NW / Dog Soldiers opening sequence analysis

Shot by shot analysis

1. black screen sound of water
2. cut to river while tilting down as the words Scotland appear on the bottom left
3. fade to man getting water from the lake
4. fade to man walking past fire to sit next to the woman
5. cut to man talking to woman
6. cut to woman
7. cut to man's reaction
8. cut to woman
9. cut to the both of them through the fire
10. cut further back then before but still through the fire
11. cut to man's reaction
12. cut to woman
13. cut to opening box
14. cut to woman
15. cut to man
16. cut to woman
17. cut into the tent - time is lasped between this and the shot before
18. cut to hand moving sensually across the womans bare body
19. cut to hand unzipping her trousers
20. cut to tent being unzipped by an unseen character
21. cut to woman's reaction
22. cut to man's reaction
23. cut to the zip on the tent
24. cut to both of their reactios
25. cut to the woman's legs being pulled from the tent by the unseen character however we see the hairy wold like arms coming inside the tent.
26. constant cutting and very shaky camera between the man and the woman
27. final cut of the 2 minutes of the man being splattered with the blood of the woman as she is ripped viciously in half by the beast.

Genre

This horror film supports your expectations and views of a stereotypical horror film as it has the iconography of suspense and fear of the unknown as you don't see the killer. The opening conforms to the charateristics of a supernatual horror opening.

Film Language
The mise-en-scene of this opening conveys the meaning as you are introduced to the silver knife the remote location and you don't see the whole werewolf however you see the arms and you are suppose to make the link between the silver and furry arms, this makes you think of a werewolf. The use of camera shows how sucluded they are and helps to emphasise the horror and emotion of the opening. Sound is used to increase the suspense and thrill of the scene.

Narrative
The narrative is shown in a linear fashion during this opening scene, as the opening does not involve any of the main characters we are not postioned with either side of the narrative. We can identify the werewolf is evil and trying to eat humans this is done through the use of mise-en-scene and the characters. The major theme of the narrative is the werewolves eating people around an area of scotland. Tension is created and maintained through the use of sound as the music over the top is creating a sense of forboading and when the werewolf attacks we cannot see it.

Representation and Ideology
We see a working class couple this is shown through the use of costume and the dialogue as they talk about work and are wearing lower quality clothing. The prominant belief shown in this scene is the supernatural.

Media Audiences
The target audience for this film are 15-35 year olds as this film is rated 15 this means that the people watching it are usually old enough to make there way to and from the cinema or place they are buying to DVD from.

Institutional Context
There are no big stars used in this film this has been done to decrease to costs of the film. The film was produced by Pathe and is an inudstrial film