A.M: Analysing Nightmare on Elms street Opening Sequence

Genre

-Nightmare on Elms street is a Slasher Horror film and was released in 2010. The opening sequence is quite conventional of a slasher film. There is a killer who is stalking his victim with a hand held sharp weapon. The victim is quite young which is very typical of a slasher film victim. The setting appears to be quite empty and eerie in the opening clip especially with the added bad weather conditions and low key lighting. It is

conventional for slasher films to have an isolated setting, however as it is set in a diner this location isn’t abandoned or  likely to be very empty all the time, so slightly challenges the genre.  The storyline that the killer only appears in the victims dream is a very interesting idea and is also not conventional in most slasher films. The fact that the protagonist is in an empty diner at night means that he probably can’t easily contact anyone for help. Over all the clip does conform to certain conventions of slasher films but there are added aspects that challenge the conventions.

Form and style of opening

-A sense of foreboding is introduced via the dreary weather, empty location, lighting and the waitress’s actions. Firstly the waitress appears to be unable to respond, it seems that she is possessed and possibly being controlled.  Her movements are very restrictive and precist making her appear unnatural. This creates the idea that the protagonist is vulnerable and alone unable to reach out to anybody for help. The dreary weather adds to the eerie atmosphere and implies that something bad is going to happen. The lighting in the diner is very low key. There is also green and red lighting which gives the colouring of the clip a very unique look, almost a gruesome, unnatural and scary look.

There is character exposition in the sequence for example, nearing the end of the sequence the waitress says:’dean I told you if you keep falling asleep they're going to kick you out of here’ This suggests that the protagonist and the waitress know eachother due to the fact she refers to his name and comments on the fact he is in the diner a lot falling asleep. This informs the audience that he is a regular customer. As well it implies that he has a sleeping problem as he is always falling asleep in the diner Also at the end of the clip the protagonist keeps the steak knife. This suggests how he is a paranoid person and that he is on edge after his nightmare.

In this horror film none of the titles are intergrated into the sequence.  The titles of the film connotes the fact it is about an average street and this makes the horror film more relatable as it could happen on anyones street. It makes the horror close to home and that much more scary.

Film Language- telling the story

-Mise en scene is used effectively to create a tense atmosphere and make the audience relate to certain characters. For example different techniques of lighting is used throughout the clip. At the beginning of the sequence there is low key lighting with flickering lights. The flickering lights is very conventional of many horror films and makes the setting feel more unsafe. There are stripes of light being filtered through the blinds creating streaks of shadows. This technique is great as provides light whereas still creates lots of interesting shadows on the scene. When the protagonist goes through to the back room there is fire. The fire is very overwhelming and creates glowing flickering light. This light gleams off the protagonists face showing his slightly sweaty composure, showing that he feels uncomfortably hot and worried. The noise the fire produces is quite loud making the fire that much more intimidating. Costume is used to establish characters. For example the protagonist is wearing ordinary clothing, just a simple t shirt, shirt and trousers. This makes him relatable as is just an ordinary guy and therefore his whole situation is more realistic. This means the audience will be able to identify with him easily. The killer on the other hand is in very dark thick clothing from what we see. Creating him as an enigma and a mysterious gothic character.

Non-verbal language is used to convey the emotions and inner thoughts of the characters. For example when the protagonist walks into the back room his facial expression changes and is very worried conveying that he is uncomfortable and nervous. When the killer is stalking his victim you see his hands which have gloves on with knives attached. He slides the knives against each other with the protagonist in shot. This connotes his eagerness and impatience to attack his victim. He is so keen to slash the victim but has to hold himself back until the perfect moment. As the protagonist keeps suddenly turning around. and looking behind him. This fast action conveys that he feels uneasy and unsafe and that he is suspicious of his surroundings.

Many POV shots are used as the protagonist makes his way around the diner. This makes the audience identify with him. At the beginning of the sequence we don’t clearly see the waitresses face. She is out of focus and we never see her expression. Therefore the audience doesn’t identify with her as we don’t connect to her inner emotions or thoughts.A low camera angle is used when the killer is behind the protagonist. You see the knives hanging from the killers fingers clearly. And the fact that the shot is at a low angle makes the killer look very intimidating and powerful. He is also created as a enigma at first as we can’t see much of him.
 

Editing is used to show who is in control of the situation. For example when the protagonist is searching for the waitress the killer suddenly appears as soon as the protagonist turns around. This makes him appear as very stealthy and supernatural. It conveys the idea that the killer has the upper hand. Due to the fact the protagnoists back is to the killer shows that the killer is in the prime position with more information on the surroundings than the protagonist.

Sound is used to create a tense atmosphere. For example there are sound affects of a creeking door. This is very conventional of horror films. Also there is eerie tense music playing throughout the sequence and intensifies when the protagonist enters the other room and is closer to the slasher. The non-diagetic sounds such as the slashers knives rubbing together create tension as the audience knows the slasher is going to attack. Dialogue is also key in understanding how characters are feeling. For example when the protagonist is trying to ask for more coffee from the waitress his tone is confused. This represents that the waitress is acting abnormally and that she isn’t herself for some un known reason.

There are a number of ideas that we could take from this clip. For example I think the fact that the slasher is at first an enigma as it adds a sense of mystery and tension to the opening. Also I like the storyline and how the beginning of the clip is a dream but the audience doesn’t know.  As well I think they have used lighting very well. I like the different colours of light, such as the green and red lighting and also the use of light streaming through the blinds and finally the light coming from the fire.

Narrative

-At the start of the clip the protagonist is having a one sided conversation. The person he is talking is unresponsive. The narrative therefore connotes the idea that he is very isolated and alone, although there is another person there she appears to have no mind. At the end of the clip the protagonist wakes up and has a conversation with the waitress. This creates a sense of security as he isn’t alone and he appears to have just had a nightmare. The audience is therefore positioned with the male protagonist as he has the most dialogue and we therefore hear his thoughts. Also the fact that we saw his supposed ‘nightmare’ brings the audience even closer to him. The waitress is quite alientated at the start of the clip. She has no dialogue and the camera doesn’t clearly show us her face or expression. This makes the audience feel more distant from her.

Representation and Ideology

- The fact that the protagonist is a white american male conveys the idea that his perspective is more

important than the perspective ethnic minorities. Also the waitress is a white american female this means that the opening isn’t showing all the different ethnicitites there are and is an incorrect representation of the world. In the clip the man is sitting at table and the waitress who is a women is serving him. Baisically she isn’t that important, her only importance is to serve the male. This represents the regressive ideology that a womens role is to serve men.

 Media Audiences

-The target audience for this slasher film are the core audience of 15-24 year olds and more specifically teenage boys and men. The preffered reading is that the protagonist is the innocent victim and the slasher is in the wrong and is a killer. Where as an oppositional reading would be that you see the male protagonist as the killer and the slasher is the victim, possibly getting his revenge.

Institutional Context

-Nightmare on Elms Street is an industrial film with a budget of $35 million and was released by warner bros and Platinum Dunes. The film intergrate with the National Entertainment Collectibles Association and released two Freddy Krueger action figures. Also the NECA relesed a replica of Freddy’s clawed glove. As well an online game was created where the user attempted to keep a young girl awake using coffee, cold showers, self mutilation and other ways to keep her safe from freddy. The film had it’s own website where it advertised the DVD and Blu-ray. The Blu-ray has special features such as the delted scenes and  an alternative opening and ending.

A.M