Analysing Film Opening Sequences

The Conjuring Opening:

There are various different features that are included in The Conjuring opening sequence that portray it to fit in to the horror genre. The miss-en-scene, music and camera angles all play a big part in this.

The miss-en-scene of the clip is typical for the horror genre. Each scene is very dimly lighted, with some desaturation involved. In the scene where the two women come home one day and discover the destruction that Annabelle has caused, the room has flickering lights, merely showing glimpses of the paranormal damage that she has caused. This makes it hard for us to see exactly what is going on and it can be difficult to see the character’s facial expressions. This makes the audience want to know what is going to happen next, creating suspense.

There were no opening credits included which is quite common for a horror movie. A fairly large amount of dialogue is used in this opening sequence which is not typical for a horror film. It involves two women telling a story about the main ‘character’, Annabelle, who is a possessed doll. Although this is uncommon for a horror movie, it does help the audience with the overall context of the film, in order for them to be able to understand what is going on.

The two women in the movie are portrayed as weak and helpless which is stereotypical for a Hollywood movie. It also fits in with the time that the movie is set in. In the 60s women were seen as caring and maternal figures which is signified through the occupations of the women who are nurses.








Building on the 60s setting, the props used cleverly show the time that the movie is set in. The furniture and décor of the typical American ‘haunted house’ perfectly displays the 60s atmosphere that is a running theme throughout the movie.




When the women first come home they find a note reading “miss me?” written in red crayon. They continue to discover that Annabelle has written all over a room with the red crayon. The use of red signifies danger which can be seen as foreshadowing for future events that occur throughout the film.







Red is also seen on Annabelle’s lips which could show potential anger in the character. This also interests the audience more, as red is a colour that is quite striking to the eye.








A variety of camera shots are used throughout the piece to make the scenes seem more intense, something that is characteristic of a horror movie. The opening sequence starts off with an extreme close up shot of Annabelle which slowly zooms out to eventually focus on the other characters.







Both zoom out and zoom in shots are used frequently in each scene to show the intensity of the movie. As well as this, over the shoulder shots are used when dialogue is taking place but also when the women first come home and see Annabelle sat in the hallway.

When the women walk into the room to discover what Annabelle has done, a point-of-view shot is used in order to show the full extent of the damage that has been caused. The use of the point-of-view shot makes the audience feel like they are in the room with the characters which makes the atmosphere more scary and intense.




A hand-held shot is used when the women first approach Annabelle. This shot is shaky which signifies the instability of the characters, also making the audience feel nervous.
In the very last scene of the opening sequence a birds-eye view shot is used when one the characters chucks the doll in the bin. The use of this shot shows the audience all the surroundings and they can see exactly what is going on.

Finally, the music that is used in the opening sequence produces depth and power that would not exist without it. Throughout the first scene the music is slow and gloomy which matches to the character’s intonation. When the women are discovering what Annabelle had done, the music changed to a screeching piano sound that slowly increases in volume and pitch the more the