Another opening sequence we analysed in class was 'Don't Look Now', a horror film made in 1972 by Nicolas Roeg. This is a very well made opening sequence that naturally creates unrest within the audience most notably with its editing. We were told to focus upon the editorial elements of the trailer.
The sequence opens with a shot of a lake that is being rained upon. This holds for a matter of second before than zooming in close to the water and lets the title appear. There is nothing particularly interesting about this water meaning the only reason for keeping it on screen fro so long would be that it will later become significant in the film. We then experience a cross fade to a shot of what appears to be some window blinds with sun leaking through them. This accompanied by only the humming of an unseen man. This creates an element of enigma as the audience don't know where they are and who the man they can here is. It leaves us asking questions on seconds into the trailer.
This then cuts to the same setting as we saw the lake. However, it is no longer raining heavily communicating that it is now a different day. Here we see a small girl wearing a red jacket. The colour red immediately gives connotations of danger and may also relate to the fairy tale of Red Riding Hood essentially based around a young girl being lost and in danger. We also see what is assumed to be the girls brother playing separately on his bike. A white horse also runs across the girl. This gives a theme of purity and is perhaps something that would be ridden on the way to heaven. There is also a shot in which e see the girl and her house in the background. This demonstrates to the audience how far she actually is from a responsible adult further conveying how she is in a dangerous situation as she is playing near water unattended. However, these signs are juxtaposed by the non-diegetic music we hear which is light and very similar to a lullaby. On its own this music would be pleasant but when paired with the footage it certainly creates a feeling of unrest amongst the audience as if something scary is imminent.
We then cut to indoors where we see a man and woman indoors. The woman is sat by the fireplace reading while the man is examining slide on a projector. The man and woman despite appearing to be a couple are not presented as having a strong relationship. The are not sitting at all close to one another, the woman is shown with her back shown to the man for a very long period of time and the director has also avoided using two shots with them both in the frame to give the impression they are not close.
Over the next minute or so the director chooses to cut between the two scenes as we see the couple talking and the girl playing with a ball outside. At one point when returning to the girl the director chooses to use a shot where we only see the girl reflected through the water. This means that it looks as though she is in the water, this foreshadows what is to come. There is also an interesting and repetitive use of match cuts, where actions in the two settings are mirrored. For example, the fatally throws her ball in to the water before cutting to the man throwing his cigarette packet to the women. The young boy runs over some glass on his bike just as we see the man accidently drop his glass and spill water over his slide. This gives the impression to the audience that there is perhaps a link between the two places. The fact that the boy runs over some class also offers him a distraction meaning he will unaware of any danger that his sister may find herself in.
After spilling water on his slide we then see a close up of the previously focused upon red figure start to run and stain the slide. This running red liquid of course connotes blood but also relates to the girl outside. The audience may have previously questioned early whether the red figure in the slide is in fact the girl. It was made clear that the director wanted us to focus on the figure earlier in the sequence as we saw and eye line match as the camera panned so the figure filed the frame. After seeing this, the man appears to have a supernatural epiphany as we see how he believes his daughter to be in danger. He then precedes to walk out of the house to find her. We see a shot of the little girl falling into the water. The fall is in slow motion and is very stylized. The man continues to run towards the lake as he sees what has happened. He then dives into the water to save her. It is here when we return to slow motion to see the man lift the girl out of the water. Once again this is very stylized as the lighting is darker. The director actually breaks the 30 degree rule here as he makes cuts between short distances of the man. However, I perceive this to be intentional as it disorientates the audience in the climactic moment of the sequence. We then see the man exclaim a colossal 'NO!. Unfortunately to a modern audience this is quite amusing because of the way this has been mocked and stereotyped since the film was made. This does remove some of the seriousness but tom its original audience it would have been quite effective. Furthermore, the curvature of he girl around the mans body strongly resembles the curve that the red stain ahs taken on the slide further emphasising the link between the girl and the ambiguous figure.
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