The opening scene of Saw IV establishes the dark and disturbing tone of the film through its use of camerawork, editing, and mise-en-scene. We see a woman trapped in a cage-like structure with a device attached to her head and surrounded by dangerous weapons. The blurred and unstable camerawork conveys her delirious state of mind and anxiety. This unsettling opening leaves us wanting to know who is behind these traps and if she will survive, drawing us into the horror story that will unfold.

1. SAW IV opening scene analysis
Saw IV was a Canadian-American horror movie, which was
released on October 26, 2007. The horror was written by
three writers: Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan and Thomas
Fenton and directed by Darren Lynn Bousman. I will now
analyse the opening scene of this film and show how it tells
us what this horror film is going to be like, using camera,
editing, mise en scene and sound.
We are brought into the film by a scene showing Lionsgate,
which are an institution that produce many horror films,
before the institution is shown we have an animation of the
inside of a door lock, this could hint that the movie could be
about being kidnapped, trapped or hidden, also the colours
behind the lock are red and rusty insinuating that evil things
can happened behind closed doors. Twisted pictures an
American independent production company is introduced by
barbed wire wrapping around the text insinuating this film
could contain torture and pain, another animation of a blade
dropping through the type then spinning tightening the
barbed wire tells us this film is going to be a twisted and
gory picture. The team of producers and their names are
shown on the screen but as they are shown the sound of a
swinging blade is heard insinuating that this film may
contain a lot of throughout. We are brought into the start of
the film with a pull focus of a bleak, sinister cage telling us
that someone is trapped somewhere out of the ordinary, the
camera then pans and pulls the focus back to a human hand
with a cockroach laid on it, this starts to make us think what
goes on in this place? Has murders taken place? Has this

2. person been here for a long time? The camera keeps
blurring in and out of scenes which could represent the
deliriousness and consciousness of the character in the
scene. The camera pans from a dark wall to a tighed up
woman hinting that someone or something may be watching
this woman close. A medium close up is used to show us the
mechanism that is attached to the woman’s head making us
wonder what is going on here is this some form of torture or
scientific experiment, this is followed by a tilt of a table
covered in harmful weapons, really making us think what is
going on in this bleak place and why? The camera continues
to tilt round the woman as she holds her head in
deliriousness telling us she does not know where she is,
showing she is not there through her own will. When the
woman regains consciousness she lifts her head quickly into
the light to display her shock, to display her shock more the
camera pans round her quickly showing her anxiety. We
have a close up of the woman’s face as she jumps up to
display her fear also as she jumps up lights come on to show
this trap has been thought through and makes the scene
even more serious. To conclude I think this is a good
opening scene as it throws us into the deep end, and makes
us feels the fear of the individual in the scene. Also the
scene makes us what to continue watching the movie as you
want to know who is behind these traps, do they get out
alive and how did they get there.