Opening Sequence Analysis - The Possesion

In the opening scene of The Possession, conventions of the genre are portrayed through the music and characters. The first shot is a long shot of a wall in someones house covered in framed photos of random people. The camera pans along the wall showing the photos and in the background you can hear a person whispering in what seems to be another language. The slow panning of the camera is a typical feature of a horror film because it builds up tension and drama. The sound of the person speaking along with the slow panning creates an eerie atmosphere. The different language the person is speaking in makes the audience listen more to try and understand the words.
Once the camera stops panning, it cuts to a close up of the old lady. You can see that she has tears in her eyes and is clearly distressed by something. The camera cuts to a mid shot of a wooden box, the camera zooms in slowly on it, keeping up the tension building. The camera cuts back to the women, getting more and more distressed by the sounds that seem to be coming from the box. The camera cuts to a long shot of the back of the women from the wall. It then quickly cuts to an extreme close up of the women's hand reaching out to the wooden box. You see her jump as the box makes a noise. The camera cuts back and forth from the women to the box and then back to the women. You see her backing away from the box as if she knows what is going to happen. The camera cuts to a mid shot of a clock ticking. This creates tension as it makes you feel like you are waiting for something to happen. You see the women walk into the kitchen and put a tape into the tape player. Old fashioned music starts playing. This may be the music that she is into and she may be playing to cover the disturbing noise from the box. The women looks back at the box and dries her eyes with a tea towel. The camera cuts to an extreme close up of the women pulling a clump of her hair out. This may suggest she has an illness or she wears a wig.
The camera then cuts to an extreme close up of the women walking along holding a hammer. This suggests she is going to try and break the box to stop the noises. The camera cuts to a driveway and a car pulls in. This may suggest that someone is going to witness what the old women goes through. As the women lifts the hammer, her eyes droop as if she is having a stroke. She starts shaking uncontrollably and falls to the fall as if someone through her down. She starts moving around as if she was having a fit and the camera cuts to the man in the car standing at the doorway listening to the banging. The women gets up and slams against the wall. It is as if she if being pushed around by someone. You hear the man shouting "mum" through the door. The camera cuts to the women on her knees, she falls forward, smacking her head on a glass table and rolls over. She looks as if she is dead.

A connotation of the first scene is the old lady. this denotes that she will be the main character because she is shown first. Having an old lady as the main protagonist breaks the conventions of a horror film because you would usually expect a young person the be the main character because young people are targeted by psychopaths and serial killers. The women looks like she is being possessed which links in with the title of the film. This makes the audience understand the plot a little bit because the story gets straight into the action.

The camera movements are mostly close ups and panning shots. The close ups are effective because they make the characters emotions clear. Close ups can also help the audience see specific details that they may not a necessarily seen if it was a mid shot.
The slow panning shots create tension which is key in a horror film. They make the audience keep watching the scene and usually something would jump out and scare everyone. The shots in the opening two minutes are effective because they build tension and drama and let the audience know specific details.

In this opening two minutes, the genre is blatantly revealed to the audience. The camera shots give it away by creating the tension, but also the sounds give it away. At the beginning you hear a women whispering in a different language, this creates a scary atmosphere because you don't know what the person is saying. The old fashioned music just make the opening more scary because it creates a sense of normality which isn't usual in a horror film so you know that something bad is going to happen.

In my opinion this opening does a good job of letting the audience know the genre. It conveys many of the codes and conventions of a horror film, like the whispering, the dark scary scenes and the way the women was being possessed. But on the other hand, the old women breaks the conventions because you don't expect an old women to be a main character in a horror film.