A couple of weeks ago i watched 'The Happening' by M.Night Shyamalin. This movie has been around for several years now. One of the most powerful pieces in this movie is the first scene. It creates an overwhelming sense of confusion, tension and mystery. Through out this piece of text, i will analyse the scene and explain what Shyamalin does and why he does them.
Before the first scene Shyamalin does the opening credits. This alone has a scene of mystery to it. He uses the sky, maybe to mirror the whole movies plot about the natural disaster that occurs. Behind these images of the clouds, he uses a non diagetic soundtrack to build up tension to the first scene. It is a very orchestral and somber piece and used to build the mystery to flow into the first scene. Long strokes on the stringed instruments and no jumpy chords. It progresses to become louder as the credits continue. This is done in a minor key to show sadness and emotion. A breeze/wind noise is continuously played throughout underneath the soundtrack. This is to hint at the viewer what the whole plot is about. The credits are done in a simple and bold font. The mis en scene continuously building until cutting to a black screen then fading into our opening scene.
The sound then drops in this section, yet begins to rise shortly after. The first shot is an establishing shot of the scene itself. It comes clear that it is an average day in central park, with the normal people and dog walkers walking in the park. This is a very conventional feel to the movie at this point. Many thrillers do this so when the action takes place, its more of an impact to the viewer. Another establishing shot is taken of a low angle at the New York building. Yet this is not to emphasize this, it is to emphasize the trees that you can see in the surrounding. This gives a sense of authority to the nature of New York, and a sense of danger to signify to the viewer. Thrillers are made for impact, this is just signifying us on whats going to happen.
The next frame cuts to two women sitting on a bench in the park - keeping through out the scene to the 180 degree rule. This is a strange shot as they seem to be alone and gives a sense of venerability to the viewers that something bad might happen to them. They have used women for the first scene because of the old myth 'Men are higher up than Women'. the music continues to build underneath the scene. Also the sound of a breeze/wind is continued again through out this scene. This frame cuts to a panning shot around the women then quickly cutting to a mid shot of the women. The conversation they have, relates very closely to death. This signifies to the character that death may be also a main topic of the film. Signifies are also popular in the thriller genre, this adds confusion to the viewer. This then cuts to the women quickly moving her head as she hears a scream. The mis en scene is then added to by this mysterious scream let out. This also adds nicely to the convention of the genre. The womens face is revealed to be very concerned about the character that just screamed. The women continues to speak, yet what she says, and how she voices these lines, adds a strange sense of mystery to the whole scene. It then quickly cuts to a point of view shot, showing what she can see in the distance. People being to walk backwards. This is incredibly unconventional as people don't tend to walk backwards. This also adds to the mystery of the movie. Music is still continuously building in the background, suspense rising and you could imagen people on the edge of there sets. She then turns to her friend. Her friend then beings to talk and repeat the same lines over, looking confused yet not to much expression on her face, almost ... dead? This is incredibly unconventional and the will get the viewers to continue to think why is this happening. This then cuts to a overhead shot, showing the weakness of the women. She then reaches for the pin holding her hair up. The music continues to rise continuously, yet this time much more rapidly. This then cuts to a close up on the womens neck. This then is the main focus. The music is at its highest point, and the texture of the piece has risen dramatically. The wind also is much louder in the mix at this point. She then lunges the pin into her neck. At this point you would imagen a scream, or some sort of reaction from her friend. Yet her friend shows no reaction to the action that had just happen. This will get the viewer incredible shocked and confused. But as this is a thriller, the first scene has done its purpose.This scene, after the killing, immediately cuts to black, and the movie continues ...
