JSJD X: First 15 minutes of the film Martyrs analysis

Martyrs Genre - Psychological horror

Link to first 15 minutes of film - http://watch32.com/movies-online/martyrs-195874/episode-1.html

Storyline: Fifteen years after a horrifying experience of abduction and prolonged torture, Lucie embarks on a bloody quest for revenge against her oppressors. Along with her childhood friend, Anna, who also suffered abuse, she quickly descends, without hope, into madness and her own delusions. Anna, left on her own begins to re-experience what Lucie did when she was only twelve years old...

In the first 15 minutes of the film, it starts out with a short documented clips of the conditions Lucie used to live in when she was tortured. We are then shown the home she lives in now and the friend she has made, Anna. We also see the psychological problems and delusions she is going through as she believed she is being attacked by something. It then goes 15 years into the future with the scene of an average family joking around at the breakfast table. The doorbell rings and an older Lucie is at the door with a shotgun and kills all members of the family in seek of revenge.

The film starts with Lucie breaking free from the torture. The camera seems to be hand held and isn't being held smoothly to add to the effect of delusion and fear as she is running away. There are lots of close up shots to show Lucies facial expression and the cuts on her face to make the audience realise she has been involved in some kind of torture. The close ups are edited so that they quickly jump from her face, to her legs running and then a different part of her body. There are also wide shots and master shots to show the area that Lucie is running away from and what she looks like. This tells the audience that Lucie is breaking free from kidnap and her makeup and costume supports this. A dolly will have been used on the shot of Lucie running towards the camera to show her running away. Short takes are used on close ups of Lucinda to show the audience the torture she has been through and long takes are shown when she is running to show her surroundings and her limping as she runs. The costume she is wearing is a grey vest and pants which are ripped and have blood and dirt on them. Her head is badly shaved and her makeup is done so she looks like she has lots of cuts, bruises and blood all over her body. This tells the audience that by her clothes she has been held captive and from the blood she has been tortured. There is diagetic sound all the way through this scene as we hear the ambvient sound of heavy metal doors banging as she escapes and her heavy breathing. This adds to the realism of her escape and shows us how fatigue and scared she is. She also starts screaming towards the end as she is in need of help and the scream is a sound bridge into the next scene. There is also non-diagetic sound which is not very noticeable of some sinister quiet music. This adds to her delusional state and brings more tension into the scene.
The next scene is shown as though it is being viewed from an old fashioned projector. This is because the camera is hand held and looks as though it has been taken from someone observing Lucies behavior. The video clips looks old fashioned as a grainy effect has been edited onto them to make them look as though they were taken from an old fashioned video camera. The non-diagetic sound also supports this as when the video clips start, a video projector is heard as though it is being watched from one. There is also non-diagetic sound of a reporter doing a voice over to the video clips to show the audience that Lucies incident is being documented. Music is also placed over this scene of a creepy piano. This music increases to build tension in the scene. This scene uses the setting of an old abonded building to show the conditions she used to live in. There is also another setting of the new care home she lives in and shows the lack of relationship she has with all the other children. They are all wearing old fashioned children clothes as later on in the film we realise this was 15 years ago.
The next scene supports the previous scene being shown on some kind of projector as the scene transition is by the projector being pulled down. The setting is now in the care homes office/interview room and Anna is being questioned about what happened to Lucie. Shot reverse shot and over the shoulder shots are used between the interviewer and Anne to help the conversation between them both flow better. It also shows who is speaking and the facial reaction of the person listening. A focus pull is also used as we have focus of Annas face and then the focus switches to the social worker who is also in the room for support. The only sound we hear in this scene is diagetic and it is the dialogue between Anna and the interviewer. Anna is wearing a childrens dress so show her youth and innocence whilst the interviewer and social carer are wearing an outfit with more authority.
The next scene is when Lucie and Anna are going to sleep and we see how delusional Lucie is from her experience as she believes there is a creature tormenting her. A master shot is used to show the setting of the bedroom and several close up shots of her face as used to show her emotions. The editing gets very quick paced with lots of short shots so that the audienc dont get a clear look at this creature but know that something is there. This adds to Lucies unfit mind as there isn't actually any creature there. The lighting is also very dark with lots of shadows which also makes the audience unsure as to what the creature is and makes the scene more sinister. There is diagetic sound of Lucies breathing with emphasis's how scared she is. A sting of sound is used when the dark shadow runs across the screen as in attempt of a jump scare. The sound and the shadow together will make the audience feel Lucies fear. There are non-diagetic sounds of screams and a diagetic sound of a toy ticking is emphasised. This showed Lucies state of mind as everything is becoming too much for her and the audience will see her state of mind is unhealthy. There is also some low deep music that sounds eerie which adds to the tension and makes the scene more sinister.
An ellipses edit is used at the start of the next scene as it goes 15 years into the future. In this scene, we see a normal family around the breakfast table and an older Lucie comes and kills them as revenge. Shot reverse shot and over the shoulder shots are used as the family are having conversations around the table. This is to show the audience who is talking and their facial expressions. There is also a mid shot of Lucie at the door with her shotgun to show she has arrived with a weapon. Sound effects will have been added as non-diagetic of the shotgun going off when she shoots will be heard to add to the effect of a the weapon being lethal. Their outfits in this scene are more modern to add to the effect that it is taken in the future. There are everyday props in the kitchen such as a kettle and toaster to add to the effect that it is just a normal everyday family.