The Ring: Opening Scene Analysis

     In this opening two minutes of The Ring we are introduced to a teenage girl who is wearing  a school uniform this conforms to the stereo typical victim in a horror film so the audience already start thinking that she may be in danger. By the girls wearing a uniform suggests that she is middle/higher class because in the USA only private schools use uniforms. The film is set in a large mansion which is also quite typical of a horror film as it is a place that people can relate and when they are next alone at home they will think of this and get scared.

    At first there is only the diagetic sound of the rain out side this combined with the low key lighting connotes that this is not a happy film that it is going to be sad , scary and this also creates a lot of tension in the scene.   As the TV turns on, on its own she see the her stop and gasp, there is then a close up to the girls face to show the audience how scared and shocked she is. The next shot is a point of view shot of what the girl would be seeing as she come round the corner as if the audience are looking through her eyes, the director chooses to uses a reverse shot so it looks like the TV is looking at her back making the audience feel as if it has a life of its own and that her and TV  have a connection. The TV switches on by its self twice after the girl turns it off creating enigmas within the audience. She pulls the pulls the plug out and stares into the TV screen and there is a mid shot of her and the black TV but in it we can see a faint refection of her and the room. Something fly's past but the audience aren't able to make out what it is as the reflection of the TV is limited. The use of sound is used well  because even if someone who is watching didn't see the reflection the sound of a loud gust of wind will make them thing something has flown by.

   One of the next shots the girl is at the bottom of the stairs shouting for her friend with no reply. A high angle is used to make her look vulnerable. We can no longer hear the sound of rain anymore but an eerie non-diagetic sound creating tension and suspense in the audience.  As she walks up the stairs we see some sort of liquid coming out through the bottom of one of the doors. This creates more enigmas with the audience, where is her friend she was shouting for? is that her friend blood? what happened? There is a close up of her hand as she slowly opens the door, as soon as she opens it we see the girl stop in shot take a gasp from the prospective of the TV then quick pace editing to a of the TV zooming out then zooming back into her face screaming. Then to whole screen as if the TV was static suggesting that she had just been killed.











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