Jennifer's Body

For our research we looked at many different film opening clips in our genre, this film is an american teen horror and as we have incorporated both elements of a teen drama and a horror into our opening we chose to deconstruct some.

Sound: 
At the beginning of the clip non diegetic sound is used, the music being played is very eerie , this creates a spooky atmosphere and sets the tone for the film as the camera moves forward towards the house we hear the wind blowing and a horse neighing these sounds, suggest there is not much other activity going on around the area so creates the sense of loneliness. As the girl appears in the window the music abruptly stops and changes to add to the impact of something scary happening. later on in the clip when she is thrown into the sectioned room for misbehaving the music that is played is fairly upbeat this is used to try and relax or make whoever is in there more relaxed and happy and calm again. 


Camera angles:
When they show the girl in her bedroom at the beginning of the clip they use a close up shot of her scratching her arm and putting her hair in her mouth. The scratching could convey feelings of anxiety, or she is worried about what might happen, it could also suggest boredom which again follows the feeling of loneliness and not feeling safe when people are alone, which is enforced by the howling of the wind and strange noises in the background. When the camera shows the other girl appear at the window suddenly, the girl in the bed doesn't see her only the audience do, this could symbolise how something will happen to the girl but she won't be aware of what will happen to her before, following the typical genre. Later on in the clip when the girl is sectioned off into he little room they use a close up on her face to show the expression of desperation and slight loss of sanity in her eyes, as the camera follows her eyes up to the window we know she wants to break out of there and be free again. 


 Editing: 

Cross cuts are used at the beginning to show the camera moving forward through the garden up to the house and then into the girls bedroom, this is to show something will happen between these 2 places simultaneously, and as it gets closer towards the window the movement slows down and the girls face appears abruptly. 

Mise en scene
The girls room in the beginning of the clip is quite girly with pink lampshades next to her bed and pictures behind her bed, likes to keep good memories she's quite innocent, which later is juxtaposed with the other scenes of being in a mental institute. When the girl is talking while getting dressed we never see her face, they show close up of the scars on her body which causes us to think as to why this has happened, she wants to hide away from the camera as she wants to hide from society. The camera pans across the mess in the room could be trying to represent the mess of her mental stability at the moment, her stuff is everywhere in  the room but she's not bothered by this. When she kicks the woman across the table in the canteen this shows her aggressive side, she gets angry very easily as they call her 'kicker'. When she is put into the room alone the camera has an aerial shot of a cross in the middle of floor, it could be a reflection from the windows, but a cross is usually used to signal danger or to tell people to keep out so we can predict something dangerous will happen to this character. Finally as the camera tilts up to show the windows at the very top it shows they are locked so she has no way of getting out, she is trapped and she is psychologically trapped in her mind.