Understanding Micro Elements in Film Openings

The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

The first scene shows a black background with a close up blood flowing to reveal to display ancient Egyptian images with loud non-diegetic music. The close up points out to the audience that the images in the blood are important.. The blood and dark lighting indicates that there will be some sort of danger, threat or even death in the film. The camera continues to pan to show more images from different old cultures.

As more close up of images are shown, they increasing become disturbing presenting death. This emphasises the grim nature of the film. The images show people being killed or perhaps being sacrificed, which might be what the film is centred around.

After the last close up image of many bodies falling, there is a fast pan to a modern day sign. This scene cuts to a close up of a person putting money in a coffee machine. It then cuts to a medium long shot of two men having a conversation with background lift music as the diegetic sound, creating a relaxed and causal scene. The background setting looks as if it is in a office.

Cuts to an over the shoulder shot with an eye level angle showing the perspective of one of the two men. Since these two characters are the first to be shown means that they are important in the narrative of the film. A cut to a short scene showing an over the shoulder shot from the perspective of the other man. Cuts back to the first over the shoulder shot. The casual conversation carries on with diegetic sounds of money going in the machine and a coffee cup coming out.

Back to a medium long shot and a very little camera tilt following the man exiting the room. Cuts to a long shot of the entire office with a non-diegetic sound the voice of a woman on a speaker and of busy workers in the background. Another cut to the camera tracking the two men as they walk down a corridor as they talk.

A cut to a quick long shot of the whole office and then cuts back to eye level, medium tracking shot. The two men are joined by a woman in a lab coat and continue with their conversation. Cuts back to a long shot of the three walking down the corridor and then cuts back to the medium shot.

Cut to long shot of a large room with workers and carts. The three can be seen in the distance still talking. Cut to next scene of a medium shot and the camera pans as the two men get on the cart while the woman still talks to them. Again cuts to a medium shot with a side angle as the two men speak to the woman.

Quickly cuts back to the medium shot with a front view of the two men and the woman. Cuts to the long shot of the room and shows the two men driving off in the cart. Cut to a medium shot of the two men while they are driving and continuing their conversation, with diegetic sound of the cart driving.

Abruptly, the Film title appears with bold font and red. The is also sudden non-diegetic sound of screaming and music. The shot of the two men is paused in the background. The scream added with the big, bold and red font of the film title as well as the loud music, again highlights to the audience that the film will have danger, deaths, gore, violence and overall the film will be a horror.