The Ring
How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
Only one at the end of the opening scene.
What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
In the opening scene, the character's facial expression are prioritized over any visual horror, with the exception of certain visual cues like the TV static, the dripping doorknob, and the imposing house.
What connotations do the images carry?
The decision to focus on the character's reactions instead of the horror lets the audience's mind wander and create their own horror. It also helps us build an emotional connection to the characters on screen
How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
Visually, the film's low lighting and dark, grimy color palette let the audience know that The Ring is a horror movie. The orchestral stings at points of tension are also landmark conventions that the film is supposed to be scary.
How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The main mystique of the film is built around the urban legend of the videotape. The legend, as described by Becca, goes that whoever watches a certain VHS tape will receive a phone call telling them "7 days," and will be murdered a week after. This ambiguous fate is reflected in the director's decision to neglect from showing what kills the victims of the tape.
What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
The film appeals to its target audience (teenagers) by making its two main characters (Becca and Katie) teenage students. They engage in stereotypical teenage activities, like watching TV and talking on the phone, in an attempt to bridge the gap between the audience and the characters.
How has technology been used effectively? You might want to consider camera angles, transitions and editing techniques.
The camera angles help make the scene feel intimate and like the characters are powerless.
Hereditary
How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film?
Only one at the end of the opening scene.
What images are prioritized in the opening sequence?
The opening scene is takes cues from drama films, choosing to linger on characters' interactions with each other and other dramatic imagery, like the Grandma's coffin.
What connotations do the images carry?
The imagery establishes the family's strained relationship as well as the presence of something sinister, with certain background character's having unnatural stares.
How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?
Initially, the film does not use any popular horror techniques.
How does the film establish an enigma from the outset?
The film's initial enigma is how it will evolve into a horror film. The marketing leading up to Hereditary communicated to its audience that it would be a horror movie, but its first couple minutes are very slow and character driven.
What strategies are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?
The film's central emotional character, the son Peter, is a teenager that goes to parties and has girl problems, typical teenage issues that people can relate to. Peter's parents, Annie and Steve, also appeal to middle-aged American parents, which could be a secondary audience considering the film's mature themes of familial trauma.
How has technology been used effectively? You might want to consider camera angles, transitions and editing techniques.
The staging of the opening funeral scene makes the family feel small compared to the seemingly anonymous wave of attendees, setting up the film's later themes of manipulation and feeling trapped by those around you.
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