The Strangers

Mise-en-scene

Setting

The film ‘The Strangers’ is a film set in America and was marketed as being ‘inspired by true events’ which it also said at the beginning of the film. This makes the film seem scarier as it shows it could happen in real life. The film begins with black screen titles which say 'On the night of February 11, 2005, Kristen McKay and James Hoyt left a friend's wedding reception and returned to the Hoyt family's summer home. The brutal events that took place there are still not entirely known.' This tells the audience the back-story right at the beginning with no distractions as the screen is blank. This causes the audience to want to carry on and find out more.

Body language

The only two people seen in the first 2 minutes of the film are two boys. When we first see them they are standing behind a car. They seem very still and stare at the camera as it moves along. The shot then shows them entering a house. They seem scared and unsure of themselves as they walk up the steps of the house. This causes the audience to feel for them as they seem so young.

Lighting

The first 2 minutes of this film are very dark. This is because the film company want to set an atmosphere which is eerie and uncomfortable. The houses are badly lit and some are shown in the dark. This may be because most things seem scarier in the dark.

The house which is shown is in complete darkness and is only lit by natural light through the windows. This makes shadows appear which adds to the scary feel of the house.

Costume

The two young boys seem to be dressed smartly and formally. This causes the audience to ask ‘what they have been doing’ and ‘where have they been’. The white of their shirts adds to their innocence as they seem so unsure and naive.  

Camera shots

After the black screen titles there is a slow tracking shot of houses in America which shows how far apart each house is and how they are deserted.  They emphasis this by putting long pauses between them with just a black screen. This makes the audience feel that the gaps are even bigger and that there is danger between them. It causes the audience to raise the question ‘what is the significance of these houses?’

The shot then shows two young boys standing behind a car with a smashed back windscreen. We then see a low angle shot of the boys climbing into a dark house. They seem uneasy and uncomfortable. This makes the audience feel that there is something wrong. These two images put in series together make the audience feel that there is something dangerous about the house which is shown through its darkness and emptiness.

The audience is then shown five different shots which are meant to be memorable, the first close up shot being a record player which is still playing. This causes the audience to ask ‘why hasn’t it been turned off’. Then it switches to a blue velvet ring box which has rose petals around it. This shot seems quite relaxed and normal although this is then contrasted with a knife on the floor dripping with blood. This makes the audience automatically feel uncomfortable as the images have been juxtaposed. This is then emphasized by a blood splattered pane of glass and a shot gun on the counter. This raises questions to what has been going on and what is happening. 

The shot then goes black again which is a repeat from earlier and makes the audience think about the images they have just seen.

Editing

The fade to black shots makes the scenes seem all the more scary and makes the audience think about what they have seen on the screen. It also makes the film seem dark as it is adding to the darkness. 

Each shot is quite short as it wants to create an impact on the audience and make them remember what they have seen. This also is similar to the music as it is quite jumpy and disjointed.

Sound

The beginning of this film has ominous music playing in the background and a non diegetic voice of a man talking. His voice is deep and threatening and almost echoes in the audience’s brain. The man then says when the events happened and who they happened to. This makes the audience feel uneasy as they are personalizing them and making it seem so realistic.

We then hear a child’s voice which seems panicked and petrified. The tone of his voice is crackly which adds to the realistic feel of the call. The boy says he is in danger which illustrates the urgency of his situation.  

Some of the aspects of this film could be useful in our film as we may record a phone call conversation. This phone call could either be to the police or the villain calling the innocent victim. Which ever one we chose we can use some of the ideas that they have in their film e.g. making the phone call crackly. It is also similar to our ideas as we are planning on using not many people in our first 2 minutes which is similar to this one.