Silent Hill analysis

When watching Akshay, Emma, Catherine and Georgia's presentation of 'Silent Hill' opening, we noticed there was a wide range of camera shots/angles, mise-en-scene, editing and sound. Firstly, as the logo appears there is a non-diegetic haunting sound which represents the 'horror' genre. So immediately as the film opens we recognise the genre. The colours in the film start off as blue/white, then gradually as the opening progresses the colours change to have more of a red tint. The blue/white colours to begin with could show how she is feeling calm running through the forest, then as the colours turn to red could show how the daughter is in danger but could also show the love between the mother and daughter. The first character we see in the film is the mother, this signifies that she is the main dominant character as she is who we are firstly introduced to. As the husband appears for the first time he is in a dark light which could show that he isnt as significant as the mothers character as she was mostly shown in the light. There is a lot of non-diegetic sound of screams which signifies the 'horror' genre and adds to the 'scary' effect that it has on the audience.

The mother is shown wearing a necklace chain with a ring attached to it. This could imply that she is a very family orientated person. This shows a sign of love and affection towards her family as she is keeping something that is obviously precious to her close to her heart and kept safe on a chain so it never gets lost. Most people would ususally wear a ring on their finger, but this shows scene shows her wearing it round her neck which could signify she is different from other people and doesnt do things in a traditional way. Also it could show that she is quite an independant person and doesnt rely on anyone else, as she has reinvented the ring in her own way.

The dark colours of the forest scene are forboding the future events that could happen. The dark shadowy colours look quite threatening to the audience and seem quite mysterious as you cant see everything thats in the shot.

We can see that the mother and daughter link as they are both wearing a blue item of clothing. This could also imply that they have a stronger bond than the father and child as the father isn't wearing any colour clothing that links to the child. This could show that the father is quite distant from the family.

The setting of the house on its own looks and makes the audience feel very isolated. It is very seperate from any other houses/shops etc. This could relate to how the family are feeling, perhaps very lonely and isolated. The non-diegetic background music sounds a bit like a choir singing quite faintly. This has a religious connotation linked to it implying that the choir are praying to keep the daughter safe. Although, the religious connotation to the choir could also imply death, as they could be singing at a funeral. Also the deep notes of the choir voices sounds quite haunting which links to the genre of the film.

The cars that pass are very fast and the film and shot movements become fast paced which could imply that time is shooting by (like the cars), and running out. This links to the whole video game idea behind the film, as if it's a countdown in a game and soon they will no longer have any lives left. Also the fast paced shot movements and timing creates tension and puts the audience on edge when watching it making them feel nervous about what will happen next. There are a few canted angles shown in this scene, which makes the audience feel disorientated and awkward which could relate to how the characters in the film are feeling.

Finally, as the daughter is standing on top of the waterfall threatening to jump, the high camera angle from above her makes her look vulnerable. As the mother runs to save her the camera zooms right up to her, which could show how she is now safe, and no longer looks vulnerable. Also now that the camera is closer to the mother and daughter, more of the emotion in the scene is shown and we feel the connection between the characters as we are much closer to them. Whereas before when they were seperate when the daughter was about to jump off the waterfall the camera is further away showing how at that moment they feel distant from eachother.