered the house through our thoughts we try to tell them to leave. The director has already grasped us and, made us part of the film making us make decisions for the characters. Blood guns are all show in separate shot but still no clues to what has happened just as we think that we are going to find out we see the black space again this is becoming a space of insecurity for us we don’t like to see it because we are still not up to speed with what has happened we are thinking about what we have seen and what is to come.

The Film
We cut to a shot of a man sat in his car at some traffic lights he looks down and sad but we cannot establish what is wrong and again where he is. However from the next shot we can see that we are near some woods because the shot if obstructed by trees as the car drives past on a near side road. We can tell by the use of the road that this is a quiet place because we are yet to see another car or pedestrian. For the first time we know that the male was not alone in the car as he pulls up outside what is to be thought as their house. We are shown a woman I believe she is a wife or girlfriend but she also has a sad and down look on her face, I believe to wonder if the couple have had an argument as the man gets out of the car alone and heads for the house.
We are now in the house with the couple after being given a sense of a horror in the title sequence this start to the film makes me as a viewer wonder but however I believe in a saying with horror films and it is ‘the null before the storm’ so I think that the director is giving the viewer a false sense of security.
Now we recognise the petals they are spread all over the house and the male is telling the female character that he had done this for her. Maybe it was meant for a celebration. The male then makes a phone call it is to a voice mail we do not know who it is but we hear that he asked him to call him back this could possibly be a family member.
Change of shot we are not in the same place we seem to be at some kind of a function maybe a wedding the couple are laughing a joking suddenly we realise that this is before an event that has made the couple fall out. They both leave and go outside and the male proposes the same ring box that was on the floor in the title sequence so we now know that it was the house they were in and something has happened either between them two or to the two. But before we hear the answer we are back at the house with the woman in the bath. Maybe the director didn’t need to show us the answer after all if the couple were to be getting married they would be acting like this together.
The director then shows us very normal behaviour like getting ready for bed the male is eating ice cream we don’t sense and events happening or even coming the frame hence the saying I believe we are in the ‘Null’.
Two minutes have past in the film and we now see the couple as though they are making up because they begin to make out we see the couple start to undress but this is soon stopped by a fears nock at the door. The couple jump along with the viewers finally 13 minutes into the film we are now believing that this is a horror movie. Is this the end of the ‘Null’? The camera shots after the knock are all hand held making us believe we are in the room with them this is the director scaring the viewer because he wants us to feel what the couple felt at this point. The knock caries on until the male reaches the door he is very tentative opening the door we do not see a shot of the woman stood at the door until he has opened it and then we can just make out here blonde hair. This is giving us a sense of insecurity again and we begin to worry about who this actually is. Woman then asks is someone is in the man replies wrong house the woman stands and asks are you sure. This is an odd event because usually you would just walk away but she wanted to pursue that this was the right house and at no moment did se look as though she was going to walk away until after a long pause she did.
That was the end of the first fifteen minutes of this film and we had established what type of genre it was before the title sequence had ended but we have only just started to see that genre of film come into the film in the last 30 seconds this is all because the director wanted us to feel the character because of the events that have happened before they have arrived at the house it gets the viewer thinking whether they are going to become stronger as a couple throughout the film because of the challenges that face them.
I liked the title sequence to the film because it showed us the realistic side to the story with the emergency call and the two boys finding the house, and also I think that it set the film really well.
This film is very similar to the film that I have filmed and therefore it has came me many things to look at for the opening two minutes which I have to produce maybe we can get the genre across in the title sequence and not have to jump straight into the scary parts too early just like on this film.