WB "The Ring" (2002)

Genre:
This film is part of  the horror genre fitting under the psychological sub-genre. This movie at the beginning of the movie does seem to meet the audience expectations. This is evident through the use of having teenage girls as the victims.

Form and style of opening:
This is quite a conventional opening to a horror film. We are introduced to the two teenage girls who we expect to be killed. This is quite common within horror films, having teenage girls as the victims. A sense of foreboding is created through sound, mise-en-scene, camerawork, and editing. Character exposition is created through the narrative. The titles are not present within the opening sequence yet a common theme of circles is, symbolising the ring. The title of this film doesn't reveal very much to the audience as it doesn't connote something straight away, like a film such as 'Paranormal Activity' or 'Saw' does.

Film language - telling the story:
Mise-en-scene is very important throughout this opening sequence in creating a very tense, horror feel. The common use of a big creepy house connotes that this is a horror film and creates the atmosphere straight away.
The establishing shot of the house puts us on the edge of our seats straight away as we are aware of other horror films where their is some spooky supernatural being ready to attack at any point. This is reinforced with the tracking shot that begins from the TV and goes into the possessed teenage girl.
Sound is very important within the extract. Throughout the shot mentioned above, a loud scream is heard anchoring the image very effectively. Moreover the use of selective sound is prominent within this clip creating suspense and tension within the narrative. This is evident when the phone rings and when the TV crackles.
The dialogue reveals to us that these two girls fit the dominant ideology for a teenager of their gender and generation. They seem to be relatively stereotypical regarding interests and appearances.
There are many aspects from this clip that we would consider to use within are own work. I found that the use of selective sound was very effective and would definitely look to use that within my own work.

Narrative:
Throughout this sequence, the narrative positions us with the protagonists/victims. We are introduced to the antagonist along with the protagonists leaving a sense of uncertainty and mystery. Moreover, the narrative makes us think that we are their with the victims meaning that we are on the edge of our seats and afraid. By positioning us with the protagonist, a sense of tension is created and sustained very effectively. We are just as unaware of what is going to happen as the victims on the screen meaning we become afraid just like them.

Representation and ideology:
The only characters we see throughout this sequence are two teenage girls. This is a dominant ideological discourse for horror films, having the victims as teenage girls. Moreover having this prominent theme used within this extract makes us on the edge of our seats as we think right from the start that they are going to be harmed in some way.

Media audiences:
The main target audience for this genre is likely to be 15-28 as they are the ages where the horror genre is mainly viewed around the whole population. The preferred reading from this text would likely be that their is something evil within the house and TV that is possessing these two innocent girls. An oppositional reading may sympathise with the force and state that the two girls deserve to be possessed and harmed.



Culturally marked
Dominant ideology
Residual ideology
Stereotype
Age
Hegomacy