The final drawing shows a large house – which is built in the style of a castle. This is absolutely perfect for a gothic style ghost story! The building looks rather imposing and unmovable, which introduces the fact that people are very small and vulnerable in comparison to it. Camera angles throughout the film vary greatly, depending on the scene. The opening sequence contains the vast majority of these angles which are used during the film, which prepares the audience for the shot types during the rest of the film. The first shot is an establishing shot of the house where the majority of the film takes place, which allows us to accustom to the type of set and characters that will be in the film. Then, the shot cuts sharply to an extreme close up on Grace, which acts as a shock to get the film underway. The camera turns to an upright position, as the previous shot was angled, to disguise the fact that she was lying down. The camera stays on Grace for a while, who is still in shock, which makes the audience ask some questions:
- Why is she screaming?
- Who is she?
- Was she dreaming?
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If not dreaming, then what is she afraid might happen – or has happened?
As Grace begins to recover from her fright, the scene cuts to the exterior of the house once more, this time, allowing the audience to see the door, with three figures, dressed in black, walking towards it. The two older members of the trio talk to one another as they walk. Their chatter seems irrelevant, yet, as with the reading of Genesis at the very beginning, what they are saying has meaning. For example, Mr Tuttle says “I imagine he is dead, like all the rest...” This line could show that the three servants are aware that Grace and the children are deceased, and yet are unsure whether the master of the house is still living. The trio reach the door, and the clearly senior servant (Mrs Mills) rings the bell. The bell was rung by means of a rope handle, which shows the houses age, and status. The servants stand on the steps outside of the door, forming a tableau, which shows the hierarchy between them. Mrs Mills forms the highest point in the scene, which indicates that she is the leader of the group, the second highest level is formed by Mr Tuttle, and the lowest head height is that of Lydia, who has her head bowed respectfully. The columns around the door frame the scene, which makes the characters seem far larger than they are. Even though the background is fairly plain in this scene, it shows a large wooden door – which shows that the building belongs to a person who can afford luxuries. The house in this scene could also be a metaphor for Grace’s seemingly flawless composure, with something much darker hidden behind the facade... The former secret being “the intruders”, who are mentioned throughout the film, and the latter being Grace’s murder of her two children, and then suicide.
To get back to the scene in question, the tableau is “framed” by two columns, which allows focal points within the frame to appear larger, as they occupy more of the region of the screen that is in focus.
At that moment, the door opens. The sound effect of unlocking the door is amplified greatly, which subtly allows the audience to pick up on the fact that the door is locked. This relates back to one of the sketches in the opening credits sequence, and, to a line that would be uttered only a matter of minutes later - “No door must be opened without the previous one being closed first”. These links between sections of the film allow for a more consistent storyline, which in turn, creates a more realistic film. This sense of realism can connect an audience to the characters, which makes the fear shown on screen (or heard in the audio) become genuine to the audience.
There are several narrative hooks in the opening – which makes the audience wish to watch the rest of the film. Some are given full on in the beginning (Grace’s scream stirs up many questions, as mentioned above), and others are introduced slowly and regularly through the first few scenes. These provoke questions, which keep the audience’s interest.
The technique of sound amplification is used many times throughout the film, to make up for the lack of light. For example, during some scenes, the brightness level is extremely low, and actions cannot be seen, so they are instead identified by distinctive sound effects.
During the conversation that follows, Grace interrupts Mrs Mills in mid-sentence. This makes the audience wonder what the trio came about – or even if Grace and Mrs Mills are referring to the same thing! The unsure nature of Mr Tuttle in the following scenes seems to suggest that the latter is possible, which adds to the tension.
The Others is typical of the ghost genre in certain aspects, but in some places, it challenges the stereotype. For the most part, the film is set in complete- or half-darkness, which hints at some of the primitive human fears – the unseen and unknown. Very few scenes in the film have strong lighting from the front, which allows the fill light to cast eerie shadows across the actors and scenery. This darkness is typical of a gothic horror tale of days gone by, which I think is reminiscent of The Red Room, as both of these allow unseen horrors to scare the audience far more than what they are actually seeing or reading. The lighting plays an important part in the film, as it creates tension, and allows the audience to become curious of what may lurk in the darkness. However, the lighting would be rather out of place if it was not for a link in the plot. As Grace prepares to bring the children to meet Mrs Mills and Lydia, she explains that Anne and Nicholas are photosensitive – meaning that any exposure to strong light could severely injure them. This link in the beginning allows the director to play on the constant darkness – creating shadows, and areas of darkness where something could be lurking. Another thing to note on the colour and lighting is that the film uses a very limited colour palette – mostly sepia tones, which allow focal points, such as faces, to stand out, as they are coloured differently.
Of course, the film challenges the stereotype in many ways. For example, it is not immediately obvious that it is a ghost story! Indeed, much of the film could fit into many other genres. An example of this is to fool the audience that things such as ghosts could not possibly exist in a story like this, by the occasional reminder that ghosts “wear sheets and chains”. However, this phrase fits into the gothic horror genre perfectly – irony was used in many 19th and 20th century gothic horror stories to create suspense and surprise (The Monkey’s Paw is a good example of this, even if the irony becomes repetitive and predictable, after one grasps the general plot of the story). Another stereotype-challenging element is the subtle nature of the fear. Whereas many other films of the horror and ghost genres contain as many loud, violent thrills as possible to pack into the runtime, The Others allows small inconsistencies in logic (for example, after Grace has instructed Mrs Mills to speak to Lydia about running across the upstairs floor, the pair appear outside, where it is impossible that Lydia was creating the footsteps) to confuse the audience, then strike the odd burst of high tension (the piano scene, for example), before building to a climax of utter disorientation (before the end, when it is revealed that Grace and the children are ghosts). It is this confusion that gives The Others a unique, intelligent twist on the typical horror film.
All in all, the beginning can prepare us for much of the film, even though we may not notice it on first viewing. However, some links (such as Grace’s scream over her death) are left largely unexplained until the final scenes, which allows for suspense. Other things are not linked to at all, which makes them more of a surprise. This mixture of links which are existent and nonexistent allows for there to be security as to who the characters are, yet allows for tension and climatic effects as well. The linking is perfectly balanced, which makes this a thoroughly unique film, in my opinion, which is why I like it.