Menu Screen
The Darkness that takes over the majority of the menu screen sets an unwelcoming and scary scene, as from being a young child many people develop a fear of the dark, it's not the dark itself that people are scared of but the lack of visuals which means anything could be lurking without being seen. This coupled with the eerie sounds and the weather that is displayed (wind, rain, thunder and lightning) creates a grim effect and suggests the film may either be a horror film or a thriller. Many other elements of the menu screen suggest that the film may be of one of these genre's, such elements include the location which is a dark unclean looking motel which seems like the kind of place most people relate with unkind, strange, scummy people and murderers.
Movie
In the opening scene the sounds played are thunder and lightning which sets a grim eerie scene. There is also a voice that is narrating, the narrator at that point cannot be seen which adds a sence of mystery. Then it quickly shows a sequence of close up camera angles that show documents but go by too fast for the viewer to understand whats going on, this builds tension and curiosity. Then it shows a man who is overlooking the documents which causes people to start making assum ptions on who he is, such an assumptions could be that he's a detective. The next few minutes are spent introducing a variety of new characters, it starts off by showing you a clip of a man (who we later learn is called George) running into a Motel carrying a blooded woman telling the person behind the front desk that there has been an accident, then it flashes back to George, the woman (who we learn is his wife) and a boy who looks around the age of 10 (George's stepson and the woman's son) sitting in a car discussing the rout they need to take and their driving shifts, George displays many signs of nervousness with what he says and his body language, this makes the viewer feel that he is not the most confident of people and makes him relatable.
The tyre on their car goes flat so George goes out to try and fix the problem, the woman also gets out of the car but the child remains sitting inside in silence. As George is changing the tire the camera then alternates between the point of view of the mother and the child, they look at each other and put their hands against the glass to reinforce the stong motherly feeling the woman gives off and then this is quickly ripped away as she gets hit by a car. This then plays with time once again and flashes back to inside the car that hit her. We see a woman (who we later learn is called Caroline) on her mobile talking down to the person on the other side, we learn that she is an actress as she mentions termonology only someone in that buisness would use. She gives off a snooty and upper class feeling which creates a feeling of dislike in the viewer.
We then meet the driver of the car who manages to remain calm and authorative during the accident which makes people assume he has had some experience of dealing with panic enducing situation. Then we get introduced to another character, a woman driving a convertible as rock music plays this gives off the feeling that she's somewhat wild, then we see a flashback showing that she's in fact a prostitute, we also see her reverse into a phone line pole, knocking it down and rendering her car useless. After that we return back to the motel and we are back to the current time with George running into the motel with his injured wife in his arms, that is when we are properly introduced to the guy who seems to be running the motel, he tells us that the phone line is down so he cant call for help, the phone line being down because the prostitute knocked it down.
The driver then volunteers to go and look for help, he runs into the prostitute and she tells him that the road is flooded, they continue in the other direction, looking for help and they run into a young couple whose body language and attitude towards each other show they have marital problems, they then tell the driver that the road is flooded so they are all trapped with the only building available to them being the motel. The driver then uses what medical know edge he has to help sow George's wife's neck. These first twenty minutes are all about introducing the characters and bringing them all together. This is because the characters and who they are, are a big factor in the film, even the movie title being identity shows that.
The tyre on their car goes flat so George goes out to try and fix the problem, the woman also gets out of the car but the child remains sitting inside in silence. As George is changing the tire the camera then alternates between the point of view of the mother and the child, they look at each other and put their hands against the glass to reinforce the stong motherly feeling the woman gives off and then this is quickly ripped away as she gets hit by a car. This then plays with time once again and flashes back to inside the car that hit her. We see a woman (who we later learn is called Caroline) on her mobile talking down to the person on the other side, we learn that she is an actress as she mentions termonology only someone in that buisness would use. She gives off a snooty and upper class feeling which creates a feeling of dislike in the viewer.
We then meet the driver of the car who manages to remain calm and authorative during the accident which makes people assume he has had some experience of dealing with panic enducing situation. Then we get introduced to another character, a woman driving a convertible as rock music plays this gives off the feeling that she's somewhat wild, then we see a flashback showing that she's in fact a prostitute, we also see her reverse into a phone line pole, knocking it down and rendering her car useless. After that we return back to the motel and we are back to the current time with George running into the motel with his injured wife in his arms, that is when we are properly introduced to the guy who seems to be running the motel, he tells us that the phone line is down so he cant call for help, the phone line being down because the prostitute knocked it down.
The driver then volunteers to go and look for help, he runs into the prostitute and she tells him that the road is flooded, they continue in the other direction, looking for help and they run into a young couple whose body language and attitude towards each other show they have marital problems, they then tell the driver that the road is flooded so they are all trapped with the only building available to them being the motel. The driver then uses what medical know edge he has to help sow George's wife's neck. These first twenty minutes are all about introducing the characters and bringing them all together. This is because the characters and who they are, are a big factor in the film, even the movie title being identity shows that.
This is truly aspiring, I love the part where you analysed the menu screen.
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