How are genre and narrative established in the opening Scenes of Dracula?

How are genre and narrative established in the opening?

Scenes of Dracula

Through out this scene there is music. The music in this play sounds spooky and unusual; this creates a strong tension though out the scene. The music builds up and down in certain places, the violin and cello add to the effect of the dramatic build up in this scene so if there is a dramatic part it is more likely that the music will be louder.

At the beginning of the scene you have a view of the cross on the top of a huge dome falling and hitting the ground. As this happens a cloud of dust rises so high it reaches the top of the dome. Then Muslim’s sign appears on a rod and sweeps across a map heading to Romania this could show the fall of Christianity, which is under threat from the Muslim’s.

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The next thing that happens in the scene is that Dracula has to say goodbye to his wife Elizabetha: this is the part of the scene when you feel for Elizabtha as see does not no if Dracula is going to come back or not. This is when Elizabetha gets upset because Dracula has to go to war and she might not see him ever again. At this point the doors swing open and Dracula’s men are there waiting there ready to go to war. I think this is a pivotal moment in the scene because if Dracula hadn’t gone to war Elizabetha would not have killed herself. In this scene the lighting is very effective; it disguises the identity of the unknown fighters. This all works well with the red misty sky in the background. At this point in the scene you can understand Elizabetha point of view, because the atmosphere is tense and the fear of not knowing what is going to happen. Even when you can not see their identity you can still tell who is Dracula is because of the facemask he is wearing this shows his authority. At the end of the battle you see Dracula, and all of a sudden he thinks that Elizabetha is in trouble and so he rushes off on his horse back to the castle. As he arrives at the castle you see the best camera shot of the scene, this is of two guards opening the swinging doors. At the foot of the door stands Dracula in the dark he walks down the hallway and into the light and then you see his face. The camera angle changes so we can all see what Dracula is seeing. The camera angle keeps changing until we see the dead body of Elizabetha; this angle shows here body from Dracula point of view. By showing this angle it makes you feel how Dracula is feeling.

The reason Elizabetha died is because some one during the battle shoots an arrow throw the window of the castle with a note on it. The note said that Dracula had died in the battle; Elizabetha was so upset she flung herself from her balcony with the note still in her hand.

Dracula sees the note in her hand, picks it up and he starts to read it. He gets more and more upset as he goes through this letter; the priests walk into the room at this point. He then stands up and walks over to the priests, and says WHY WHY WHY? But the priests say nothing. Dracula tells them he doesn’t believe in God any more. He then draws his sword and starts swinging it around the cathedral, he runs over to a big cross in the middle of the room and plant’s it into the cross. Blood then starts poring out of the cross, then the candles and the angel’s eyes. Dracula starts to drink the blood from the cross. This is not a particularly nice part of the scene and it makes you feel uneasy and worried about Dracula’s sanity. As the blood gets closer to Elizabetha’s body Dracula gets angrier and angrier and then as it touches her body he lets out a great raw AAAAAHHHH, at this point the scene ends. So in conclusion I think that it is a very good first scene and it shows dramatic tension from both characters. Camera angles help this because it helps you to believe you are in that position. The scenery, lighting and music all add to the effect and makes you want to watch the rest of the play

Before I saw the play I did not know much about Dracula and thought I would not like it, this scene has now completely changed my mind.