The opening sequence of The Ring establishes characters, location, and themes to immerse the audience in the story. It is set at night in an isolated, old house to create an eerie atmosphere. Shots establish two teenage girls watching TV and build tension as strange events occur, like the TV turning on by itself. Cinematography uses angles, focus, and tracking shots to draw the audience in and build suspense. The mise-en-scene features dull lighting, gloomy weather, and a significant TV prop to continue unsettling the audience. Slow editing pace increases engagement and a climactic ending transitions to the main story of a mysterious deadly video. Overall, the opening pulls the audience into the psychological horror through un

1. Title Sequence Analysis
THE RING (2002)

2. Conventions of an opening
sequence:
• A production logo; used to promote the business behind the
making of the movie.
• Titles; key names such as actors or directors.
• Establishing characters; shows the audience all of the important
characters.
• Establishing locations; audience gain an understanding of what
the film is about through the location.
• Themes; to get across what the film is about.

3. THE RING (2002)
Storyline: Rachel Keller is a journalist investigating a
videotape that may have killed four teenagers (including
her niece). There is an urban legend about this tape: the
viewer will die seven days after watching it. If the legend
is correct, Rachel will have to run against time to save her
son's and her own life.
Genre: Supernatural/ Psychological horror.
Release: October 18th 2002.
Director: Gore Verbinski
It is a remake of the 1998 Japanese horror film Ring,
which was based on the novel of the same name, written
by Koji Suzuki.

4. Cinematography:
The first shot used in this film is an establishing shot which is used to set the
scene, and tell the audience where the events of the film are going to take place.
It is night-time which is a common theme throughout horror movies. The camera
then very slowly zooms in on the old, rickety house showing that it is eerie and
indicates that something bad is going to happen. Next, a mid-shot is used which
establishes the characters and shows that they are watching TV. Many two shots
and shot-reverse-shots are used throughout the opening which shows the
conversation between the two girls and their relationship to each other, it also
immerses the audience within the scene as they feel like they are really there and
are involved with the two girls. A shallow depth of field is used when the phone is
ringing, this suggests it is an important prop in the film as it is the only thing in
focus and allows the audience to concentrate on it. Immediately after, a deep
depth of field is used so that the audience focus on the characters and are able to
see their worry and anxiousness to the phone ringing. As soon as the girl realises
her television has turned back on by itself, a zoom is used which allows the
audience to see her sudden confusion and worry towards the situation. A high
angle is used with the camera looking down the stairs which portrays the
character as weak, inferior and vulnerable and could suggest that a supernatural
force is dominating her, which may mean something dangerous is going to
happen. A low level angle is used when she is walking through the hallway and
steps into a puddle, this is effective as it creates suspense by not enabling the
audience to see all of the scene; causing them to feel as if something bad is going
to happen. A clos-up is used when the character is reaching for the door handle
which adds suspense and tension because nobody knows what is going to be
behind the door. Many tracking shots are used to follow the two characters
around the house which allows the audience to follow the storyline clearly and
may introduce anxiety amongst the viewers as they wonder what is going to
happen next.

5. Mise-en-scene
The whole opening of the film is set in an isolated
house, which is a typical stereotype of paranormal
horror movies. The colours throughout the opening are
very dull and gloomy, the lighting is very low-key which
creates a creepy and eerie ambience and sends chills
down the viewers spine because they feel as if
something is going to happen. The audience are able to
see the scenery outside through the uncovered windows,
meaning they can see the gloomy and morbid weather
outside which adds to the ominous atmosphere. During
the first scene, we can see that the two characters are
dressed in school uniforms which tells us that they are
teenagers and are students. Their uniforms’ are grey
which and black which links in with the muted lighting.
They are both positioned in simple places, with one sat
on the floor and one lying on the bed this could
demonstrate their straightforward and basic lives. One
of the props with high significance in the opening was
the TV; which is what the film is based around. This
was the first weird occurrence in the film as it was
turning on by itself, this stirs anxiety within the
audience because it is meant to be an inanimate object.
The TV is the last thing seen in the opening sequence
which shows its significance due to it being the
cliffhanger for the rest of the movie.

6. Editing
Slow paced editing is used mostly throughout the opening
sequence. This is done to create suspense and make the
audience question what kind of events are going to
happen next. It allows the audience to understand the
story as the scenes are not moving too fast which would
just end up confusing them and it also allows them to
become more engaged in the narrative. It turns to fast
paced editing at the end of the opening where one of the
characters is about to get killed. This increases adrenaline
within the audience, and makes the scene more thrilling
and climatic. There is a fade used at the end of the
opening to show the passing of time from the opening to
the main part of the film, it is also used as a smooth
transition from a startling event to present day
The storyline is set in a linear narrative which means the
events happen in chronological order. This helps the
audience to understand the storyline better as it is not
cutting back and forth from past to present day.

7. Sound
The diegetic sound of rain is used in the first few
sequences of the opening. This indicates that there is
bad weather and that it is dark and gloomy outside.
Horror films are stereotypically set during some sort of
storm which shows that this is a horror movie. The
horrible weather could foreshadow further events by
suggesting that horrible things are going to happen
throughout the opening. Diegetic sound is used when
the phone rings which makes the audience feel anxiety
as the phone should not be ringing and it also
connotates danger as it is said that the person who
watches the video will get a mysterious call; the phone
call suggests that the myth is real. The diegetic static of
the TV creates a thick cloud of tension as that is not the
sound we focus with TV’s that are functioning, we could
suggest the TV has been sabotaged with. The eerie
sound effects such as the water droplets and other
tension building sounds are used to fill the audience
with anticipation and anxiety.

8. Horror codes and conventions:
The ring follows many stereotypical codes and conventions that apply
to many horrors. One of these is that the main protagonist is a girl.
Many horror movies have a main female lead as they are seen as more
innocent and vulnerable than males which are seen as more dominant
and strong. In psychological horrors, the weapons which the
antagonist posses are not usually materialistic, instead they are
things such as jump scares, visions and fear. In this film the video
tape is the weapon. It is conventional for a supernatural horror to be
set in the home of the protagonist, which means this fits into that as it
is set in the home of the main female. The ring fits in within the
supernatural/ psychological horror as it is not focused around blood
and gore, but is instead focused on supernatural events,