The Ring has no opening credits.

Camera movement - The camera does a lot of panning and tracking. It follows the main actresses around the house. There is a low level shot that shows the character walking up the stairs and then towards the cameral along the passage.

Framing of shot - There are close ups of the girls faces as they realise something and react to it. Zooming is used to help us as the audience focus on what the character is looking at, e.g. the television. There is also zooming when the two girls are sitting on the bed.

Camera Angles - here are lots of low angle shots used to look up at the characters. Low level shots are used to create suspense by only showing the actresses feet e.g. when the girl is walking along the upstairs passage. There is a high level shot looking down on the girl as we walks up the stairs.

Mise en scene - All of the lighting is very dark and gloomy as it is set in a big house at night. There is a lot of red as this connotes danger and blood. As it is a big house in a suburban area it gives the genre of the film away instantly. In the girls bedroom there are normal objects like a TV and clothes, a single bed and wardrobe.

Editing directions - The editing in this opening scene is slow and doesn’t seem to jump much until right at the end where there is a quick jumpy cut.

Sound techniques - It uses the sound of rain at the beginning and then the television in the background behind the talking. As the action gets more there is music in the background, strings. There is also the use of a ringing phone. There is also the television on and cackling. The whole way through this the rain continues. Heavy breathing is used for when it gets tense.

Actors positioning and movement - Right at the beginning the girl who is the guest to the house is sitting at a lower level than the girl who owns the house. They move around the house slowly to show fear.

Narrative Questions

Who is the hero and who is the villain, and how do you know?

The Villain of the story is the video tape and the people that made it. This is shown by everyone fearing it. The hero is the woman as she is the one trying to work out the villain, she is also trying not to be scared of it.

Where is the story set? What does this tell you about the genre?

The story is mainly set it the suburbs but has some city scenes, both are very gloomy and showing us as the audience that is a horror film as the settings aren't happy sunny places.

How many principle characters?

There are the two girls in the opening scene, then for the rest of the film there is one main female character and her family is in it a lot, including her young son.

How is the story told? Chronologically? What is the effect?

The story is told chronologically. It follows the woman that is trying to find out about the video and all the steps she takes to work out what it is and how to destroy it. It makes us want to keep on watching as we want to follow the woman and see what happens.

The first 4 minutes of the film are looking back at what previously happened in the house. The only titling used in this part is a simple white, sort of type writer font on a black background.

Framing of shot – Close ups are used a lot to show the reactions on the characters faces and their detailed expressions. Medium shots help us to know what is in the surroundings, with some zooming being used when some important happens.

Camera Movement – There is a birds eye view shot that follows the car. There is also lots of panning and tracking used to follow the characters and show the surroundings.

Mise-en-scène – When the mood in the film is positive the lighting is generally brighter and when the mood changes the lighting is darker and more intense. Most of the costumes used are just normal everyday clothing but non of this is bright vibrant colours. The location seen are the family's old house and then the new house. There is also some countryside shown on the drive.

Sound – There is string music played in the background. The sound of rain is used and the creaking and banging house.

Editing – In the opening the editing seems to be very slow paced with no quick cutting or jumps. Fading is also used to get from one clip to another.

Narrative Questions

Who is the hero and who is the villain and how do you know?

The villain is the Dad as he kills the rest of the family. We know this because he is shown as a member of the family that everyone slightly fears, there is no specific hero in this film.

Where is the story set? What does this tell you about the genre?

The story is mainly set in an old house that is big and situated in a small town. As it is set in a small quiet town we instantly know it is going to be a horror film.

How many principle characters?

The Dad of the family is the main character and the rest of the family are very important.

How is the story told? Chronologically? What is the effect?

It starts off with a flashback on previous killings, then the rest of the story is told chronologically.

Straight away starts with a jump cut as ‘Drag Me To Hell’ is in a big white font against a black background. It then goes into the main title credits and a tracking shot is used. The names come up from black smoke and then fade away. Some are simple white font again a drawn background. Then the same simple font is used but in black and is set in front of flames.

Camera movement – the whole first 2 minutes of the film is titles so there is not much camera movement apart from the tracking around the screen following the credits.

Mise-en-scène – There are drawn images that the camera follows and that the text comes up on. These all have something to do with the story in the film.

Sound – All of the sound used in this opening is non-diegetic. Music is added to help set the mood straight away.

Editing directions – It is all made to look like one shot as it has no quick editing or jump cuts. It all just pans and cuts around the screen.

Narrative Questions

Who is the hero and who is the villain and how do you know?

This film has no strict her and villain, and this cannot be told from the opening two minutes. The old lady in it is the most likely villain.

Where is the story set? What does it tell you about the genre?

The story is set based around the main female character and her life. We see where she goes to work and where she lives. It doesn’t tell us much about the genre apart from when we see where the old lady lives as it is shabby and old.

How many principle characters?

There is the main female character and her boyfriend and the old woman.

How is the story told? Chronologically? What is the effect?

The story starts with a flashback like the Amityville Horror and then starts to tell the story chronologically and how it is linked to the flashback at the beginning. This gives us an incentive to keep watching to find out what eventually happens to the woman.

Opening titles, creep – The font is simple and has a splattered background. At first it is white and then changes to a yellow sort of colour. The background at first shows knives and blood and a blurry picture and it then goes to a simple black background. The camera tracks the background and the objects in it give you an idea about the film.

28 days later, like The Ring doesn’t have any opening credits. It just gets straight in with the story and the action so we can learn a bit about the story and the main character first.

Camera movement and editing techniques – 28 Day’s later doesn’t have any opening titles so tends to use a lot more quick shots in the action opening of the film. The creep opening tends to use smooth zooms and pans around the screen to show the titles and how they are represented. The busy quick shots and fast editing cuts in 28 days later give us a sense of the action that is happening on screen whereas the panning of the camera and slow cuts in the opening of creep focus us on the names and the music used in the background.

28 Days Later