The opening sequence of The Ring (Verbinski, 2002) opens with the female protagonist in a low lit room with a close up on her face, this immediately shows that something has startled or scared her and something has happened that is abnormal. This is an early introduction to the psychological sub-genre where generic expectations of this type of film are met very early on, the television is seemingly switching on by its self, it is abnormal, something that is expected from psychological horror.
Form and Style
Verbinski has introduced a conventional style in this opening, the use of diagetic sound creates a feeling of naturalness, and realism, with the rain constantly as background noise. Not including any title credits makes it feel as if the audience is getting an accurate insight into this characters life, and in a sense feels less like a film as the camera has immediately focused on the character and the action. There is very little character exposition in this opening sequence, with no dialogue or on screen iconography it is hard to get an insight into her life, any background information about the location, events leading to this point, or anything about the character's background. From this opening the audience can get some understanding to some extent, for example we can tell this character is middle/upper class because of the house she is in, which is large with luxurious items such as coffee machines and a large television. The audience can also obtain that this female character is educated because of her costume, she is wearing a school uniform, which also connotes that she is an innocent, and perhaps vulnerable character.
a sense of foreboding is introduced very early on in this opening sequence with the use camera techniques such as, close ups on the character, which in this case shows she has realized something, and then proceeds to react to this. Zooming is another camera technique which is used to help the audience see what she is reacting to, in this case it is the television showing a static screen.
Film Language
Throughout this opening mise-en-scene conveys a feeling of typical conventions of physiological horror, with actions that seem un-explainable that play with the mind of both the audience and the characters within the film. The lighting is dark and gloomy which connotes a feeling of something lurking and of potential danger that awaits. The opening is in a large house in a suburban area, this emphasizes the genre of this film greatly as it is situated in a stereotypical location that meet audience expectations and the conventions of this genre, a further exaggeration of this is the rain and it is filmed during the evening where it is dark outside. it is also important to note that this house is full of normal everyday objects, and especially in the girls room at the end of the opening it seems like a completely normal and expected bedroom, this again brings a sense of realism and connotes a feeling that it could happen to anyone.
Throughout this opening i noticed a lot of low angle shots that look up at the female character. these shots are used to create suspense by only showing an image of the actors feet or legs, an example of this is when she is walking along the corridor to her sisters room.
there is very little sound in this opening, except that of diegetic and natural sound. the most effective use of sound is that of the breathing of the character. Her breathing becomes louder, this connotes tension and emphasizes her fear.
Representation and Ideology
the only character so far introduced to the audience is a white female who is shown as young by her school uniform. the fact that the protagonist is white and wearing a white shirt is used to show her innocence, and to connote that she will be a victim in this film. this enforces a dominant ideology of female innocence, purity and vulnerability.
Audience Readings
- A dominant hegemonic positional reading of this opening sequence would be that the audience understand there is supernatural occurrences happening and that the female character is scared as she does not understand what is happening.
- A negotiated positional reading would be that the audience may feel this danger is created by the female protagonist
- An aberrant reading of this opening would be that the audience believe that the character's sister is playing jokes on her
This is very interesting and could be useful towards our own piece. I like the use of gloomy lighting within the household to connote something lurking in the shadows and the use of emphasis on the diegetic breathing to build suspense.
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