The camera shots that are used help to establish the genre of horror. After the camera pans across the ocean it settles on a fairground that is very busy and is in contrast to the tranquillity of the sea. The panning across the ocean could be mirroring the way that bats would fly and so suggesting that bats are flying into the fairground. This is reinforced by the sound effects used at the time such as squeaking and laughing. The camera then moves on to a medium shot of a carousel, before showing a close-up of a character dressed in black and panning up to his face. He moves away and some more people follow him that are all dressed in a similar style of clothing. As it focuses on each one for a period of time, the viewer can guess that they will all be main characters and because they are all wearing similar clothing and going to the same place you can guess that they are all linked, and could be part of the same gang in which the character in black is the leader, since they are all following him and he is wearing black, which is a stronger colour than what the others are wearing.
The camera then pans along and shows them walking around the carousel. The leader gets into a fight and quick close-up shots that cut from face to face quickly are used to create a feeling of panic and danger. The other gang members are all shown in the same shot as well, which reinforces their togetherness. In one of the quick succession of close-up shots a guard appears trying to strangle the leader. The fact that they were shown in the same shot makes the viewer believe that they know each other since they are both very close together and seem used to what is happening. The dialogue supports this. A longer range shot is then used so that the audience can see everything that is going on, as the gang leaves and the guard asks the others to leave as well. The camera then cuts away and uses long and birds-eye view shots as the fairground shuts down and all the lights turn off one by one.
It then turns to a birds-eye view shot of the guard walking towards a single car in the middle of a car park. A car drives past at the bottom of the scene and disappears off view. This and the fact that there is only one car in the carpark, that appears to belong to the guard, reinforces his loneliness, and loneliness is often used in horror films so this also helps to establish it as a horror film. The camera then moves over the top of a ride and begins moving towards the guard in a similar manner to which bats fly. The camera zooms in to see a medium and then close-up shot of the guard looking directly at the camera and the viewer can see terror on his face as he runs towards the car. It does not show what it is that terrifies the guard as that is supposed to be where the camera is looking from. The guard is shown running towards the car and then the camera cuts to a close-up shot of the guard pulling at the door handle and trying to get his keys out. The camera cuts to showing the same scene from inside the car looking outwards and then cuts back to the shot of a birds-eye view but from nearer to the guard. It cuts back into the car and then out again in quick succession to create an atmosphere of panic and build tension. Then as the birds-eye shot seems to reach the guard it cuts once more to inside the car and shows the guard being carried off, ripping the door off with him. This builds an idea of the creatures’ strength and makes the viewer believe it is not just bats or the gang of boys.
Sound is used to reinforce what the viewer can see on screen. While the credits are being displayed at the start there is the sound of wing beats and flapping in the background, which fits with the idea that it could be bats moving into the fairground. The whole situation seems quite strange at the carousel and the sound is the same. There is the sound of drums emulating the pattern of heartbeat in the background and things echo more than they should. There are also alarms going off and all of these things combine to suggest that there could be danger and that something is not as it should be. When the camera moves towards the guard at the end of this scene in the carpark, the sound of the guard’s footsteps echo unnaturally loudly and this is another effect used to make him seem alone. The sound of bats flapping their wings and squeaking gives an idea as to what the flying creatures could be but there is also the sound of laughing underneath it that could not be created by bats and only by humans, which creates the idea that they could be human bats i.e. vampires. All of this sound is non-diajetic so the viewer can never be sure if their assumptions are correct. Non-diajetic sound is often used in horror films and this is another indicator of genre.
The music used from the very beginning helps to set the tone and genre of the film. It opens with a choir of children singing what appears to be the Ten Commandments but the lyrics are actually ‘thou shall not feed, thou shall not die, thou shall not cry’. This hints that there could be a religious theme in the film and it also makes it clearer that they could be vampires, as the commandments are those that could apply to vampires. There is also music used in the scene by the carousel. The music used is similar to that which would normally be played at a carousel but is slightly muffled and dulled to make the scene seem more surreal and add to the strangeness of the scene.
There is not much dialogue in the first section but there is some. The guard on the carousel says, ‘I thought I told you to stay off the boardwalk’ to the gang of boys. This makes it seem as though he knows the boys and has met them before. In response to this the leader of the boys says to the group, ‘Okay boys, lets go.’ This reinforces his role as leader of the group because they obey him and do what he says. It also refers back to the title and so makes the viewer think that these might be ‘The Lost Boys’. The guard then turns to the other people they were fighting with and asks them to leave as well but the way he says it makes him seem unfamiliar with the others.
Lighting is used intelligently in the film. It starts off lit only by artificial moonlight at night. Night is often used in horror films because the lack of light makes it hard to see and so makes the viewer nervous and uncertain what is happening. When the fairground is closing down it shows the lights all being turned off in steps and this makes it darker and makes the place look like it is deserted, which is another convention of horror. When the camera moves in towards the guard before he is carried away, the carpark is lit only by two streetlights and moonlight. Moonlight is used again to light the scene since it is set at night, and the streetlights cast unnatural shadows, which makes things seem distorted and makes the fear on the guards face clearer.
After the guard is carried off, the camera cuts to panning over the same bit of sea shown at the beginning but in daylight. This is a big contrast to the scene that has just gone before and helps to show that the same place can be very different. It then goes from a long to a mid-shot following a car along a road. The way it follows the car lets the viewer know that whoever is inside the car will be main characters. It then cuts to inside the car and allows the viewer to see them. Then the camera drifts across and focuses on a pleasant sign saying ‘Welcome to Santa Carla’ with a picture of a beach and children enjoying themselves on it. This is a point of view shot from the car and as the car drives past the camera focuses on the back of the sign, which has red graffiti on it saying ‘the murder capital of the world’. The graffiti looks like blood and, as it is contrast to the front of the sign, gives another idea of the double life of ‘Santa Carla’. The idea of things not being as they seem is often used in films of the horror genre because it makes people think that similar things could be happening to them.
We then see the family in the car arriving in the main part of Santa Carla. There are a lot of close-up shots at this point so that the viewer can really see what is going on around the place. They focus on individual or small groups of people who all look like they are enjoying themselves but also have strange appearances or are doing strange things. For example, one shot is of two people licking rats. Interspersed with the shots of strange people are the same kind of shots of missing posters stuck everywhere and this gives the audience a different view of the place and the things that are happening. There is a medium-shot of the eldest child asking for a job on his motorbike but then it cuts away and shows a long shot of the car moving away along a deserted road. They then pull up outside a house and it cuts to a mid-shot of an old man who seems to be dead before focusing on the two sons and mother moving closer to the old man.
The sound and music give a clearer idea of what is happening. At the start of the scene, whilst the long shots of the car are being shown, the music changes through very short bursts of light pop music. This is a sharp contrast to the religious and slow music of before. It then settles on the start of a song as the family move into Santa Carla. The song is ‘When you’re strange’ and is played throughout the entire time the shots of strange people and missing posters are shown. It is a very light song and while it goes with the strange people, it creates a contrast (as they do) with the missing posters and suggests they are not being taken seriously or that there is something darker about Santa Carla. The song finishes as they leave.
The dialogue in this part of the opening is very important. At first they are just arguing about what to listen to on the radio and singing along. This makes the characters seem likeable and normal. Then the dialogue takes a darker note. The son asks ‘what the strange smell’ and his mother replies ‘it’s just the sea air’, but then the son adds: ‘it smells like someone has died’. This is not said in too serious a tone so it does not necessarily mean that it does smell like someone has died but combined with the graffiti saying that Santa Carla is the murder capital of the world it makes the viewer believe that something is wrong. On the way the mother tells the son to buy a homeless person something to eat. This builds on her character being a good person. The eldest son asks if a food stand have any jobs but he replies that there is ‘nothing legal’. This builds on the idea that there could be something wrong with Santa Carla. When the car stops outside the house and the boys get out they ask if the old man is dead. The mother replies that he is just a deep sleeper and so that makes the viewer think she is an optimistic person. One of the boys asks ‘if he is really dead can we leave?’ and that makes us realise that they do not want to be there.
The clothes and way shots are organised help develop the characters. The boys at the start are all wearing dark clothing and have strange haircuts. The clothing would traditionally put them on the bad side in a horror film and the hair makes them seem different from normal people and rebellious. The clothing worn by the family in the car is bright and colourful and also a more normal style. The bright colours would put them on the side of good and because it is all normal clothing it helps the audience to identify with the characters. When it moves through the mid-shots of strange people it makes the viewer think that they will probably not appear again as they are all put together in rapid succession. As they drive up to the house there are a lot of strange things hanging up such as strange dead animals and wind chimes. The camera does not focus in on these separately as they are not too important but their presence makes the viewer think that the old man could be a fun character before they have even seen him. It also builds up the spooky atmosphere of the place and makes it seem as though nowhere there is normal.
The director in this film has used many techniques to establish that ‘The Lost Boys’ is a horror film. These include the use of lighting, mise-en-scene and music. These and many more devices help to develop the genre of horror in the opening sequence of ‘The Lost Boys’.
