Your're Next Opening Deconstruction

Your're Next Opening Deconstruction

The film opening starts with the production companies.  Lionsgate is the main company with HanWay Films and snootfilms as the secondary companies.  

A big convention of horror films is that people who are sexually active are most likely to die, this film clearly relates to this stereotype.  The low lighting creates shadows which is also conventional for horror as it creates mystery and uncertainty.  The Non-diegetic sound of a knife, either being sharpened or run against some metal is played at the beginning of the scene which gives the audience a clue to the genre of film and gives a very ominous atmosphere.

A long shot of the woman walking through the house is accompanied by diegetic sound of wind chimes. This sound is usually used as a happy noise but the tempo and lightness of the clinking is quite creepy and mysterious here.  A diegetic sound of rustling leaves puts the audience on edge as, combined with the look of the shot, it seems as though someone is watching from outsdie the windows.  The low lighting also adds to the mystery as people have a fear of the dark and he unknown.                                                 

The addition of upbeat, diegetic music is contrapuntal to the creepy, tense atmosphere but manages to add even more intensity to the situation because now you cannot hear any other noises in the house.  A close up shot of the CD player is in parallel to the sound.

 An over the shoulder shot of the woman turning and looking concerned increases the suspence because the audience cannot hear or sense what she can so they do not know what is going on.  Her facial expression gives us a clue that something isn't right.

The diegetic music continues as the man enters the room but when he sees the blood on the window it fades into the background in correspondence to his concentration on the blood.  A close up of the side of his face conveys the shock and confusion he is feeling and parallel non-diegetic sound of creepy wind increases the ominous atmosphere.

Then there is a mid-shot framing the words written in blood on the window of the film title.  This is very scary for the audience as they know that it must be the woman's blood it is written in and the man is next to die.  The man behind the words is still obviously confused and in shock, from his facial expression, as he tries to touch the letters to work out what it is. Non-diegetic sound of something electrical, possibly a CD ending as it spins.  This is a reference to the CD from earlier and the complete shut down the man must be having in his mind.

A close up of the man looking extremely shocked and scared copies what the audience is feeling and so increases the tension. The shot is framed with the blood still in shot which reminds us of the savagery of what has happened.Non-diegetic sound of a continuous bass note creates suspense

and tension as the diegetic sound of the man gasping is played.

A sudden non-diegetic crash makes the audience jump as the killer suddenly appears in the shot.  The straight cut editing gets faster as the man is killed to relay the intensity.  A two shot shows the killer, masked and in black, compared to the victim who is shorter obviously not in control of the situation.  

An extreme close up of the man's eyes show the terror of the killer as he dies.  Parallel non-diegetic sound of high pitched string music increases the tension and terror in the situation, with a heavy bass note make the killer seem as ominous as possible.



The last shot of the opening is a close up of the man's blood being splattered onto the window with accompanying diegetic sound of the knife cutting and blood dripping.  This all adds to the conventions of the slasher, horror film genre and scares the audience considerably.