The Village Opening Analysis

The Village 2004 - Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Mise-en-scene: The opening begins with a shot of silohetted tree branches on a dim morning sky background, itu uses binary opposition and gives the impression of evil against innocence. The tree branches are bear which shows that it is winter, this also supports the idea of the sequence giving out a cold sense. The lighting is very low key which also iconic in a thriller film, it not only creates a very sinister sense but it also creates suspense as darkness is symbolic to evil.

Titles: Titles are shown ontop of the shot, the text is a white colour which gives a very sinister and cold feeling. It also is a sanserif font which is used in most thriller film title sequences.

Sound: Non-diagetic music is used throughout the sequence, the music uses instruments such as flutes which create an eerie, and earthy which fits with the shots of the forest trees. The non-diagetic music also sounds very misterious and spooky which also fits with the shots of the dark scary looking forest.

Editting: The editting in this opening is iconic to the thriller genre, the slow paced editing creates suspense which is also iconic to the thriller genre.

Camera: The director has used slowpased panning move up the tree and tilting to look up at the trees.