Genre Analysis (Film openings)

GHOST SHIP (film opening)
The opening scene of the film is of a woman singing, there are well dressed people milling around an expensive looking ballroom. The woman is singing and the music fills the room creating a relaxed atmosphere. It appears to be night time, but the lighting inside the ballroom is warm and represents a happy, calm atmosphere.At this point the only main character that the camera is focused on is the singer. The singer is dressed in a tight red dress, she is wearing quite heavy make up but is made to look natural. She smiles at another member of staff, this makes it clear that whilst she is still dressed up nicely, she is still a member of staff aboard the ship. The camera pans around the room, as if in with the crowd of people, this allows the viewer to see the main setting for this scene. The main setting is a ballroom, which is made of warm colours, and wood. there are chandeliers hanging from the ceiling giving a sense of high class. The people inside the ballroom, are white men and women, and are all the women are dressed in sixties style extravagant cocktail dresses and the men dressed in suits or dinner jackets. Their body language is relaxed but still maintains a high status for example, backs straight, chins lifted to make it clear that they are first class passengers.  They appear to be people from a wealthy country such as Britain or America, there are no coloured people, which highlights that colour segregation was still a problem, in the time period the film was set.
The camera then shows a young  white girl dressed in a blue and white dress with a bow in her hair, playing with a small toy. It shows the girl on the deck of a ship, so makes it clear that the film is set out at sea, possibly on a cruise. A man comes up to the girl and spells out "I am so bored" on her toy, this hints that they are possibly friends. The girl is then asked to dance by the ships captain. This gives the impression that the girl is of high status on the ship. the girl then goes onto the crowded dance floor and begins to dance. At this pint the camera pans out to show the whole deck of the ship and the pretty decorations and the amount of people on it.
The scene then changes. The camera shows a darker location in the ships machinery. A hand pulls a lever and a wire is released.
The camera then goes back into the ballroom and deck. Now the lighting has changed to darker colours, and background noise such as people talking is drowned out by the woman singing. movements of the people dancing become slower. The camera begins to focus on a sharp looking metal wire, and each sound the wire makes is increased and shrill. A massive spark then flies into the air. This moment is when panic begins and the wire is then released. The camera shot of the wire is from the wire's perspective as it slices through the crowd and the only noises hear is the swish of the wire and people coughing and spluttering. It then shows the wire stopping and covered in blood.
The whole scene is frozen, no one moves and the only sounds heard are the occasional cough and gasp for breath and the loud, harsh, shrill sound of the blood covered wire., A champagne glass falls to the floor. This is the turning point of the scene and the scene then changes to people dying and blood going everywhere. The blood is a significant item in the scene because it is showing the violence and terror of the situation. The colour of the blood also contrasts with the warm colours of the ship, because it is so harsh. All the characters begin to drop down and die in pools of blood around the girl and the captain, some characters and body parts still struggle which gives the scene an almost unrealistic dream atmosphere.. The captain is seen with his arm around the irl as if protecting her but when the girl looks up the captain has too been fatally injured. The girl begins to try nd back away from the bodies and screams. The scream is loud and echoey to show the panic and the now emptiness of the ship. As the scream continues, the camera shows a shot of the full length of the boat and the sea around it. It is night time, which creates a dark atmosphere and represents a sense of abandonment and powerful fear.



HARRY BROWN (film opening)
The opening scene begins with voices starting to talk before the video starts. The voices talk in slang e.g. blad and swearing. This type of language hints that the characters of the scene are youths and potentially a gang. When the camera starts rolling, the definition is of poor quality and the camera work is unsteady, showing that it is a home video, probably shot on a mobile phone. The characters there are in a big group, they are all dressed simarly in black puffa jackets with hoods up. This shows a stereotypical gang member to the viewer therefore cementing the idea that the group is a gang. The gang appears to be in a subway, the walls are covered in graffiti, showing that the gang have no respect for public property. The lighting inside the subway is gloomy, showing that whilst it is dark it isn't dark enough to be night so the gang are out in the daytime, the lighting like this creates a tenser atmosphere. The setting of the gang also indicates that the area they are in is a rough/dangerous area. The fat that the gang are out in the daytime, highlights that they are not afraid of the law and getting caught. It also creates an intimidating atmosphere because it could mean that this gang basically rules the area.
The video shows the gang centering around one boy, even though the lighting is gloomy it is clear to see that the boy is quite young.The boy is also white, which can be seen as going away from the stereotypical black gang member,. It shows a member of the gang giving the boy a small glass bottle, filled with a white gas. The bottle is makeshift bong used to inhale the drugs that are inside. The dug inside is not specified, but one gang member says he got it specially for the young boy. The other gang members say that if he inhales the drug it will make him a man. This highlights to the prospect that this is a initiation test for the boy to become a ember of the gang. A gun is then bought out and waved around, The gun is then offered to the boy and he is told that as soon as he touches it he is a member for life. The boy takes the gun and waves it around, whilst the other gang members swarm in and cheer.
In this part of the opening scene the two significant items are the drugs and the gun. Both items symbolise danger, gangs and violence. This could link to the theme of the film, highlighting that the film will be violent and gang centered.
After the gun is handed to the boy, there is brief cheering and then the screen goes black and silent. This dramatic cut could symbolise how quickly a gun can end a life.
After the silence a motorbike sound and shouting is heard and the camera turns back on. again it is a video shot on a mobile phone and it shows two boys (one of them the young white boy from before) riding around a residential area on a motorbike. This further proves that the gang members think that they own the place and they have no respect for the residents living there.
The camera then cuts to the boys riding the motorbike in a park. In the video a lone woman is walking along the path pushing a pushchair. The boys refer to her as " a f***** bird". This highlights to the viewer that they have no respect for the woman and just see her as an object. The camera then shows the two boys faces and the gun the are holding and one of them says "get here" whilst laughing. The scene then takes on a violent and scary atmosphere as the boys begin circling the woman and shooting at her.  When the gun is shot, all the sounds except the gun are blanked out and there is a short burst of dramatic music after the gun is shot. There is a split second of silence then the woman screaming. Each time the gun is shot this is the sound that accompanies it, therefore strongly highlighting the use of the gun.
On the third shot of the gun, the bullet hits the woman in the head and she falls dead onto the path. When the woman dies, the sounds are mainly silence with some patches of white noise. This shows the initial fear and confusion of the situation but when the boys start shouting and begin the motorbike to get away, the atmosphere is panic. The boys flee the scene and the camera shows them racing across the park at high speed. The camera shows a fairly busy road and the motorbike goes straight out into the road. On the right side of the camera a lorry is seen approaching the bike and then the camera flies up and shows darkness and rubble flying everywhere. It makes it clear that the motorbike has been hit and the high speed of the phone and the frantic brief noises that accompany it shows that the motorbike was hit by the lorry. The ending shot is of the two boys laying in the road, presumed dead, and rubble everywhere. This dramatic end could foreshadow the result for these gang members ans how if they ruin people's lives, then they will endure the same fate.


WHAT LIES BENEATH (film openings)
The opening scene begins with a woman walking through her house. The house is well-decorated with nice, fashionable furniture and design. The woman is white, middle-age (around 40 to 45 years of age). She is wearing good quality, fashionable clothes. From her outfit and the way her home is decorated, the woman is of a upper/middle class status.The woman appears to be from an American or British background.
The lighting in the house is quite dark with only a few lamps on. There is no light outside the windows, which shows that it is night. Dramatic music is playing and the only other sound that can be heard is the woman's footsteps. The music, lighting and the woman's footsteps create a desolate and tense atmosphere. It also brings to light the woman's vunerability.
The woman sighs and bends down to pick up some rubbish off the floor. This hints at a slight disturbance to normality but not enough to be significant. Whilst the woman is cleaning the floor, the camera pans out to reveal steam entering the room. The woman, pauses slightly and then turns to see the steam in the room. The way the woman, pauses and then looks suggests that she knows that something is not right and is quickly preparing herself for the situation. The woman slowly stands up and walks towards the door from where the steam is escaping from. The woman's facial expression shows panic, her mouth is slightly agape and her eyes wide.  The door is opened with a slight creak which adds to the tense atmosphere.  A light is switched on inside the room to reveal a room filled with steam and a white, clean bathroom. The bright light contrasts with the darker hose. This creates the feeling that something is about to happen.
The woman's breathing becomes heavy and audible, which shows increasing fear. The bath tub in the room is filled completely with water. The water is completely still, which creates an eerie atmosphere because it shows the water has not been touched for some time but is still hot enough to create a lot of steam. The camera pans around from behind the woman to the side of her to show her fearful expression and a streamed up mirror.  A faint figure appears floating in the mirror, but it is only when it says something in a harsh voice does the woman notice and gasp, but when she looks the figure is gone. This shows that this film has strong elements of the supernatural world and shows themes of fear and vunerability.
The woman wipes the top half of the mirror, where the figure was, with her hand to reveal nothing, when she wipes with her hand the noise of the action increases dramatically. As she stops wiping small droplets begin to run down the mirror creating small tracks in the steam. The camera turns away from the woman and shows the bath, In the reflection of the water is a woman. The woman appears to be dressed in a white gown and her hair is held back in a tight bun. This contrasts with the relaxed look of the human woman. The figure disappears as soon as the woman's own reflection appears in the bath.
The camera pans out to show the woman's face as she turns around to survey the room. The woman's jaw is clenched which portrays a hint of anger to the audience. The woman opens her mouth to speak. She stutters the first word of her sentence and has to begin again three times. This shows the feeling of fear is still present. The woman eventually shouts to the empty room "What do you want?".This shows that the woman is aware that she is not alone in her home. When she says this the camera pans out to reveal more of the room. The rest of the room is blurred except the woman's face but it is obvious that there is writing in the steam on the mirror. As the woman begins to walk out of the room, the writing comes into focus. It says "You Know". This message suggests that this woman's encounter isn't the first time this has happened to her. It also suggests that the woman has had previous contact with whatever thing is causing disruption to her normality of life.  As the woman walks past the mirror she gasps and turns loudly to show she has seen the writing. The camera then zooms in on the writing and the dramatic music heightens and drowns out any other noise. This sound creates an atmosphere of panic and fear for the audience.
The camera then cuts to an image of the stairs and the woman's feet running frantically down the steps. The woman's arms are out and her mouth is open wide to show her fear and her vunerability.  The woman runs into a living room. The lighting in the room is dark again with just a few lamps on but the most prominent light that is shining is the light from the computer screen.  The woman runs full speed into the desk and stops suddenly . She slowly turns her had to the computer screen, again with the same look of fear on her face.
The computer screen shows a gaming website called The Winner's Circle. It instructs the player to type in their initials and the letters MEF begin to appear on the screen. The dramatic music begins to fade slightly and the sound of typing on a keyboard becomes louder. As the sound becomes louder, the typing becomes quicker and quicker until the letters MEF are all over the screen. The sound and the extreme fast pace of the typing creates a panicked and fearful atmosphere to the end of the scene.