Prom Night Openeing Analysis.

Prom Night Opening

Above is the link for the first ten minutes of the film Prom Night which I shall be analysing. This film is of the same genre and age rating of the film that we wish to make making it a suitable example for me to study.

 The opening titles give chance to visually shows the audience where the film is set rather then telling them ion the script. Long panned and tilted angles give the audience a sense of setting and location whilst the titles are shown, something which may not attract their full attention. The music played in the background also creates a sense of atmosphere as it has an upbeat tempo, this also creates a sense of tension as the audience know they have come to see a horror film, the sickly sweet 'American' sounding theme makes the audience even more tense as they are expecting something to go wrong.


As she enters the house there is a sense of foreboding. Her friend and mother have just left making her isolated and alone in the home. The diegetic sound of just the television and no other background sound also creates tension. Gradually building up in the background is non-diegetic mood music that creates tension and tells the audience that something is not correct. As the main character continues to do everyday tasks such as putting here coat in a wardrobe tension is built. This is something we could easily replicate through creating our own soundtrack. Using low key lighting and naturalistic angles is something we could easily do in one of our own homes. This would be cost effective yet still create the desired tension and dramatic effect.

The use of silences after she says the word 'Dad' create tension as the audience have their own suspicions as to the events that have occurred. After this the audiences' suspicions are answered as a camera tilt shows an image of her dead Father. This creates dramatic irony as the audience now know what is going to happen however the character doesn't. This creates tension. We could use this in our scriptwriting to easily create tension. This then leads to a close up of his bloody hand which creates further tension as the reader pieces together the image they are being shown without actually being told.

Re-creating a realistic injury could be difficult to create. We may have to research into how to make an injury look believable or use different methods in order to create tension.

The image above is something we could create. although this is later on, the close up of the knife and blood creates signals of panic within the audience. the low key lighting is something that we could recreate. to vary location we could do this outside as the green gives a sense of openness however the audience

After these images the audience is on edge. The non-diegetic music get louder and the quick pacing editing of events such as her tripping over a baseball bat crate further unease as the audience expect something major to happen. The low key lighting also creates tension as the audience fear what they cannot see. The character couldn't see the dead body and so the audience worry about what else may be hidden in the darkness. If we accurately use angles and lighting this may be something we can replicate and us in our own film. The use of editing between her brother create tension as they quickly jump between him and the television.

The audience suspect what has happened and as the camera jumps to a close up of his body it creates a sense of panic.

The editing quickens now as the intruders enter creating panic and tension in the audience.The pace is faster meaning that the audience don't know what is going to happen next. The camera angles in the next sequence give an interesting perspective as it is a low angle from the direction of the Character's eye line. This creates a sense of realism and tension as the audience is in the same position as her and feel equally vulnerable. The use of angles and lighting is effective as we only see the boots of the killer due to the low angle. The lighting also means that we can't see the identity creating mystery and suspense. The audience feel tense as we watch a visually impaired version of her mothers death, just like she does. To comply with the age certificate of a 15 we only see a close up of a knife allowing the audience members to use their imaginations for her death. The this is something  we  could use as we are using the same age certificate and want to stay within these guidelines.

The lighting then changes allowing us to see the killers identity.

This will become important in the next hairdressers scene. The use of a close up onto the girls eyes as she meets the killer is useful as it shows the fear and a zoom out also creates tension as we see her surroundings and the enclosed environment she is in.

The zoom also allows for a change of setting as she is now in a room explaining that this is a dream. This confuses the audience as they question if this is her imagination or a piece of reality. This is something we could use when scriptwriting to still make the plot line interesting even though the action and high speed editing has finished. The zoom allows for location change allowing the storyline too move on quickly and keep the audience interested. We could use this in our film as we are only creating the first two minutes.

They then use the same technique to move from the office to the hairdressers, zooming into her face and then zooming out in a different location. This is effective as it saves time, again something we could replicate and creates a link between the two scenes.  There is then the use of a wipe.
In the mirror she see's the killer. This pauses for a split moment allowing the audience to recognise who he is. This then is taken away by a wagon going past and wiping away his image. This is effective as it makes the audience wonder if he is there or not and if this is part of her imagination.

This is something we could pay homage to in our own film. We could re create this when Our killer is seen and then disappears and re appears in the home. This editing and filming technique could be effective and simple to create through using final cut.

There is then the use of another wipe again to change location. as a car goes past the location changes from the hairdressers to her home. The editing is effective as it creates a quick, naturalistic location change without using too much time. The fast pace editing and changing of scenes means that the audience is on edge as they expect something to happen. the last major jump section in this is when she is looking in the mirror. the non-diegetic music creates a sense of sincerity and the audience feel sympathy for her and the issues she has to deal with. as she closes the cabinet in the mirror the audience see her aunt in the background. this creates a jump as the music suddenly changes and a sharp chord is sounded. this creates a jump and relief sensation in the audience as they expect it to be the killer. This also makes the audience question if this is her imagination or reality as she has not been taking her medication.

These editing techniques and specific angles are something that we could use in our own film. If we accurately film and edit we could replicate them to create a 'jumpy' effect. The locations we use for our own film should be naturalistic such as a house or local areas to make the audience feel that nowhere is safe. It will be important to use lighting in order to create different moods and represent specific characters both positively and negatively. I think using different camera angles similar to when she is hiding under the bed could be effective as it creates a different perspective and makes the audience feel uncomfortable. This technique has been used in other films such as Taken to create the same atmosphere. I think using something like this would be effective to create tension amongst the audience and atmosphere.

Taken hiding scene

This film is something we could  replicate however with a different storyline. I think using the above techniques and some of the memorable images of the film we could create something individual however using some of the typical conventions of horror films.