One of the most important aspects to a movie is the opening scene. It’s either the hook that will draw the viewer in to want to watch more, or it’s what will push them away to find something else. The opening scene is what will define the movie to come, but for it to be an effective introduction, it must not only be interesting enough to keep the watcher engaged, but also accurately reflect the image of the rest of the film. If the opening doesn’t match the movie, how can you trust that a stellar opening will precede an equally amazing film? Or not, if an intriguing opening is only followed by a disappointing movie, can the opening be deemed good, even after that betrayal? Coraline, a 2009 animated film based on a novel of the same name, is a movie with what I believe to be one of these exceptionally good openings. However, what is it that makes this scene so effective? (Selick, Henry. Coraline title card. Coraline. Focus Features. 2009) …show more content…
With the visuals, we can see that the opening is meant to be scary, but the soundtrack layers on whimsical, childlike tune that would not be associated with this type of imagery normally. This useage of child music with dark visuals is a common tool in creating creepy effects. In Neil Lerner’s book Music in the Horror Film: Listening to Fear, he discusses this tool in length, stating, “Vulnerability makes children an inevitable subject for horrors ranging from innocents in danger (i.e. Poltergeist) to ‘innocents’ as danger (i.e. The Omen)” (Lerner 40). The use of this childlike music in contrast to dark visuals causes the viewer to feel a sense of danger for the children, bringing up questions such as “Why does she have the doll?” and “What unfortunate child will receive the doll?”. This provokes an interest to continue
The music correlates to the images because the slow-playing violin and soft-playing woodwinds complement the nefarious activities shown; therefore, molding a creepy and ominous tone in order to demonstrate the credulous attitudes of the audience. When thinking of demonic activities, the soul of an individual is automatically frightened, which is what the composer manipulates in the opening scene. Fenton takes advantage of this and incorporates melodic dark music to further intensify the fear of the “so-called” villain, Abigail Williams, in the
Another typical factor of this horror movie is where it is set; there is one big house in the middle of nowhere, trees surrounding the house which blocks some vision of the victim, no noise which makes viewers feel edgy and make them believe something is about to happen, these two factors makes it mysterious and also makes the viewer nervous. Then comes action, there is a lot of action In the opening scene of this movie and some of the material they use is clever. For example the phone rings and she is having a conversation on the phone with an unknown person which of course is the killer, at the same time she is having the conversation she is cooking some popcorn, as the conversation becomes more revealing the popcorn bag is becoming larger , this is showing that the tension is building and makes the viewer feel as if something is about to happen. Also while she is on the phone she looks outside and the swing is moving, this shows that someone has been there and maybe still are. The light outside is very dim and natural for example the moonlight outside is very soft
The social generation has taken over. If you don’t tweet on the daily, receive dozens of instagram likes, or know what the heck Tumblr is, you better get Googling because you’ve been left behind. It’s easy to get caught up in all the likes, retweets, comments, and ratings. We seem to need this sense of validation through numbers. We are never offline, we are permanently logged in. In Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows he searches for the consequences in the power of technology.
Betty’s father warns Betty Boop not to do it as he understands the consequences. The nature of the mood is also shown in the way the instrumentals are perceived. The dancing at the end shows it all. Sound and music is used at the start and the end of the music. At the start, the music is somewhat slow and the instrumentals set the mood expected from the film. The band and orchestra is more casual just as the characters in the film. This gives the author the expectation from the film as well as how the characters could utilize the environment. At the end of the film, the cab sings in a way that is more spiritual, ghost like and the skeletons nature scares everything. The music is related to the image on the screen since it indicates what Betty could expect. In most instances, the music goes with what is on the screen to create some sense of
This adds realism and people's.... ... middle of paper ... ... By using a fast paced, action. packed opening, it captures the viewer's attention, and also shows us.
Movies have different genres. They range from documentaries to science fiction films. Some may be make believe with a very enticing theme, or they consist of straight facts that may or may not bore the audience depending on what the particular individual finds interesting. A particular movie depicts an event that occurs in 1986 where a small town's elementary school became the target to a genius lunatic. What is a miracle? Well, The Cokeville Miracle has a lasting impression on anyone who views it because it is based on a real event, the "coincidences", and the background music.
It can be said that this film is more like a psychological thriller than the horror film. In fact, there is no blood, no ghost or make viewers startle and scream. Perhaps, Roman Polanski wants to against the tradition of horror film and show that he can threaten the viewer without turning off a lamp- in fact, he succeeds. The film opens with some of the main
Towards the end of the scene they give us a pan of all the blood. A crossfade tilt shows us the drain turning into her eye to symbolize how her life just went down the drain. As she lays there with her head out of the tub looking lifeless, resembling a bird. That foreshadowed when Norman was telling Marion about his hobby taxidermy and how he likes to taxidermy birds the most. Sound effects in this film were different than in any other, such as “re-re-re” that give the audience a sense of suspense and fear. Makes us want to know what's going to happen next, and when it happens it seems to shock everyone. Violins are used for most of the music. These violins helped create a frightening atmosphere for the audience. Without them, Psycho would not have received the same reactions of simultaneous entertainment and terror. In this esteem, the music made Psycho the film that it is. The shower scene is still important, since something as innocent as a bathroom quickly becomes tainted, but it’s the music that truly clinches the horror
Nadine from the movie The Edge of Seventeen is a seventeen year old girl that is in high school. Nadine doesn't have many friends, she met her best friend Krista when she was in elementary school and they have been inseparable ever since. Nadine doesn't have her own place yet, she lives with her mother Mona and older brother Darian. Her brother Darian assists the same high school she does, however, they have their differences. Darian seems to be extroverted and quite popular, while Nadine is more on the introverted side. Furthermore, Nadine's life is ruined according to her when her best friend Krista, which is pretty much her only friend, starts dating her older
With sounds and movements, the film told the story in a more engaging way. I was able to hear the mother and son talk, see their emotions, and their struggles to escape. Wright used this advantage of film and made the audience experience the horror far more earlier.The alarm sound and and dark skylines hints the city is in some state of emergency.The spooky sound effects when the beer bottle suddenly moves makes the audience aware that something is moving. This build up of tension using sounds and movements brings us closer to the horror genre much faster than the short story. However, I think Wright’s way of creating this quick build of horror is very cliche. Scenes where bobby drops his toy and when they hear the scream of some unknown man is very common in the horror genre. These classic scenes are obviously telling us somethings is going to happen. This clearness is very different from the short story where we do not know that we are reading the horror genre till the last half of the story. Nethertheless, Wright is still successful in creating this scary and engaging mood. Wright’s film also gives us lots more details on the background of the story. Inferencing from the cars, cloths, and buildings in the film, we know the story is set in an urban area. From the accents of the mother and son, we can guess this area is somewhere in England. The film also gives us
The film plays on every instinctive fear: darkness, claustrophobia, deformity, drowning and quite literally being killed. This is a dark, intense up close and personal horror affair.
The various show tunes from actual “toons” are all comedic and aimed at children while other elements, such as sexual innuendos, are aimed at adults. To properly transition “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” into the horror genre, the sound must be completely overhauled. The music should be more grim and ominous to give the viewer the sense that no location in the film is safe from any horror elements such as jump scares, suspense, and loudness. The music in the beginning of the film should also be altered to set the tone of horror in the film. The next sound aspect to be changed is the film’s dialogue. The dialogue is very comedic in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” so it must be slightly changed to give a more suspenseful type of feeling to set up the viewer for a scare. The ambience in the film’s various scenes must have an echoic, ghastly feeling for the viewer to hear the terrifying atmosphere. Sound effects like these will give the full horror effect to completely alter the comedic and dramatic nature of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” Finally, the last key element to be added is silence. The film has many scenes where sound is heard, but almost no scene depicts complete silence. Silence can bring a certain feeling of helplessness to the viewer because they won’t know what is going to happen next. Sound is a key aspect of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”
The opening scene (0:45 – 12:30) starts with sinister looking claw hands creating a doll that looks exactly like Coraline; insinuating that control will play a large role in the film. The film then progresses to the establishing shot; of the
Sound is an extremely important element to a film. Music, the sound chosen in this scene, is categorized as non-diegetic, which means that the music is not in the story world. The directors use deep, dramatic, intense music when Nick is interrogating Judy about her speech. The music in the scene helps the audience feel the anxiousness that Judy is feeling towards predators, particularly Nick. As the music plays in the background, the intensity of the scene grows immensely. The directors use the music to help heighten the emotion during this encounter and reveal Judy’s inner fear of predators that gets the best of her in this
According to Burt, an author who explains in his book that each type of music impacts films differently and it helps the film to create the atmosphere that is felt in the music. He mentions some of the main music types used in films, such as "Fearful /Tense", "Miserable/Unhappy", "Upbeat/Jolly", "Enchanted/Magical", "Energized/Action" and "Startling/Tense". The most common music type that is used frequently to create an atmosphere is the Terrifying or Scary, because it is suitable a lot for horror films. Horror films try to scare us by using a frightening sound of music that will help intensify the fear in us while watching. For example, as they speed the scary music, it will create a feeling if somebody is running after us or is getting close to harm us. Burt explains that the directors of films make sure to use the appropriate type of music that matches the film genre. Another example is the use of happy upbeat music a lot in films for kids, and soft beat love songs are used in romantic films. Without music the audience wouldn’t be able to experience the story and the atmosphere that is presented in the