However, I am just going to be analyzing the first ten minutes of the film. These first ten minutes of the film are an important part of the film because the film is actually set-out and formulated in these first ten minutes. Without the beginning ten minutes, the end of the film, and in fact the whole film would not make sense. This is because in the beginning of the film, you are told practically everything you need to know to work out the rest of the film. You actually see Malcolm get shot, but because we aren’t explicitly told that he is dead, we assume he survives. The first ten minutes are divided up into four main sections. These sections are; Anna getting the wine, Anna and Malcolm downstairs talking about the “frame”, the shooting upstairs and the final shot; “The next fall”. Before we see these sections we are first presented with the film credits.
The film credits are in black and white and fade in and out of focus in a creepy, ghost like manner slowly. Ironically, the credits are not just “black and white” the music played over the top (or “score”) is edgy and uncomfortable, it invites the audience to believe that something is about to happen, this contradicts the lethargic way in which the credits fade in and out. Sad and long notes build up on one-another creating an eerie atmosphere. This sets the tone for the film, and the mood for the audience.
The first section is when Anna is getting the wine. The opening shot is a light bulb which slowly comes into view and you see the filaments heating up slowly shedding light on a previously dark cellar. This could be seen to symbolize the gradual revelation of the story and the way in which the realization slowly dawns on Malcolm. Or it just could be a light bulb being switched on. But it deceives the audience because it is presents a mystery and the audience is left in suspense over what it may mean or symbolize. The two filaments could be seen to symbolize the parallel existence of the living and the dead. As this light bulb is being turned on, we are introduced to the first character, Anna. The camera moves to look towards Anna from a point of view which she should be able to see the source of, this implies a ghostly presence in the cellar. The bars of the wine cellar looks like us or Anna are imprisoned, or we are blocked out. In relation to the background Anna is vividly colourful as the background is black and she is wearing a purple dress, making her the main focus. We are then moved to a close up of Anna and a side view of her shadow. As an audience we don’t seemed trapped anymore in the situation. The scene ends as it started; trapped again when Anna runs up the stairs. The different media techniques used in this overall section to deceive us are camera angles and lighting. This already establishes a misleading yet hooking section filled with suspense to establish the mood. However different moods are already established at this stage; depending on what you personally believe because of the techniques.
The second section begins with a medium shot and is a shot of Malcolm and Anna looking into Malcolm’s plaque of achievements as a child psychiatrist. This is ironic as he is about to die from his “achievements” so we are falsely misled here through the fact that we are unaware of previous goings on. The focus is moved from what they are looking at to the reflection of them. It is ghost like and captures there last moments as if in a photograph. We are mislead as one of the lines are “You have a gift” and in actual fact his failings are going to result in his death. The camera shots keep moving back and forth from the plaque to Malcolm and Anna. I think this is done to show what’s real and what is not real and is used as a line of reality. The fire which is shown is unsettling to the audience. After this there is a long camera shot in which Anna and Malcolm are no longer included in, which gives the audience a different perspective and also gives the idea that they are being watched or followed. The characters then head upstairs playfully and drunk with there shadows set in darkness. Now the audience may begin to suspect what is happening, however no clear image is presented and so we are still left in the dark.
Section three begins when Anna and Malcolm are upstairs. The first shot is seeing the woman frozen with the camera coming towards her. We also see Malcolm’s reaction. We are then shown from the characters point of view the broken glass, the flapping curtains with the camera moving slowly with cautiousness and uncertainty. The phone is also off the hook which could symbolize a lack of communication with Malcolm and his patients. We then are shown the doorframe which is empty with the camera moving towards the people building up the audience’s tension. The camera perspective is constantly changing for example, we look at the floor and it slowly moves towards the characters. There is also a contrast between the lightness and the darkness within the different shots. The characters are in the dark making both them and the audience unsure and tense. When we are first presented with the patient it is set in the bathroom; however the bright light and setting makes it look hospital-like. The camera comes in from the left and crosses both Anna and Malcolm demonstrating what could be seen as a timeline, like when “my life flashed before my eyes” for Malcolm? Then Malcolm starts to try and identify who the intruder is, so the camera pans across him, demonstrating Malcolm thinking of all his previous patients. The background music is a piano and a beeping sound effect, once again giving the affect of a hospital and the rhythmic effect suggests a clock. The new patient we are introduced to is Vincent Grey, whom we are immediately made to feel sorry for due to being manipulated and deceived as to his intentions by his body language. When he eventually shoots first Malcolm, then himself, he does it in a very cold calculated way. At one point during the conversation, Malcolm says a name, and Vincent says “ I am, I am” but the he says “a freak”, its this un-predictableness that keeps the audience in a state of continuous unease, so they expect the worst of everything to happen. This jars the audience because their previous perception of Vincent was one that thought he was sad and lonely, not a cold-hearted killer. Once again the audience is deceived, but this time they are conscious of the deception as opposed to the previous trend of deception in which they only realize they have been deceived until the very end.
The final section within the section is seen to the audience as a new beginning. This is shown in white writing at the begging of the shot reading, “The next fall”. This could be relating to what happened previously by using the word “next” or it may also mean “Autumn”. This misleads the audience by not being clear and so the audience is just left to suspect what they think is going on. It is symmetrical and is almost a perfect situation to be set in. This once again misleads the audience in thinking that everything is okay when in fact it is the opposite.
In conclusion, in the main reason we the audience are deceived in the first ten minutes is with media techniques used in the film such as lighting, camera shots, colours and characters emotions and setting. The audience are never fully aware of what is actually happening as they are never shown clearly. They are left in the dark just as much as the characters are, making the audience more able to relate with the characters and their emotions. This type of film will have future success in my opinion as it hooks the audience from the beginning right through to the very end as the audience relates and feels what is going on as well as the character.
