The Strangers(2008)

Dir: Bryan Bertino

Titles• Rogue Pictures - The definition of ‘Rogue’ is someone that is playful

and mischievous, or something that is no longer controllable which represents the villains in the narrative as the protagonists cannot control them.

• Intrepid Pictures - ‘Intrepid’ means fearless, bold and brave which contrasts the protagonists as they have fear for the villains. But it can also represent the fact that the villains have no fear of what they are doing.

• The colour of the narration and the title is orange and has a black background. These colours are related to Halloween, giving the audience expectations of things like ghosts etc.

• The font is simple and thin which contrasts to the genre convention of a horror movie. This is because it’s not all covered in blood.

Camerawork• Close ups- Knife, gun, blood stains on the wall and ring

box. • Use of 3rds • Placing the boys in the middle of the smashed window

implies that they are the killers’ next target.

•Tracking shot- shows what a passenger inside the car would see.

Editing• During the tracking shots, the pace becomes slower as the scene gets darker

and more abandoned. - This builds on the impact on the audience as they can see that the protagonists are becoming more isolated and the darkness is a main convention of horror films as darkness represents evil.

• Also, the tracking shot could represent a game of Russian roulette as they focus on each house while going past as if the villains are choosing a house to terrorise.

• This shows that the audience is about to be shown the main location in the movie.

• Also, the audience knows that the ‘horror’ is getting closer and closer. • There are many fades to black- this is a typical horror convention which

symbolises many things. - This is a typical horror convention which symbolises that something has come to an end or it can emphasise the importance of the image just seen.

• There are no ‘wipe outs’- showing that this is not a comedy and establishing the theme and also this shows that there is more verisimilitude to the narrative.

Mise-en-Scene• The tracking shots of the houses show that the movie is

set in the suburbs of USA.• The main items that are shown in the opening, are the

record player, the ring box, knife, the blood stains on the wall and the gun.

• All of these items are clues to what the movie will be about and also imply that they will be the clues to solve the mystery of who has been killed by who.

• The location gets more and more abandoned proposing the idea that the protagonists are alone.

Sound• The sound of the car engine entices the audience and pulls

them in as they are about to start the journey movie. • The voice of the narrator at the beginning, is deep and husky

which conforms to our ideas of a horror movie as it foreshadows doom.

• The non-diegetic music in the background playing at the same time as the car, reminds the audience that something bad will happen and keeps them engaged.

• The phone call between the police and the boy is very effective as the screen is black and it makes the audience focus on the situation.

• At the end if the voice clip, both characters voices fade out which makes it more realistic and believable.

Narrative

• The narrator introduces the story by saying: ‘what you are about to see…’

• He goes on to state some true facts about the crime rate in America which shocks the audience and at the same time prepares them for the movie.

• By introducing the characters in this way, it makes the audience believe that this was a true story, making the movie more intense and scary.

• By Gemma Blackman, Zaynah Uddin, Gurleen Dhameja and Alia Rehman