Task 2.1: Horror Film Analysis: Incidious

Incidious- opening scene analysis



The start of the scene begins with the camera on a view of a lampshade with a black background, this sets the scene and reveals the film will be dark and creepy. The camera then moves down onto a little boy in bed followed by the rest of the bedroom, down the hallway until you reach a close up shot of an old lady's face being lit up with a candle. This is all done in a continuous, point of view shot to make the audience feel like they are actually involved and are walking round themselves. After seeing the the face there is a quick cut to the titles. Cuts are very abrupt and this creates a tense atmosphere.

The music to start off with is very quiet and slow, but as the camera continues to move and you get closer and closer to the lady the tempo and the frequency increases. As the titles show up the music is at its loudest and fastest as this is a jumpy part of the scene. The music gets quieter and slower as the titles go on. The music is incidental as its scary and jumpy which reflects on the film. The music compliments the action as when it cuts to the titles quickly the music suddenly gets louder and more high pitched.

The setting of the sequence is a house. It is nighttime and therefore its dark with just a candle light and a lamp. Horror films are very often set at nighttime because it is more common for bad and spooky things to happen at night. And although there is a little boy in the scene, the house still looks like it has a feeling of isolation and abandondness. The titles are written in red which represents blood.

After the main title comes up, the names of the actors and actresses come up, all with a black and white background showing different parts of the house, including staircases, bedrooms, windows etc. Eveything looks quite old fashioned and it all looks very dark and gloomy, giving us an idea that the film will be based in the house and there will be creepy things happening in the house. Old houses are often used in horror films because the fact they are old means that people may have died in there.


An old clock has been used in an opening scene. In lots of horror films clocks are used because they bring an element of tension to the film as the sound of them ticking creates suspense. Also these sort of clocks are old so it makes you believe that the house is old and maybe abandoned.

Dissolving has been used to change from one image of a part of the house to another image as it could be associated with mysteriousness.




There are only 2 characters revealed in this opening sequence: the little boy sleeping and the old lady. The fact the little boy is asleep gives a sense of innocence, revealing that he will be the victim in the film, The old lady has what looks like a vail on and is pale faced with smudged scary makeup on, which makes you think that she will be the villain in the film.


Not much about the story is revealed in the opening sequence, but you do get the idea that the film is going to be set in the house as that is the only place shown. Also as its only the little boy and the lady who are shown it makes you think they are the main characters and the story will be based around them.