Thursday, 10 February 2011

Analysis of Opening Sequence. (Robyn)

Cherry Tree Lane, 2010
I chose to analyse the opening sequence of Cherry Tree Lane as it was similar to the type of film that we would be able to make. The low budget film was shot in Muswell Hill in London and only one location is used the entire film. As all of this would be available to us, I thought that it would be interesting to see what we could do. The major themes in the film are the crossing of cultures, middle classes fear of youth, drugs and crime.
The first shot is the only shot taken from outside the house in the whole film. It immediately tells the audience that the people will be middle class. The camera tracks towards the door, getting closer into their lives, representing that we as an audience will be thrown into their lives. The connotations of the door are that people will be disturbing and walking into, and perhaps out of, their lives. An eerie noise is used to accompany this, introducing the thriller and horror genres.
Completely randomly we are put in front of boiling pasta and the noise of this matches that of the eerie noise. The ambiguity of this shot creates tension, as we are aware that something bad is going to disturb this completely normal activity. The time is shown at the side of the shot foreboding the action that will happen. We see a lady in the distance, but she is out of focus as we are still in the same shot. The fact that the camera does not move creates a suspense because we are unaware of what is happening in other areas. We find ourselves wanting to find out more about the lady by the stairs, but we are left by the pasta, keeping us engaged. We are even more intrigued when we can subtly hear a phone conversation. The lady then comes towards us, and her movements are the only thing that changes the type of shot.
The realism that we have been exposed to, makes the audience much more attached to the film as it is largely relatable. The pasta boiling and the phone conversation are everyday happenings and this makes it even more disturbing as we now something will erupt.
There is no music and hardly any dialogue, which adds a spooky sense of silence leaving us waiting for something to happen. We are put in the bedroom and again left in the same position. We hear her talking to someone downstairs and then we move into the kitchen. We now see a man preparing a bottle of wine which again is hugely relatable to an audience. The audience are forced to ask a few questions, who should the lady have talked to ?, and who is Sebastian?. By leaving us asking these, the director has made us want to know the answers so carry on watching.
There is tension between the spouses and the new comes on. This is largely relatable to an English audience because it is about the 7/7 bombings. By doing this it makes the audience feel closer to the film. The camera is placed at a long shot of the couple eating their dinner, and we wait in suspense for something to happen. The an-ambiguity of what is happening, becomes the narrative and we are focused on finding out.
At the end of the opening sequence we hear a doorbell. This disturbs the subtle silence that we have heard so far. This represents that the people at the door will disturb the peace and normality of this couples life. We are now aware that the action we were wondering about will soon begin, and we are hooked on watching it and finding out the answers to the questions that have arisen.

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