Research: Effective horror film opening: Saw 2

Micro Features

The film opens with a very blured image and this is a pulled focus shot. It is a point of view shot and shows a man that is coming round from being drugged. The pulled focus shot is used to help show this to the audience and it shows to the audience the effect it has had on him. A hand held camera is also used in the opening and this makes the shot very shaky and adds an eerie effect to the film, it also helps the audience to connect to the film.

It then uses a 360 degrees pan around the man to show the confined room and setting that the man is in and this is when the audience see that it is the horror genre.

An extreme close-up shows the mans eye when he is told that he has a key behind it, this helps to show the audience how he is trying to cut the key out and it enables them to feel close to the action and see the struggle he is going through.

A green filter is also used to give this eerie effect to the opening of the scene which is shown in the above picture. It also gives the audience a clue about the genre.

The digetic sound of a clock is use to help create tension throughout the scene as he tries to unlock the head clamp and break free. It also shows a montage of images which quickly flash on the screen alongside some tense music to create suspense and again raise tension.

Macro Features

There is a wide range of horror iconography used within the opening of Saw and these all help to create the horror. They use a very large head clamp that the man is trapped in and this helps to show the audience the horror of the situation for the man and this is shown from the start.

There is also the horrible doll that appears on the televison screen and this shows how scary and weird the person is that has put him in this position.

The man has a lot of blood around his eye which also helps to show the horror genre, but it also links to what the doll is saying about putting the key behind his eye and this creates fear as you realise the position he is in.

   They also help to show the horror genre by using a monster fodder which is the man that is killed within the opening scene and we are also introduced to the antagonist straight away. The antagonist helps to narrate the scene and this is something that helps the audience gain a picture about what is happening.

   The setting is very run down and appears to be a very grim and dirty basement and this creates horror and makes it seem scary and creepy.