Analysis of the first 15 Minutes of 'The ring'

The Ring

In the opening scene, an establishing shot is used of a house to show where there the location of the film is. After that, a mid shot of two teen girls is used, both girls are wearing school tops and very short school skirts and both appear to be very ditzy and slack. Both girls are gossiping about what they did at the weekend and Boys. This is supporting stereotypes as its what the audience would expect of two teenage girls. The lighting is very dull and dim, this creates an foreboding atmosphere and suggests impeding doom for the girls. Both girls begin to talk about a movie that kills you after 7 days of viewing it. The atmosphere is very tense and then we hear the phone ringing, at first the music is non diegetic as we cannot see the phone on the screen. Although the transition is used to then change scenes. We then see the telephone in a shallow focus. Drawing then viewers attention to the telephone suggesting it as a focal point.
As one girl answers the phone and opens the fridge to get a drink, we notice the other girl has gone missing and is no longer in the frame. A pan shot is then used of the girl as she puts down the phone and begins to walk into the next room. Although, non diegetic sounds which startle the girl can be heard. Close ups of her face are then used to exaggerate her emotional state. She appears, frightened and anxious. As she walks into the living room, an eyeline match is used to show what the girl is looking at, the TV. The TV is switched on and appears to be interfered. But the girl takes no notice and turns it off and begins to walk away.  Ambient sounds of the rain can be heard hitting the window to break the silence. The girl has pulled the plug from the socket and the TV is turned off. Although, through the screen a figure emerges then disappears, incidental music is used to add to the atmosphere. From then on, the shots of the girl are high angle shots, these are used to make her appear vulnerable and insignificant. In the background, faint thuds can be heard but her heavy breathing is more prominent. The girl calls her friend from the bottom of the stairs, but when no reply is heard she decides to run up the stairs to see where she is. Match on action is used to show her running up the stairs; a high angle shot from the top of the stairs is shown to she her just about to run up then a close up of her feet is used to show her running up the stairs.
When she gets to the top of the stairs, the camera is placed on the floor at a very low angle. Water can be seen on the floor and the girl hesitantly walks towards the water. A long take is used in this particular frame. Synchronous sounds of her feet in the water can be heard. An extreme close up of the girls face is shown, she looks terrified. A close up of the door handle is then used suggesting that it is a focal point for the audience. A match on action of her turning the handle and pushing the door open is used. A mid shot of a TV is then shown accompanied by some high pitch, alarming incidental music. A reverse zoom shot is used to zoom out from the TV. In the TV there seems to be a well in the middle of a field, a blue coloured filter is used in the TV to make it look scary and mercy. A long shot of the girl is then used to show her body language. The long shot is then zoomed in to the girls face which appears abnormal and almost possessive. As it is zoomed in, the pitch of the music becomes higher and quite painful to listen to.
Jump cuts are then continuality edited together with different snippets of key scene's to give the viewer an incite to what will be a focal point throughout the film.
An extreme close up of a piece of paper and a crayon is then shown. The colours contrast well as the paper is very crisp and bright which contrast with the dullness of the previous scene. A master shot is then used of the classroom to anchor the characters to the setting. From this, we can see a teacher at a desk and a young boy at a table drawing. As the boy looks up from his desk to the teacher, an over the shoulder shot is used. This helps to establish the position of each person and get a feel of looking at a person from the others point of view. Another pan shot of another character walking down the corridor is then used as a way of introducing them. A mid shot is then used to introduce the new character. She is smartly, professionally dressed and could possibly be the young boys mother. As the boy walks out of the classroom the teacher and the new character sit down to 'talk' in the class alone.  A focus pull is then used when the teacher asks the lady to stay and have a chat. To begin with the teacher is in focus and the rest of the scene is out of focus, allowing the audience to concentrate on the teacher and what she is saying. The focus pull then switches making the women the centre focus as we hear her response.
A dolly shot is then used from a distance to slowly come forward to where the ladies are sat talking about the young boy so the audience can hear what they are saying. Shot reverse shots are used to show the two people conversing. Slightly high angle shots are used of the teacher to make her seem less powerful and insignificant, whereas low angle shots are used of the other women to make her seem of an higher authority and more powerful. Again, mid shots and shot reverse shots are used whilst the two women discuss the young boys behaviour and the recent death of his 16 year old cousin. The teacher says to the women "I'd like to show you something" and reaches out and retrieves some drawings from her desk. Close up shots of the drawings are shown to show the detail. The drawing appear to be very brutal and violent. Over the shoulder shots are then again used at the women talk about the drawings, the lady suggests that he's just mourning the death of her cousin The teacher has a worried, evasive expression on her face as she tells the women " his cousin died 3 days ago, right? Well, these were drawn last week.".
Soft, haunting, non diegetic music is played as the next scene is shown. A pan shot of the car driving and the boy in the back is used. A blue filter is used to suggest that its getting late, it could also have been used to give the scene an eerie feel. The next shot is the women driving in the front and she looks through the mirror to check on the boy in the back. The next scene is the two in the bedroom, the lady is tucking the boy into his bed. High angle shots are used of the boy to show his vulnerability and low angle shots are used to show the lady and how more significant she is. The boy is dressed in frog patterned pyjamas and his bedding has dinosaur patterns on. This suggests he's only very young and also still very naïve. As the women walks away from the door and is just about to leave, the young boy  says " she didn't have enough time" a close up is used of her face to exaggerate her confused expression. A mid shot is used to show her walking back to the bed. A close up of the boy talking is used. As he begins to talk about '" how much time he has left" he appears to have a possessive, menacing expression on his face. Close ups of the women are also used to show her concern for what the boy is saying. The young boy says the his cousin " knew she was going to die" then turns over facing the opposite way to the women. She then gets up walks to the door and turns the light off and shuts the door. The next shot is a master shot of a building in daylight suggesting that its now the morning.
A track shot is used as the camera turns a corner to show the women getting dressed. The track shots allows the audience to see the chaos what's occurring in the scene as the women looks for her black dress. She begins to shout " Aiden have you seen my black dress" as a long shot shows her walking into the living room. She stops, as an eyeline match is used as she sees the black dress on the sofa. A pan shot is then used to pan to where Aiden is; standing in a chair looking into the mirror. She picks up the dress and smiles at Aiden through the mirror.
The next scene is a long shot of both Aiden and the women walking down the street on the pavement hand in hand. The scene appears very dull and gloomy. All the other people in the scene have black clothes on and they appear to be entering a house. This suggests that they're at the young girls funeral and they are attending the wake.  A dolly shot is used to show the picture of the young girl on a table suggesting its a focal point for the audience. Aiden approaches the picture with a flower and lays it beside the picture. Non diegetic sounds can be heard.
The women then walks into the kitchen and begins to talk to another women. We find out that this is the girls mother and we see the girls father also. Both look distraught and distressed. The women begins to talk about how its abnormal for a 16 year olds heart to just 'stop working'. She pleads " Rachel she confided in you, please". A flashback is then used to show the girl dead. A point of view shot is used to show the mothers perspective of when she opened the door to see her dead daughter. Incidental music is used to alarm the reader and make it more tense and alarming. The girl is
dressed in her uniform as she was in the beginning. Her body is stiff and her face is grey an unearthly. A long shot is used to show her disposition, then a close up is used to emphasise her face.

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