Analysis of opening sequence of Triangle

Title: Triangle
Director: Christopher Smith


How the characters are represented and established.
When we first meet the characters in the opening sequence the mother, who is hugging her son is crying. We automatically see that she is vulnerable. We can she that she looks like quite a young mum and blonde hair (this is typical convention of a horror film). Like the mother, the son has also got blonde hair, this represents him as an innocent and vulnerable child. Just like the other two films I have analysed all the main characters in the opening sequence have fitted into this stereotype. As soon as we see her crying and the little boys face we automatically can tell that something has upset them and feel sympathy towards them both as the audience do not have a clue what is happening. She rocks her son back and forth which is a symbol of comfort, this straight away generates enigma codes. There does not seem to be a father figure around to provide safety for them so they are already being shown as quite weak. She also tries to reassure her son that everything is alright, even though she is the one crying. This gives the audience the impression that something is going on.

Enigma codes.
In the opening sequence there are lots of enigma codes;
what has the little boy dreamt about that is so bad?
why is she crying?
why are they both so afraid?
how did the paint get on the floor?
who rang her doorbell?
where are they leaving to?
These enigma codes help give the film suspense and tension about what is going on.

Editing techniques and their effects and camera techniques.
After we meet the mother and son it then cuts to a different scene of a different day. When the camera is moving along their street we see it as a point of view of someone but we are not aware who it is. The camera movement is extremely slow, this gives the audience time to take in what's going on. There are also a lot of cuts to different things, this keeps the audience on their seat and trying to work out what is happening but as it keeps changing quickly it is hard to do this and they are left hanging. When we see the mother walking around outside she looks very tense. This again, generates enigma codes and are very weary of the situation.

There is a close up of one of the sons toys. Having this close up makes it look like he doesn't play with these sorts of toys anymore because of a reason but we don't know what that is. Having set the opening sequence like this keeps the audience wanting to know what is going to happen in future events.

There is a fast zoom in of the mother when she comes to the door. This makes the audience feel like something is there and creates a lot of tension when there isn't actually anyone there. When she walks to the side of her garden the camera pans round from the back to the side of her face showing a long shot of the back garden. This allows the audience to see any movement from someone that the mother wouldn't see whilst talking to the neighbor. At the end of the back garden is very dark, this make the audience raise some enigma codes of is anyone hiding down there?

Sound.
The sound throughout the opening sequence is very creepy. At the start, you can hear beach noises (waves, seagulls). As there is nothing else going on apart from a black screen it makes you really aware of the noises that they are playing. This foreshadows to the audience that something to do with that atmosphere played in the background is going to come back later on in the film and something significant may occur. The same music is carried on playing throughout the opening sequence even when the mother is talking. The music is really light and soft and  almost like a childs song which creates a slightly creepy sense. It also carries on the sense of feeling sympathetic towards them. When the mother hears a ring at the door, the music becomes much less quiet with only being able to hear a few piano keys which contrasts to the camera movement and editing and makes the mood more anxious. A diegetic sound of the lawn mower comes in which shows the audience that there are other people around her. We also hear a diegetic sound of her breathing which makes the audience feel more scared when she breathes heavier. After it cuts from when she talks to her neighbor the music gets more horror like. This makes the audience think that there is someone around. After hearing the  sounds of seagulls and waves at the very start, we then later actually see them so now the audience are starting to be able to fit the pieces together.

Iconography.
The iconography in the opening sequence is the eerie music and the stereotypical characters. Normally horror films are seen as dark and bad weather but in the opening sequence of this, the light is very bright and the weather isn't bad at all.

Mise-en-scene

The mise-en-scene is pretty basic. The location of their house is not typical for a normal horror film, but the amount of space around the house could be part of something later on in the film. The use of props is quite important. When the little boy is doing his painting and then the paint is on the floor. This makes the audience have questions about it. Was it actually the boy? or someone else? And also the toy boat in the swimming pool, this also makes the audience ask a lot of questions.
The expression given from the mother gives the impression that she is very stressed and that she doesn't look happy at all. What has made her this way? Her expression plays a big part in the opening sequence as it leaves the audience hanging a lot.
Even though there are not that many conventions of a horror movie it there is still an uneasy atmosphere created.

Titles.
In the opening sequence the titles are being run throughout until after 4 minutes. They are very basic (black background and white writing) but having the contrast of those two colours makes it stand out very well. It creates the sense of dark and light which is represented in the film. When the title of the film comes on it is centered around the middle with three different effects of the words. This represents that it's all over the place, maybe resembling to the mother and then fades into one main one in the middle of the screen with block capitals. It makes the audience feel like it's a dark film which could foreshadow later events.

I think the target audience is for 15+ as from the opening sequence so far it doesn't seem to graphic. I think it would be for men and women but it effecting women more as it seems like it is based around a mother and a son.

Here is the opening sequence.