Textual Analysis of 'The Strangers' (Sophie Herridge)

The film that I have chosen to analyse is the opening sequence to a thriller film called ‘The Strangers’ (2008), written and directed by Bryan Bertino. The story is about a young couple who end up staying in an isolated holiday home during their romantic visit. However, they get dreadfully terrorised by 3 unknown intruders. This film has had a major impact on me and is one film that I always remember by its constant shocks and frights literally keeping you off your seat. From this, I was extremely influenced and inspired to create and make our own opening sequence as successful as ‘The Strangers’, which made a gross amount of $82.3 million at the box office worldwide.

The sequence starts off with the opening orange shaded titles fading in, in front a black background, representing a binary opposition. The colour orange is seen to be a passionate and energetic colour; however it is presented upon a black background which represents mystery and evil. This immediately illustrates slyness and deceitfulness, reflecting parts of the story ahead. The chosen font hints to the audience the sense of seriousness that this film holds, as well as revealing the genre of the film. The title sequence then stops and the beginning of the story is told through the use of a voice over. The man’s voice is very deep in tone and croaky which is chosen to cause fright as well as a mystical feel before the first scene is displayed. The audience is then left in anticipation that something bad is going to follow. In addition, non-diegetic music is heard over this to increase tension as it echoes and screeches, sounding like distorted church music, again being a binary opposition between good and evil, therefore giving a message that there will be a fight between the two ahead.

Following this, the text fades out the same way it faded in leaving the audience in darkness and anticipation. Diegetic sound is used to display a car engine starting up, implying that the characters will be going on some sort of journey and this is established when the first scene fades in to a point of view, long shot from inside a car, driving past a variety of houses. The camera shows this movement by tracking and moving along the line of action, therefore making the audience feel like they are a part of this journey with the characters. The mise-en-scene makes it clear that this story is based in America from the use of the traditional white, wooden American houses and the use of light illustrates that their journey had started in the morning. The scene is then quickly left by a fade transition to the next scene displaying a change of time and a change of place. The camera is left as a point of view shot, however, the houses are slowly getting further away and more disperse, suggesting that the characters are travelling away from a busy environment to a more secluded, isolated area.

The mise-en-scene also illustrates that the evening is approaching as the light is dying away.  A mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic sound is used within these scenes. The diegetic sound is the car driving whereas the non-diegetic sound is the screechy distorted music heard before, representing that they are heading away from a safe, civilised place and are now travelling towards danger. This makes the audience anxious and builds up the tension of where the characters are travelling to. The fading transitions carry on until the mise-en-scene displays a dark night with no houses or signs of life within the frame. The non-diegetic music increases in loudness, signifying that they are getting closer and closer to this danger.

The scene then fades out again, leaving the audience in darkness still unaware of where the characters have ended up. Diegetic sound of young boy whimpering is added which illustrates vulnerability and exposure hinting to the audience that something bad has already happened in this ‘dangerous’ area. Therefore, they are eager to see the location and the state the boy is in.  The whimpering also suggests that the boy has experienced something terrible. We soon come to realise that he has dialled ‘911’ for the emergency services, emphasising his vulnerability and suggests that what has happened is out of his own control. Finally, after leaving the audience wondering the scene fades in to exhibit an extreme long shot so the audience can visualise the setting.

The mise-en-scene shows a very isolated place with fields and forests and a half smashed up car with what looks like a gun shot through the windscreen. This illustrates that there have been previous violent events to cause this. The camera tracks sideways until the camera is looking through the hole in the windscreen. Here, the audience are able to see two young school boys. The fact that they are seen through this hole suggests that they have some sort of friendship or relationship and that one of these boys is perhaps the one whimpering down the phone. Contrapuntal, calm and peaceful diegetic music is used as the music contrasts dramatically with the situation and the image presented within the scene. It also shows the tranquil representation of the countryside and what people believe it to be like.

A cut transition to a low angle shot is used to show the two young boys walking into a house. They are dressed smartly in black trousers and a white shirt, suggesting that they are well behaved children by their appearance. The low angle shot suggests that they have power in this situation. The mise-en-scene shows an extreme close up shot of an old record player still spinning even though the house appears to be empty, suggesting that something has happened to these people in the isolated house or that they may have left in a hurry. Another cut is used to show a wedding ring box and petals lying on the floor illustrating that there was a couple staying in this house that may have a close relationship. The audience are therefore keen to find out what has happened to the couple who stayed in this house. It is then revealed by a cut and close up shot of a kitchen knife covered in blood. The audience can then make assumptions that the people living there have been killed as all their possessions are still in the house. Another close up shot is a splatter of blood against a wall, supposedly made by a gun shot, as the next scene shows a gun on the kitchen work surface.

It has now been made clear that the people who lived in this house have somehow been brutally murdered, and the audience are now left in tenterhooks to see how these events took place. The young boy’s voice at the end echoes as the scene fades out, suggesting that these events are in the past or events that will happen in the future. The title of the film then fades in with non-diegetic music that rumbles, giving a warning to the audience that the film will be situated around brutal violent crimes.