Gothika

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0EKJ4cL3LWE
I decided to analyse the film Gothika because Cat and I thought horror might be a good genre to use for our film beginning. Gothika was released in the year 2003, starring Halle Berry and Penelope Cruz.
The beginning of this film is introduced with credits. The background is black and the typography is white with a creepy font. The words fade in and out creating a gloomy and mysterious atmosphere. Backing music is played during these credits, it sounds dark and creepy which suggest the film is a horror.
A woman with a disturbing voice begins to talk, at first you cannot see the speaker so the sound is asynchronous, but then the black background and credits fade to the speakers face. The shot is a close up of the woman speaking, she is looking straight at the camera, as if she is talking to you personally. This makes the audience feel slightly uncomfortable. This particular woman is looking dishevelled and disturbing. She is wearing no make up, her hair is a mess and her eyes look tired. The lighting is dark and dull, adding to the creepy atmosphere.
The camera then cuts to another woman who looks alot more conservative and normal, with her hair neatly tied back, some make up and looks generally more together and clean. The way she looks compared to the mental woman suggests she is of a higher status. Whilst the two characters are having a conversation the camera does a shot-reverse-shot, this means you can see both character's facial expressions and reactions, especially with a close up shot.
The next shot is from outside what looks like a cage, which the characters are sitting in, with a table between them. The cage makes the conversation seem more protected and confined, as if one of the women is harmful. You can see clearly now that the lady is interrogating the other woman because of their overall difference in appearance and the way they are speaking to eachother. There is an over the shoulder shot of the mental woman confessing. The truthfulness of what she is saying and how she is saying it is likely to make the audience feel even more uncomfortable. Throughout these shots the camera is constantly moving from when the camera cuts to the outside of the cage. You can see the normal lady writing on paper, clearly showing she is of some importance and is involved with the police. This introduces her possible job title straight away suggesting that she could be the main character of this film. When the camera shows a two shot of both of them sitting down you can see the normal lady sitting up straight, whereas the mental lady is more slouched. This contrast in levels could suggest who is more important and who has a higher status.
Throughout this scene the dialogue is constantly on the same tone of voice, until the mental woman shouts, creating an element of surprise and maybe making the audience more jumpy. This also creates tension and suspense. Lastly, the normal lady ends the interrogation which shows she has complete control over the situation which, again, shows her higher status.
Abbie Hawkins