Analysis of a horror thriller opening: Saw

SAW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F2tFCiqOmw

Saw is an American horror franchise distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment and produced by Twisted Pictures that consists of seven feature films and additional media. Saw: Legacy is an upcoming American horror film directed by Michael and Peter Spierig, and written by Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger. It is the eighth instalment in the Saw franchise.

 In the opening of the movie, a man is seen laying on a hard, concrete floor. With the use of mise-en-scene, Spierg makes the lighting of the room extremely dim. This sets the mood for the movie for the audience as dark lighting is typically used in horror-thrillers as it puts the audience on edge and creates a sense of ambiguity. For instance, they don't know what is going to suddenly scare them. Another use of mise-en-scene is via the costume of the character. The confused man on the floor is dressed in casual clothing. However, they are ripped and dirty. This makes it clear to the audience that he doesn't know how he got to that location. This could subconsciously be suggesting to the audience that the character was kidnapped and is there against his will. This referencing to crime is a typical convention of a thriller as this is a good fear factor to engage the audience. With the use of transition shots, the opening scene switches from showing the character, to fading to black to show the opening titles. This use of editing is useful because the titles are sharp and the background is black, meaning it also sets a thriller/horror atmosphere for the audience as dark colours are often interoperated as sinister or imply danger. By employing deep and mysterious non-diegetic sound, the director is able to create tension and suspense. This is a common technique used to build the atmosphere in a thriller as it attracts the audiences undivided attention.

A long shot is then employed to give the audience an idea of the location in which the scenes are filmed in. Within this shot, the audience automatically identifies three dead bodies that are scattered around the room like casual decoration. This coheres to the thriller genre as it's usually closely related to crime, such as murder; this is one of the most typical conventions of a thriller as the audiences feel increasingly interested in the story line. This use of these props also shocks the audience as they then know that something bad is going to happen, this is paired with the use of a close-up shot that shows how the victim is chained to the wall, making him vulnerable and helpless. In the long shot, the audience also identifies a man who is standing  above the victim. With the use of mise-en-scene, the director uses costume to make this man seem powerful and dangerous. For instance, he is costumed in all black clothing which is typically a dominant colour and is similar to the dark thriller titles, these paired together suggests to the audience that this man is the perpetrator in the movie. Thriller movies usually incorporate a perpetrator as its a typical convention of the genre due to it giving the audience a suspect. This intrigues them and would encourage them to watch more. As well as this, Spierig incorporates a 'saw' as a prop. This weapon is shown in a long shot which captures the weapon being thrown across the floor, ultimately implying that the victim has no way of breaking the chain; thus once again making him vulnerable and helpless.

With the use of dialogue, the director prompts the victim character to use constant profanity towards the perpetrator, implying he is frustrated and scared and therefore tries to mask this by expressing dominance through his speech. This is a good way to open a thriller to the audience as it gives them their first hint of the storyline, where the victim will loose no matter what as words are useless. It reflects real life societal problems such as murder and torture, thus thrilling the audience as they are able to comprehend the seriousness and surrealism of the characters situation and their likely fate of death. Intriguingly, Spierig uses a walking stick to make the perpetrator seem weaker than expected. This prop, shown in a long shot, is new to the audience and surprisingly goes against the typical conventions of a thriller as it makes the character seem just as vulnerable as the victim. As he limps across the dingy room, the perpetrator is again shown in a long shot, turning off the lights. A close-up shot is then adopted to express the victims fear and frustration after being abandoned with no recourses for survival. When the scene ends, the perpetrator adopts dialogue by saying "Game Over" as he closes the door, which ultimately leads to blackness. These words suggest to the audience that the victim is going to die, however, the ambiguity still lingers as they are confused about why he is there, how he will die or even how will he escape the 'game'. This creates a similarity between this and other thriller movies as the darkness almost shapes/suggests the frightening, yet ambiguous, fate. 

Through all of these factors, the director is able to give the audience an idea of what the thriller will consist of by employing common themes such as crime, darkness and ambiguity.