The document analyzes the opening scene of the horror movie "The Ring" through a series of screenshots. It examines how the director uses visual and audio cues to introduce the audience to the main characters and storyline elements without fully revealing the plot. These techniques include brief flashes of foreshadowing images, shifts between calm and tense atmospheres, and establishing a sense of vulnerability for the characters. The analysis suggests the opening aims to intrigue audiences and keep them anticipating what will happen next through subtle teases of the film's narrative.

2. As soon as the audience sees the moon
with the little man who’s holding a fishing
rod they know that the film they’re about
to watch is a DreamWorks picture.
The moon then turns into a ring for a split
second before turning into the letter D.
This is the director’s way of making a
connection to the movie itself which is
called ‘the ring’.
At this point the
movie hasn’t
even started yet
the audience has
already been
given clues as to
what the genre of
the movie is.
After the word DreamWorks appears on the screen, the audience is subjected to black and
white lines on the screen. These are the types of lines that appear on your screen when
watching a tape. This is significant as the whole movie is based around a tape, and the director
probably did this to emphasise how vital the tape is to the entire movie, as well as to create a
sinister feeling.

3. Low angle
establishing shot
Sets the scene – the audience assumes that
whatever is about to happen will take place
in this house (in reality it will be done on set
somewhere else).
In the background, a non-diegetic
sound of rain. Bad weather is often
used in horror movies, suggests
something is about to happen.
Looks like a regular
middle-class house.
There is only one
room with the lights on
which indicates
whoever is in the
house is home alone.
Dark colours (no
artificial lights) - the
mise-en-scene in this
frame goes in hand
with the fact that it’s a
horror. It’s how the
audience expects the
movie to start.
The dark scenery combined with the one light results in the
audience assuming the character they’re about to be introduced
to is vulnerable. They automatically make this judgement despite
not knowing who the character is and what he/she looks like.

4. Nothing appears
out of the
ordinary
Loose mid-shot
Scenery remains quite
dark, again, no artificial
lights. Just the dim light
from the lamp.
Audience is
introduced to two
teenage girls
After a while one
of the girls starts
telling the other
about a tape, and
so through the
dialogue between
the two girls the
audience is given
a slight
introduction to the
main storyline of
this movie.
After being told you die after watching the tape and that the girl on
the left has watched it the audience is slowly beginning to get ready
for tragedy. They assume and expect that in the next few minutes a
character will die.

5. Shot-reverse-shot reveals
the other girl watched the
tape she spoke about
previously.
Diegetic sound in the
background- some sort of
high pitch squeak. Puts the
audience on the edge of
their sits as well as outlines
something terrible has just
happened.
The director cheekily reveals the picture of a well displayed in the TV. The audience at this
point can’t make much sense of this however as the movie progresses they soon learn that the
well, combined with the ring they were previously shown is all a part of the story. So in the first
7 minutes of the opening scene the audience has already been exposed to two important
aspects of the story which will then help them understand everything. It’s a way of keeping the
audience interested (revealing one small bit at a time rather than telling the whole story in one
go).

6. Straight after the shot-reverse-shot
the audience is subjected to a
close-up of the character face
which has been made to look
diabolic
Then, the audience is suddenly bombarded with a
series of nine images. These 9 images are all
displayed in a split of a second which makes it
impossible for the audience to see them all clearly. As
a result the majority of the audience will just see the
ring, the tree and the blood (not everyone will see the
same images, some will see the box with the fingers,
some will only see the ring, it depends how the
individual looks at it).
This is a smart way of revealing
the story without actually
revealing it. If each image was
shown for a second or two it
would give the audience time to
think, connect the images and
come up with a theory. But
because they’re ALL shown in a
second it means the audience
doesn’t get to see all of them, it
confuses them, makes them
jumpy and very eager to find out
what they’ve just been shown.

7. Lose mid-shot
A very calm atmosphere.
Gives the
audience a hint
that this young
boy may be
related to one of
the girls we saw in
the previous
scene. They
assume that
therefore in this
scene they will find
out what
happened, which
isn’t entirely true.
Straight after the girl finding out her friend’s missing the audience finds themselves being
introduced to another character. This time the character is a young boy. At this point the
audience is unaware of what has happened to one of the girls, and assume that she is dead.
This scene is a complete contrast from the previous one, and the director has used this scene
to calm the audience down. However, this scene also adds on to the audience’s anticipation as
they await to find out what has to both of the girls from the previous scene.

8. The purpose of an opening like this is to introduce the audience to a character/s (usually
main character) and to give a basic outline of the story they're about to be told. Within
the first few minutes of the opening scene the director aims to give the audience a basic
version of the story behind the movie without revealing too much, and by keeping the
audience interested.
It would be difficult to create something similar for many reasons. The main reason
being we do not have the professional recording and editing equipment that would allow
us to film a high definition film (such as this one). We do not have a high standard
professional editing software that would allow us to cut the film together and add quick
millisecond jump cuts. We have a limited amount of cameras that we can use to film so it
would be hard to film the scenes in the exact way that the director of The Ring has done
as we can only film one scene from one angle at a time.
Another difficulty we would have with filming something similar we do not have the right
props to set the scenery in the way this director has done. If we were to film we would
have to use the surrounding area, we wouldn’t have the chance to build a scenery. For
example, instead of buying props to fit our taste we may just have to use whatever’s
there.