Three Horror Film Openings Analysis-Will Smith

Saw 3Ds opening scene starts off with obvious panic from an audience. An Asian woman is seen bashing at the box with a suitcase trying to break the glass and free Brad and Bryan inside. The audience are shocked and are in panic. They then see the puppet which has a creepy face, this is a typical convention of horror films. The low angle shot shows the audience a girl strapped to the ceiling looking distressed. This creates an enigma code as the audience want to know why she is up there, who has done it to her and what is going to happen to her. You can then see a close up shot of her face showing her horror and fright. There is then a close up of Brad and Bryan grimacing. When the two are told about the task they have to complete to survive, a close up is used to show anger spread across Bryan and Brad's faces as they realise they'll have to try and kill each other.

When the saw starts high intensity music also starts. This is to show the panic and adrenaline going through the men. The woman tries to convince one of the men that she loves him, this is so he can try to fight to keep her alive. Both men agree to let the girl die. A low angle shot is used looking up as the saw cuts through her body. Guts and intestine splatter on the ground with non-diegetic sound used to emphasise the sound of the organs falling to the ground.

The House of Wax begins with the opening credits accompanied by creepy organ music. This sets the tone as we see a panning shot showing wax dripping from a table. This creates an enigma code making people wonder why there is all this much wax on the table and why it is currently dripping.

The panning shot continues up over the table to a close up of a saucepan boiling away. The camera is laid down on the table to show the old kitchen decor from the 1970s. A birds eye view is then used looking down at a woman pouring wax into a mould before an extreme close up of the moulds design. The woman's face is never shown in the shot which makes the viewer ask questions of why she is pouring wax in a mould and who is she, is she the antagonist in the film?

The peace is disturbed in the house as the woman's husband walks in wrestling his child and struggling to put him in the high chair. The child kicks the table knocking the wax mould off shattering it. This causes the mother to get angry as she helps strap the boy to his chair. The tempo of the music increases as the boy gets angrier and angrier before he scratches his mothers hand. The scene then ends with the mother smacking the boy in his face.

The Blair Witch Project has opening text to set the context of the story. The opening credits says that three filming students disappeared and a year later their footage was discovered. This information creates speculation as to why and how they disappeared. An extreme close up and bad quality camera is used to show the students lack of knowledge in how to use the camera. This makes it obvious it is home-footage being shown with the student working out the camera controls.

A female student is filmed explaining the expedition the teenagers are going to take, this is for the benefit of the viewers.