The Village – Film Opening Analysis
In the opening credits, we see the majority of the stars that are in
the films names. We see the names in a white font which looks
almost old fashioned, on a dark background of trees which cover up
some of the names to fade them to black.
The names of the stars keep going for about 15 seconds until the music builds
slightly, which adds fear, until there is a loud drum and the words “The
Village” on a black background. This adds a jump scare feeling and
foreshadows the atmosphere for the rest of the film. After this, we see some
more names, including directors etc.
As the first shot opens, the music from the credit dies down into a soft
and sympathetic melody which builds the atmosphere for the shot that
fades in. This shot is an over the shoulder shot of a crowd that is
stepped quite far away from a man leaning over a casket, which can be
seen between the heads of the crowd. The camera zooms into the man
and the casket and then changes to the next shot.
The next shot is an arial shot of the man and the casket, the casket is very
small so we believe this is a child and the music helps us work out tha the
person in the casket is the man’s son.
The next shot is an over the shoulder shot of a grave stone
with the person we believe is being burried’s name on it. On
the grave stone, the words “Beloved son of” are shown, so
this also helps us believe that it is the man’s son.