The Grudge
For an opening title sequence, I have looked at the American release of Takashi Shimuzu's The Grudge. The film was released in 2002 in Japan originally, then in 2004 as a worldwide remake. Takashi Shimuzu is now well known For His Japanese Ju-On and American movie Grudge movie series.
The first thing in the opening of the movie stands out as scary is when the first victim, Yoko, looks down the hallway. The camera is at a lowered outlook than normal, as if something, small and unnoticed, is watching her from the back of the darkened hallway where she is opposed, the known light instead of the darkness hiding. She is known to be a care worker who shows her innocence and caring personality for others - the perfect first victim for a horror movie, as it sets her up to get killed. She's also known only for a brief time, which means we won't care as much about her first victim and reinforcing the idea she’s the perfect first kill.
The mise-en-scene for this sequence was in a more modern Japanese house set within a Japanese feudal era-style neighbourhood. This is evidenced by the wide, dark, weathered rocks that made up the wall in front of the house, the gate that was a part of it and it's design at 00:04:15. This gives the setting for most of the movie. The house's neighbourhood is found off of the bustling streets of the city, down a desolate alley. This implies that Yoko is alone, so even if she called the police it would take some time for them to arrive, which makes it just her and the killer.
Another portion of mise-en-scene is shown when Yoko finds the hair dangling from the roof of the ceiling, on the upper floor. This is the first true sign something is wrong, and gives a hint as to the supernatural power influencing the house as hair does not normally occupy the ceiling space - it takes up space on the head. This shows that the killer is an unnatural one at least.
My last subject for the mise-en-scene is the attic. The attic is an extremely dark area of the house indicating it is hiding something or, in this case, someone. There is never a noise in the attic of an old building without reason and, in horror movies, that reason is usually the killer hiding there in waiting for the girl. The attic is far off from anyone else in the house, which means no-one will likely investigate. The cobwebs adds an air of age and mystery, imply no-one has gone in there for a long time which contradicts the idea someone is hiding in there.
At the start of the film, the lighting is high key to depict everything as normal. Everyone is happy and OK, Yoko is alive and there is no killer. The lighting changes, or more accurately is depicted as lowkey, when Yoko is upstairs and hears the noise coming from the attic, which as mentioned earlier implies someone is watching her from the shadows, or sneakily. In the attic, the light is non-existent, so Yoko has to use a lighter, which could represent her life as when the Grudge lady kills her, her lighter falls out of her hands and stops the flame. This can symbolise her life being taken from her, or her life out of her hands, and extinguishing it.
At the start of the film, everything is at a calm pace because there is little reason for everyone to panic but to instead be calm. The pace begins to get a little bit slower and slower until she’s in the attic and slowly turns to face the Grudge. This would build up the tension and start to make the audience realize something is wrong. At the height of the peak, when she dies, is when the action immediately quickens and terrifies the viewers until she is dead entirely.
The mid shot in the film is used when she examines the hair in the roofing. You can see her ‘surprise’ at it, and it feels like we’re investigating alongside her. The hair is the first symbol of the Grudge, which makes it important and will be the first signs of the Grudge later on in the movie.
The long shot is used when she looks down the hallway to the noise. The shot creates not only tension, but gives the impression of viewing from the killer’s perspective, as similarly mentioned earlier. It shows something is wrong as it is at a unique perspective, giving the impression of an awkward shot and identifying something as wrong.
The only PoV shot I can seem to identify is the point where the Grudge jumps at the camera when Yoko turns and faces her. This is used as a jump scare tactic, in order to terrify the audience with the speed and terror of the scary event, and is very effective considering it also runs alongside the screaming and the tense music.
Diegetic Sound
The backing music when she moves down the hallway to her death is very quiet and sounds like the wind blowing into something hollow. This gives the impression that it's only Yoko right now, that she's alone in her experience and therefore cannot be helped. This supports the previous assertions that she cannot be helped by any people.
Conclusion
The first thing in the opening of the movie stands out as scary is when the first victim, Yoko, looks down the hallway. The camera is at a lowered outlook than normal, as if something, small and unnoticed, is watching her from the back of the darkened hallway where she is opposed, the known light instead of the darkness hiding. She is known to be a care worker who shows her innocence and caring personality for others - the perfect first victim for a horror movie, as it sets her up to get killed. She's also known only for a brief time, which means we won't care as much about her first victim and reinforcing the idea she’s the perfect first kill.
The mise-en-scene for this sequence was in a more modern Japanese house set within a Japanese feudal era-style neighbourhood. This is evidenced by the wide, dark, weathered rocks that made up the wall in front of the house, the gate that was a part of it and it's design at 00:04:15. This gives the setting for most of the movie. The house's neighbourhood is found off of the bustling streets of the city, down a desolate alley. This implies that Yoko is alone, so even if she called the police it would take some time for them to arrive, which makes it just her and the killer.
Another portion of mise-en-scene is shown when Yoko finds the hair dangling from the roof of the ceiling, on the upper floor. This is the first true sign something is wrong, and gives a hint as to the supernatural power influencing the house as hair does not normally occupy the ceiling space - it takes up space on the head. This shows that the killer is an unnatural one at least.
My last subject for the mise-en-scene is the attic. The attic is an extremely dark area of the house indicating it is hiding something or, in this case, someone. There is never a noise in the attic of an old building without reason and, in horror movies, that reason is usually the killer hiding there in waiting for the girl. The attic is far off from anyone else in the house, which means no-one will likely investigate. The cobwebs adds an air of age and mystery, imply no-one has gone in there for a long time which contradicts the idea someone is hiding in there.
At the start of the film, the lighting is high key to depict everything as normal. Everyone is happy and OK, Yoko is alive and there is no killer. The lighting changes, or more accurately is depicted as lowkey, when Yoko is upstairs and hears the noise coming from the attic, which as mentioned earlier implies someone is watching her from the shadows, or sneakily. In the attic, the light is non-existent, so Yoko has to use a lighter, which could represent her life as when the Grudge lady kills her, her lighter falls out of her hands and stops the flame. This can symbolise her life being taken from her, or her life out of her hands, and extinguishing it.
At the start of the film, everything is at a calm pace because there is little reason for everyone to panic but to instead be calm. The pace begins to get a little bit slower and slower until she’s in the attic and slowly turns to face the Grudge. This would build up the tension and start to make the audience realize something is wrong. At the height of the peak, when she dies, is when the action immediately quickens and terrifies the viewers until she is dead entirely.
The mid shot in the film is used when she examines the hair in the roofing. You can see her ‘surprise’ at it, and it feels like we’re investigating alongside her. The hair is the first symbol of the Grudge, which makes it important and will be the first signs of the Grudge later on in the movie.
The long shot is used when she looks down the hallway to the noise. The shot creates not only tension, but gives the impression of viewing from the killer’s perspective, as similarly mentioned earlier. It shows something is wrong as it is at a unique perspective, giving the impression of an awkward shot and identifying something as wrong.
The only PoV shot I can seem to identify is the point where the Grudge jumps at the camera when Yoko turns and faces her. This is used as a jump scare tactic, in order to terrify the audience with the speed and terror of the scary event, and is very effective considering it also runs alongside the screaming and the tense music.
Diegetic Sound
The backing music when she moves down the hallway to her death is very quiet and sounds like the wind blowing into something hollow. This gives the impression that it's only Yoko right now, that she's alone in her experience and therefore cannot be helped. This supports the previous assertions that she cannot be helped by any people.
Conclusion
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