15 MINUTE ANALYSIS OF THE RING

1. 15 Minute Analysis of a
Supernatural Film
The Ring

2. The first shot (00:00:05)
• The first shot is always one of the most important in a film. It needs to
cover typical conventions of the film’s genre to prepare the audience for
the type of film they will be watching.
• The first shot in The Ring does this perfectly; a black screen with distant
sounds of rain slashing on a pavement gives some idea on the setting
before a shot is even present on the screen. Then, this image of a house at
night-time fades in from black and provides the setting for the opening
sequel. Straight away the audience can understand it is an horror as it has
the conventions of dark, mystery and terror.

3. Introduction of Characters (00:01:00)
• The next shot introduces two of the characters. Two young women are
facing the camera at a medium shot and they appear to be looking for
something to watch on the TV.
• However, to highlight the conventions of horror the lighting of the room is
dimly lit and eerie-looking. The green tones of the room make the room
look scary and unwelcoming. The shot slowly zooms into the two girl’s face
so the audience are more focused on the conversation between them
both.

4. (00:01:25)
• This shot is a close-up of one of the characters; who is telling the other girl
about the creepy myth of a dead girl creeping out from the TV to kill who
ever has picked up the ringing phone from her.
• This is a creepy scene as the woman is in full focus so all her facial
expressions can be seen. She is speaking in a slow, eerie tone to try and
scare her friend which creates a rising sense of tension to the audience.
• The lighting is still dimly lit and green-toned to make the room seem
unnatural.

5. (00:02:20)
• The tension really starts to build through the use of shots here
as the other friend realises she picked up the ringing phone
from the dead girl. Her use of facial expressions give us the
idea something terrible is going to happen in the remaining
film as she is in danger of the dead girl’s spirit.
• The use of cinematography allows us to get a full view of the
girl’s facial expressions as she opens her mouth in horror and
her eyes tear up in shock.

6. (00:02:54)
At 2min 54seconds into the film, the audience get a sense of horror already.
The girl realises she will die tonight because she picked up the phone, but
as she is explaining this something strange happens. We see the girl put
her hands to her throat as if she is being possessed by something. This
medium wide-angle shot allows us to see her friend’s reaction as she
starts to retch and hold her throat. The use of this shot makes it more
thrilling and scary as we see the events occur through two character’s
perspective. They are central to the screen which makes the focus on
them

7. (00:02:59)
• However, the rising tension soon settles as we realise
the girl is just pretending to die and trying to scare
her friend. This is a joke between them both
however as an audience, we can’t help but wonder if
this is a sense of foreboding.

8. (00:03:20)
• Leading upto this shot, the friends laugh and joke about one of the friend’s
having a boyfriend. The tension levels are low at this point as it is quite an
innocent shot so we do not expect anything bad to happen. However, we
see one of the friend’s face drop as the sound of a phone ringing echoes
into the room. At this point, we do not know where the phone is ringing
from but we can tell by the girl’s facial expressions it is something to be
worried about.
• We do not know at this point if she really should be worried or if the girl is
just paranoid about the myth her friend told her.

9. (00:03:23)
• This shot begins to add tension again. There is a fast
zoom into the clock on a bedside table with the
overlapping sounds of the tick-tock of the clock and
the phone ringing. This gives a sense of confusion
and claustrophobia which adds a sense of anxiety to
the film. The sound of the phone ringing sounds
isolated which makes it appear extremely eerie.

10. (00:04:49)
• Leading up-to this shot was the rising tension regarding who
was ringing the phone. After a short while of panic from the
two friends, they pick the phone up.
• We realise it is just a sense of paranoia as the girl answers the
phone and it is her mum ringing. She is telling her how to look
after the house etc which gives the impression the two girls
are home alone. This shot emphasises their isolation as she is
in kitchen which shows the vast expanse of darkness through
the open windows.

11. (00:05:38)
• This shot focuses on the girl, who is no longer on the phone,
walking into the living room to see her TV with a fuzzy screen.
When she turns the TV off, it then turns back on itself and
returns to the fuzzy screen. This creates apprehension as we
get the impression it turns back on due to a supernatural
occurrence.
• The room is dimly lit to add mystery and tension and the slow
zoom of the camera focuses the audience attention on her.

12. (00:06:14)
• Anxiety starts to build even more as a shot of the fridge door
opening on it’s own makes the audience think of something
supernatural or paranormal taking place.
• Also, at this point the sounds of distant bells chiming and
other eerie sounds makes this a successful horror film as it
makes the audience frightened. Apart from these sounds, the
room is completely silent which creates a sense of uneasiness.

13. (00:06:54)
• As the girl runs upstairs to find her friend, the first shot we
receive as an audience is the liquid on the floorboards just in
front of the staircases. Straight away, this creates confusion
and obscurity as the audience is not aware at this point what
the liquid is and why it is there.
• The opening sequel being set in the night-time has close
conventions of horror as the setting appears spooky and
mysterious.

14. (00:07:25 – 00:07:27)
• The girl opens her bedroom door and the next few shots are
frightening to the audience as it has a jump-scare (which follows
the conventions of a supernatural film) and a range of different
loud, high-pitched noises. This contrasts with the silence in the
previous few shots; making it more surprising and chilling for the
audience.
• There is a fast zoom into a shot of the TV with a fuzzy screen. Very
quickly after, the shot zooms back out at an extremely swift pace to
give the effect of the TV reaching out to the girl. Along with the
sound effects, this creates an adrenaline rush and thrill to the
audience.
• The use of mise-en-scene and makeup makes the girl come across
as eerie and possessed before the shot cuts back to a fuzzy screen.

15. (00:07:45)
Quickly, the shot then cuts to another scene with a completely
different character. The audience sees a little schoolboy
drawing a picture, however something isn’t quite normal
about the way he looks. The use of makeup and editing makes
him look slightly abnormal. His facial expressions are not
happy or smiling, but instead look focused and slightly
distressed.

16. (00:08:49)
• Dialogue is present in the next few shots. The mother of the
schoolchild is talking to his teacher about his unhappiness
after the loss of his cousin whom he had a close connection
with. At this point, we get the impression the death of his
cousin is the one focused on in the first 5-6 minutes of the
opening sequel. Because of this, he is immediately linked to
what happened in the first part of the opening sequel.
• The classroom looks dull and discoloured which meets the
stereotypes of a horror film.

17. (00:09:38)
• The teacher shows the boy’s mother some of his drawing. She
describes them as “disturbing” which gives a sense of
uneasiness to this scene.
• The props being creepy drawings gives mystery, apprehension
and confusion to the scene as the audience is left wondering
who this boy is and why he is significant to the film.

18. (00:11:14)
• The boy is then shot again in a close-up view so the audience has full focus
on his facial expressions, movements etc. The conversation between him
and his mother about death creates apprehension as the audience gets
the impression he has possessed, been cursed or is under some kind of
supernatural or paranormal ‘spell’. He acts peculiar and abnormal and his
large eyes, dark circles etc make him appear frightening.
• It is successful to use a little boy as a source of supernatural activity, as in
reality he should be innocent and happy so it goes against these
stereotypes and raises mystery and uncertainty.

19. (00:12:36)
• More shots of him follow which create the idea this boy is
something to be afraid of. This shot of himself looking in the
mirror included sounds of high-pitched piano music which is
associated with horror.
• The room shown in the background has a green tone to it
which meets stereotypes of supernatural horror as it gives the
room a discolouration which links to darkness and vagueness.

20. (00:13:01)
• This shot confirms the information the audience had already
wondered about. The cousin of the little boy was in fact, the
girl that was met by a supernatural occurrence in the first 5-6
minutes. The props of the flowers, the school photo, candles
etc gives us the idea she was loved and cherished; making the
audience want to continue watching to discover more details
about the supernatural events that took place.

21. (00:14:35)
• To finish off the 15 minute analysis of the Ring, the final shot
in this 15 minutes that seems to be significant to the
remaining film is the shot of two characters in the same house
in which the girl died and the supernatural events happened.
They are stood washing dishes in the same kitchen in which
the fridge door opened on it’s own etc.
• This prospect gives a sense of mystery as it portrays the idea
that if the supernatural source is still lingering in the
household, they could be the next ones affected by it.