The opening sequence uses contrasting instruments and shots of shoes and a face to create confusion and mystery around the characters. Close ups and focal adjustments draw attention to an isolated male character intensely staring at a motionless pale girl lying dead by a drain. Flashbacks between the drain and school settings imply a relationship between the two characters and put emphasis on the alarming title by revealing the beginning was not chronological.

1. Analysis Of Opening Sequence

2. The films opening sequence begins with instruments
that contrast: they differ in speed, sound and emotion
– creating a sense of confusion towards the audience.
The camera then displays a close-up of a persons
shoes – the audience are therefore not introduced to
the character properly.

3. The shot then fades into an extreme close-up of the
characters face – this transition between these two shots
produces an element of mystery about the character. To
further support this idea, his face is obscured by his hands
and the shot begins being out of focus, then the use of a
focus-pull brings the character to the audiences attention.

4. The film then cuts to a master shot: viewers know where the
characters are, and where they are positioned within their setting:
the characters appear isolated due to the high walls and emptiness
around them. The set includes a tunnel which is completely
black, this may have been used to reinforce the aspect of mystery;
audiences are unaware and are not being told anything at this
point of the story.

5. The film continues to cut back-and-forth from each character – as if
it is implying there’s a relationship between the two, and as a result
of having no sound apart from the continued instruments, it makes
the scene quite intense. Audiences understand that the two
characters know each other because, as the girl lay dead by the
water – a mid-shot shows her to be motionless and pale – the male
character is crouched down and is intensely staring at her body. His
body language implies he is shaken-up over what has happened to
the girl as he hasn’t moved – as if he’s in a state of shock.

6. The film then cuts to a shot of girls arm, and
draws the viewers attention to the bracelets she
is wearing. There is then a graphic match on
the bracelets: allowing the film to link to the
two shots together.

7. We then recognise that there is a change in
setting due to the diegetic sound of the school
bell, lockers shutting, people talking and
moving – audiences comprehend that this is the
connection between the two characters we have
already been introduced to. There is a
juxtaposition in the settings used: the school is
safe and is a form of normality, but the storm
drain is creepy and unusual.

8. The film then suddenly cuts to the title of the movie:
bold, white text over a black background. As a result
of this, it seems quite alarming, and puts emphasis on
the meaning of the title. The text indicating a timeline
acts as confirmation that the beginning of the film was
not happening chronologically.

9. The camera then cranes down to a close-up of the
characters shoes again – yet this time, at a different
setting – this has been done so the audience recollect
the memory of a similar shot, and realise who the
character is and his importance.

10. An extreme close-up is the used: displaying that
nobody is around him, although we as audiences
know who sent him the note, he doesn’t. The use of
either too close/too wide shots on the character enable
the viewers to still not be properly introduced to him
– he’s a stranger to us; we haven’t been told any
information about him.

11. The film then cuts to a point-of-view shot of
the note he has received, allowing audiences to
view it from the subjects perspective – this is
the first time audiences are actually given any
information about the activity of the character.