Post by missmcgrory on Sept 29, 2010 20:23:27 GMT
As we fade in, the camera is positioned behind leaves and foliage, making the audience feel as if they are hiding in the brush watching the action in front of them. The sound is diegetic, but distorted and slow, like the action. The light is natural. The distorted nature here makes this seem almost like a memory or a dream.
As the camera’s focus shifts from beyond the brush to the brush itself, we see there is a scrap of fabric (yellow) attached to a twig. This is picked up by a man with a rifle (and wearing clothes which gives the audience a sense of time – this film is set predominantly in 1935). Although there are many men with rifles and pitchforks, this action allows the audience to focus on this particular man, showing that he is important to the story as a whole.
His reaction to the scrap of fabric is significant. The camera is used here for a mid-shot so that we see both the material and his emotional facial reaction. The audience senses foreboding – this is either a nightmare or a disturbing memory. The man moves his mouth, shouting, but the distorted sound does not allow the audience to hear instantly what he has said. The audience begins the film in media res (in the middle of the action), confused and confronted with its first enigma – who or what are the men looking for, and what is the significance of the material? The camera tracks as the men run, moving with the action and involving the audience. The men are pursuing something, and the audience is pursuing the answer to their enigma. It is at this point we first hear the xylophone, and this is used as a sound bridge as the camera fades to black and the film’s title appears on the screen. This eerie xylophone theme is used recurrently throughout the film.
As both the title and (now non-diegetic) music fade, we hear the names ‘Kathe ‘ and ‘Cora’ before the, as yet mysterious line:
“You love your sister? You make any noise, want to know what happens?”
As the camera’s focus shifts from beyond the brush to the brush itself, we see there is a scrap of fabric (yellow) attached to a twig. This is picked up by a man with a rifle (and wearing clothes which gives the audience a sense of time – this film is set predominantly in 1935). Although there are many men with rifles and pitchforks, this action allows the audience to focus on this particular man, showing that he is important to the story as a whole.
His reaction to the scrap of fabric is significant. The camera is used here for a mid-shot so that we see both the material and his emotional facial reaction. The audience senses foreboding – this is either a nightmare or a disturbing memory. The man moves his mouth, shouting, but the distorted sound does not allow the audience to hear instantly what he has said. The audience begins the film in media res (in the middle of the action), confused and confronted with its first enigma – who or what are the men looking for, and what is the significance of the material? The camera tracks as the men run, moving with the action and involving the audience. The men are pursuing something, and the audience is pursuing the answer to their enigma. It is at this point we first hear the xylophone, and this is used as a sound bridge as the camera fades to black and the film’s title appears on the screen. This eerie xylophone theme is used recurrently throughout the film.
As both the title and (now non-diegetic) music fade, we hear the names ‘Kathe ‘ and ‘Cora’ before the, as yet mysterious line:
“You love your sister? You make any noise, want to know what happens?”
