The opening sequence of The Conjuring establishes the horror genre through modified studio logos and darkness with dialogue. Shaky camera movements on a doll's face imply it is dangerous. Backstory on the doll Annabelle is provided through dialogue as images are shown. Tension is built through a slow zoom onto Annabelle's blank expression. A flashback jarringly shifts from quiet to loud, shocking the audience. Strange written messages and a damaged room create confusion about the doll's abilities. The sequence ends by seemingly resolving the threat but hinting at an unhappy ending through genre conventions.

1. Beth Davies
The Conjuring Opening Sequence Analysis
The conjuring is a well – known horror film about an old fashioned pot doll and
was written by James Wan.
The opening sequence starts with the Warner Bros institution logo but in a
different colour scheme. This is effective as it has an eerie effect for the audience,
which helps identify that the genre of the film is horror. This is then followed by
the New Line Cinema logo. This is a convention of any film to show all
institutions of the film before it starts.
Following this, there is darkness for ten seconds with dialogue over. This is
effective as it makes the audience listen carefully to the dialogue, which is crucial
to the film. At ten seconds, an image of a doll’s face appears, which goes onto
have shaky camera movements moving away from the doll’s head. The shaky
camera movements suggest to the audience that the doll is dangerous and causes
pain and nerves to people when near her, which (as we find out later in the film)
she causes death.
The camera then goes onto show a low lighting mid shot of three people
accompanied by dialogue of the story of Annabelle. This is a crucial part of the
film as it informs the audience about the storyline of what has previously
happened involving Annabelle.
At 1:21, a mid-shot of Annabelle appears and zooms in at steady slow pace. This
emphasises the tensions that Annabelle causes as her blank expressions send
messages of death.
Wan then goes onto show a flash back of the story starting with a mid-shot of the
two women, from the beginning, coming through the door having a very loud
conversation. This is effective because it shocks the audience by going from a
quiet atmosphere to a very loud one. This is a convention of horror films.
After entering the door, the woman at the front bends down and picks up a worn
stained piece of paper. Wan then uses a POV shot showing the point of view of
the woman behind her. The shot shows writing stating, “Miss Me?” written in red
crayon. The use of blood instead of ink is a convention of the horror films.
The next crucial shot is a long shot of the doll sat down in the hallway, leaning
against the wall. This is crucial because the camera movement is very shaky,
suggesting a hand-held device filmed it. This is effective as it influences the
audience to feel nervous as it is the shot of the point of view of the women –
which suggests the woman feel nervous and intimidated.
Wan the uses a close up of Annabelle’s hands, which shows her holding a red
crayon, suggesting to the audience she wrote the note. This creates confusion for
the audience as she is an inanimate object.

2. Wan then goes onto use a low angled close up of the blonde haired woman,
which is then framed by the spare room, covered in red crayon. This also creates
confusion for the audience as it suggests Annabelle has damaged the room.
The next shot used is a panning POV shot, which establishes the scene and shows
the damage done by the doll. The non-diagetic sound accompanying the scene is
very dramatic and emphasises the tension and panic within the scene. This is
then followed by a POV shot of the ceiling which shows red writing stating, ‘Miss
me?’, suggesting that Annabelle is actually alive and creates confusion for the
audience.
Next, a floor level shot of the crayon rolling along the floor. This suggests that
Annabelle has either dropped it or rolled it along the floor. The camera then
zooms is at a fast pace, which can be interpreted to represent the shock of
realisation of the characters within the scene.
This is then followed by a long shot of the hallway, which then zooms in to follow
the dark haired woman carrying Annabelle out the door. This is used to make the
audience feel like they are in the scene.
Finally, Wan uses an aerial shot of the dark haired woman placing both
Annabelle and the note into the bin, suggesting that she has finally got rid of her
which is not correct. This is a convention of a horror film as there are no such
things as happy endings.