3 Opening scenes of horror films, showing examples or characteristics of media aspects which help create a tense atmosphere for the public when watching the film.

1. Horror Film Opening Scenes Task
The Babadook – From the opening
sequence of the film, it is clear that the film
is taking place during the modern day world
in a city, which is apparent from the fact
that a woman is driving a car with
streetlights and headlights seen in the back
window of her car. Drawing attention to the
rear window also highlights the tension in
the film because maybe someone is
following her, which would answer the
question as to why the woman driving is on
edge. We can also assume that she is either
in America or Australia from the fact that
she is driving on the left side of the car.
Despite the women being thrown around in
the car in the crash, the camera stays
steady on her instead of the canted framing
that it should reasonably have. The echoes
the instability and unnerving events that
are to happen. This scene doesn’t have an
establishing shot, but rather it suggests that
there is off-screen space in the diegesis that
is not visible on frame (i.e. she is in a car,
but because it only shows you her side of
the car doesn’t mean that there aren’t
other people in the car too).The shot-
reverse shot in this sequence is when the
woman looks over at the man, the camera
shows the man, and then it goes back to the
woman. During the stage in the scene
where the women falls onto the bed the
camera level is poised above the bed
(rational thinking would assume on the
ceiling) which is used to signify the pity and
condescension of the woman. Since this is the first character with the shallow focus and frontality on
screen it is assumed that she is the main character in the film. For most of this opening scene her
face is shown as a close-up and in high-key lighting with a shadowy and dark background behind her.
The high contrast between light and dark in this opening sequence is usually associated with the
dark scenes in film genres such as horror. The performance of the woman has also a huge
impression on the genre’s impact of the audience. Her face when being tossed around in the car is
that of how a face would look if being turned upside-down, it is clear that gravity is taken control.
Despite the audience knowing that she is being turned upside down, the frontality of the camera
angle is held still of her face to capture the fraught emotions that appear on her face. When she is
falling onto the bed her movement are jittery and her arms a slightly flailing as if she has no control
over them. The thought of loss of control can be found constricting and claustrophobic, making the
audience feel tense and uneasy. She looks to be a middle aged who is wearing her nightclothes so

2. she has left the comfort of her house/living arrangement in a hurry suggesting that it is not safe. This
scene is a dream sequence, with impossible things happening such as hearing her boy crying her
name without him actually being there, or the man who appears by her side out of nowhere. This
dream sequence also appears to be a flash-forward of the films events. The sound in this scene is
almost diegetic. The sound that is heard on the film coincides with sounds that should be heard by
the woman. For example, when the glass explodes it is expected that you should here the crash, but
instead you hear a scream. This would suggest that the woman on-screen is having phantom
hearing, which agrees with the abnormality issued in horror films. However it seems to miss clear
and vital sounds, such as the woman’s breathing at the beginning of the scene. It is clear that she is
taken deep but fast breathes to calm down, however there are no sounds to comply with this
motion.
Evil Dead – This example has the storyline
told more clearly than in ‘The Babadook’
opening scene. It is unclear from the
opening scene what era/ generation the
film is set in. The young woman and her
father’s clothes are all modern, but the
setting and other characters have an age
surrounding them. There are props of
rusting torturing equipment and ram’s
heads hanging from the rafters which you
can see in the upward low angle of the
camera when it shows the father walking
towards his daughter. This angle is used to
create a striking visual composition of
demonic rituals. The scene is set at night as
shown by the surrounding shadows around
the people in the room, using the imagery
of low-key lighting to create strong contrast
between the light and dark in this scene
which are often associated with creating
suspense in horror films. The use of the 180
degree rule is shown here by the father
slowly walking up to his hooded daughter.
The tension and awareness builds up by this
walk, as will do in horror films. The deep
space in the frame when the father and
daughter are conversing shows how close
they are spatially, but also their relationship
before this scene in the diegesis, which
makes the understanding of the father’s
actions distressing and disturbing. The
music in this scene is mostly gradual
towards a peaking moment, it builds up to
an anticipating moment in the scene, e.g.
when he takes her hood off. The music

3. stops however after the man has attempted to
light the match twice so that the full effect of
what the daughter says ‘I will rip your soul out
Daddy’ is emphasised greatly. His laboured
breathing is also exaggerated here to show his
terror of his situation. The off-screen space in
this scene is mysterious to the audience which
also formulates wariness of the upcoming
events of the scene (for example whether anything is going to pop-up and come out of the
shadows).
The Conjuring – This film has more of the
traditional atmosphere for a horror movie ie
without the gore and graphic features. At the
beginning of the scene, before the film actually
starts, non-diegetic sound of a string orchestra
with low undertones can be heard which puts
the audience on edge. Straight after this the
screen immediately cuts to black with no music
which makes the audience tense with
anticipation, waiting for something to jump up
or a loud noise to scare them. Instead, a young
woman’s voice is heard having a convocation
with a man, but from off-screen because the
film is still without any images. This man is
assuring the woman which suggests that he is
informative about her situation and is assumed
to be the main character in this film. The first
image to be seen is the doll. The partial
frontality of the doll shocks the audience, even
though the doll is old and has little detail left on
it. The placement of the lights in this scene
make the room to look darker than would
probably be, which adds to the dark and
supernatural element of the film. The contrast
of the lightness of the outside world compared
to the darkness of the inside, where the
supernatural activity has been happening. The
close-up of the three people that are talking
show that they have the main focus of this

4. scene and that they will tell the story of the doll. However, with the over the shoulder shot with the
three people of main focus, the camera begins to zoom out, with two other people with their back
to the camera. They now dominate this shot, proving their characters have more importance than
the three people on the sofa. The layout of how the two people (one at either side of the screen) are
positioned gives the impression that they are protecting the other people in the room, which offers
the characters personalities quite quickly; the three people are naïve to this situation whereas the
other two people have experience.