2. • The film opens with an establishing shot of a rippling lake which
begins to change colour as the scene progresses through the use of
mise en scene the director is able to use the water and its colours to
represent the codes and conventions of the thriller genre with
original black and blue colours of the water having connotations of
death and tragedy helping to establish the films dark thriller like
atmosphere or when the water suddenly changes to red which has
connotations of danger and evil suggesting something bad will
happen at this lake foreshadowing the movie’s plot.
3. • The director also makes excellent use of sound throughout the scene
in order to build tension as the entire scene is accompanied by a non
diegetic musical score in order to create a sense of mystery as to what
happened this is made even more powerful by the soundtracks
increase volume and pitch as the scene progresses building suspense
within the audience and creating the feel of a thriller movie.
• The scene is made even more powerful due to the directors effective
use of cinematography and editing as the rippling of the lake reveals
an extreme close up of a characters the director making use of a two
shot in order keep the water and to show the eye in the lake the eyes
prevalence helping to create a sense of a being watched.
4. • The scene then cuts to an extreme close up of a characters eyes the
director makes use of a dark filter to add to the thrillers dark atmosphere
due to the dark colours negative connotations of evil and death. The
camera then zooms out to reveal it is just a seemingly normal teenage girl
speaking in class this innocent image provides a powerful contrast to the
disturbing imagery shown throughout the opening this along with her
uneasy digetic dialogue suggests something bad will happen to her
foreshadowing the films plot. The director makes good use of mise en
scene in order to showcase the girls innocent image as she is shown to be
wearing white a colour asscioted with innocence and purity this contrasts
the films sinister themes this along with the scenes use of low key lighting
suggests she will be one of the films victims.
5. • The scene then cuts to an establishing shot of disturbing pictures such as a
woman being impaled on a wall the camera zooms out to reveal a man in a
prison cell the negative connotations of being in a prison as well as the
disturbing imagery on his wall suggest him to be the films antagonist. The
director allows us to learn about this character through use of mise en
scene as the tattoo of the cross on his back suggests the prisoner to be a
religious man the addition of the words truth and justice suggest that he
has some morals or that he has been wrongfully put in prison and could be
seeking revenge. The prisoner is shown with a high angle shot this suggests
that he is of lower status than most people and does not have much power
however the large number of books in his cell suggest that he is more
intelligent than people believe.
6. • As the Prisoner is shown leaving the prison we can see he was the
only one not in a shared cell suggesting that he was too dangerous for
even the other prisoners helping to establish him as a threatening
character. Once he is out of the prison the director makes use of open
framing in contrast to the closed framing used inside the prison to
showcase how he is now free and the entrapment and misery he felt
during prison. As the prisoner walks towards the camera we are able
to see a storm in the background this along with his sinister facial
expression suggest that he was locked up for a reason and his release
is a bad thing.
