ASSESSMENT 2: Drag Me To Hell - Opening Sequence Analysis.

The opening sequence of Drag Me to Hell begins with an establishing shot showing a mansion and there’s a date in the corner of the screen ‘Pasadena, California 1969. The camera slowly moves down to eye level and then flicks to the car which has pulled up. There is a zoom in as the camera moves to follow the troubled woman running up the steps. The camera then jump cuts to the man carrying the boy towards the house. There is an over the shoulder shot and shot reverse shot as the woman in the purple is talking to the man with the child, The camera then moves and use the rule of thirds to position the silver necklace in the middle of the screen. So far everything remains in deep focus. There is a point of view from the woman in the purple top as the other woman holds out the necklace in her hand. Next scene is the boy in distress in a low key, dim lit room; their actions going into the house are not filmed because they are automatically assumed by the audience.

            There is a cutaway when the boy is laid down, from the boy to the ceiling with the shadows of distorted hands. The camera moves round above the boy in a circle creating a sense of disorientation, perhaps projecting the boys feeling. Then there’s a close up of the woman praying with the boy. When the spirit comes the camera takes a point of view running after the boy towards the balcony and when the boy turns round the camera is at a canted angle. The camera then moves to a low angle to watch the boy falling from the balcony above, and then it cuts back to the woman running to look over and again takes a point of view position of the woman in the purple. When the floor cracks open the camera begins to shake as to add to the effect. Two close ups are used to shows the expression of the woman in the purple and then of the boy. The camera takes the point of view of the boy to capture the hand coming up to grab him then moves from a low angle upwards and zooms in to show the boys shadow and to show a medium close up of the woman in the purples reaction. The camera continuously uses close ups to capture the woman’s expression after each shot of the boy.

            The non diagetic music creates an intense atmosphere and the high strings held create a build up of tension then the big deep drop sounds and it makes the audiences’ heart feel as though it beats heavy. Instruments heard in this clip include violins, pianos, cellos for the deeper string sounds and the drums.

            When first outside there is natural lighting then when inside the lighting changes and throughout remains very low key and dim lit. When the spirit breaks through the doors the lighting flickers. The woman in the purple is dressed almost like a gypsy, fitting her character of a healer. The house is richly decorated showing wealth and possibly the old age of the building with all the marble pillars and balconies.