The film is introduced on a black background with a voice declaring that the events unfolded have been derived from true events, the writing is small and the voice is quite creepy. The voice goes on to explain the events that are about to unfold and how they came to happen. The screen goes blank and we hear the sound of a car starting; eerie music begins to play telling us that something is not right. Images flash in and out of focus, fading into view and then back to a black screen, they depict houses that look seemingly generic and homely in a friendly neighbourhood, yet the eerie music continues to play, signalling that although things seem normal, they are not. We pass the houses as if we are inside the car which produces a nice effect. The car seems to be moving in slow motion in order for us to view the houses in more detail. The images change from bright coloured houses in the daylight to darker, more drab houses shown at night, this indicates that things are about to go wrong. The screen goes completely blank again and we hear a conversation between two people; it appears to be taking place over the phone and we learn that someone has called the police to report a crime. The person reporting the incident is very breathy and panicked and seems to find it hard to get the words out; the incident is obviously serious. The images then return and we see two boys standing in the distance behind a broken down car that has a hole in the windscreen. The shot pans so that the hole is in line with the children, framing them.
The next shot is of them walking into a house of which the door has been left open, there also appears to be a substance on the floor that is probably blood. They approach the house cautiously, knowing something is wrong and stand in the doorway, peering in. A record player is then shown, still playing a record, however it is implied that the record has stopped a while ago meaning that these events are not that recent and the killers are probably long gone. The conversation carries on over the images and we realise that the boy who has called the police is one of the two who have entered the house. A small ring box is shown on the floor surrounded by rose petals, implying that a happy event may have occurred before tragedy struck. Just as this realisation hits you we are shown a knife covered in blood and then a large patch of blood splattered on the wall; the seriousness of this situation begins to take hold. The events begin to become clear and a gun is shown on the counter as the child tells the woman that there is "blood everywhere".We want to do a similar thing with our film as we want the kidnappers to seem normal until their secret is revealed. The screen goes blank again and the title is presented to us along with more eerie music; this is to show what type of film this is. The writing fades out and the next image is of a hand clasping a steering wheel very tightly, indicating that they are under some form of stress. The lighting is dark which tells us that it's night. The shot pulls to a man sat in the car with a hurt expression on his face, focus pulls from him to a woman sat next to him, she has been crying. We are going to make our victims look as if they have been crying so we could take inspiration from this. The car is shown to be waiting at a red light which may symbolise that their lives have been put on hold and they are at a crossroads.
A close up on his eyes shows the emotion he feels and we will be using shots similar to this. The light changes to green and illuminates their faces as the woman sheds a tear. They drive into a creepy setting surrounded by trees and shrouded in darkness. The headlights peer through the trees creating a chilling image which introduces the setting as a place that is probably not safe. They reach the mail box and the man gets out of the car without a word leaving the woman to sigh and light a cigarette. The screen goes black again and light is shed through the next scene as the couple open the door to the house creating a nice effect. The scene is still in darkness and while the man walks into the house the woman stays standing outside peering through the doorway and smoking. The clothes they are wearing are quite formal, suggesting they have just been to a formal event; in contrast to this our characters will be dressed down. The woman closes the door and we are left in complete darkness again. The record player is shown again, this time playing music and we realise that the chronological order of these events has been messed with. We would like to incorporate something like this into our film as it creates an eerie feel and prolongs the secret from being revealed.
The rose petals are shown again, strewn around the house and the table is set in a romantic manner. This shows what the couple came to the house for and they have a bittersweet conversation about this factor. It is made apparent that the couple are having problems as they discuss sleeping in different rooms. Petals lay in the bathtub which actually look more like blood at first, carrying on the bittersweet theme. The couple speak to each other awkwardly and as the man proceeds to phone a friend and let him know what has happened, we hear the woman start the taps running which gives quite a chilling feel to the scene. The womans make up is smudged, playing on the fact that she has been crying. She is shown in the bath looking visibly upset and the past events are shown. They flashback to a more well lit scene where the couple seem happier and are in a more crowded setting; this signifies that before these events, they were happy. They proceed to go outside where the man produces the ring box, however it is clear that the woman does not accept. We then go back to the house where the woman gets out of the bath and joins the man at the table - he is eating ice cream for comfort. The candles and a lamp are the only light in the scene and darkness plays a big role in this film, as it will in ours. They sit in silence and then have an awkward conversation about the ring. The man picks up a champagne bottle and pops the cork; this startles the woman which suggests due to her emotional state that she is distressed. They go on to swig from the bottle and converse, with the woman apologising. They speak in very low tones and leave long pauses between sentences, suggesting that they don't really want to talk, they just feel they have to. As the man, whose name we learn to be James gets up, the woman grabs his hand, this proves that she loves him. He walks away from her and the sad music on the record continues to play; still in an eerie manner. She walks up to him and slides her hands on his back, hugging him. They embrace and just as they are about to take things further, there is a loud knock at the door that startles them and they question why someone would be at their door at four in the morning; a seemingly unusual time. The knocks are used as dramatic devices to shock the audience.
They knock again and are obviously becoming impatient and frustrated. This prompts James to walk to the door and open it to find a woman completely hidden by darkness. You cannot make out any 0f her features which was probably planned by her to stop him from identifying her. We will keep the kidnappers in dark lighting to signify that they are the villains. He notices that the outside lamp is off when it wasn't before and something tells us that this wasn't a coincidence. The girl appears quite strange and gives off a weird vibe, she says, "hi" in a sheepish manner which makes it seem as if she has some innocence about her; she then does not speak but just looks at the couple as if taking them in. She asks for a person that is obviously not present and the couple seem confused by this, telling her that the person she's asking for is not there. She questions them on whether they are telling the truth and once being told that they are she stands and stares at them a while longer, all the time the scene growing more intense and creepy and then states that she will "see them later" and leaves. Something in her voice and manner tells us that she literally means this which is unsettling.
What can we learn from 'The Strangers'?
'The Strangers' shows us how to portray a psychotic murderer who seems innocent and this is how we want the men in our film to appear. The woman we are presented with is strange and scary which our characters will become once their true personalities are revealed. This film gave us lighting ideas and the periods of darkness would be good to use. We could also use the way the lead female looks when she has been crying and make our hostages look this way. Other than that these first fifteen minutes aren't much like our film and there is not much else we could take from it. The only other thing I believe we could use is the creepy music that plays throughout the beginning and creates suspense.
No comments:
Post a Comment