Hide and Seek

Before I studied the opening sequence I analysed the poster, and already from it I could tell what kind of film it was. It used black and red as the main theme colours which is typical of thriller movies, also the fact that the mans face is in the shadow represents how something awful has happened to him, his expression portrays that as well. This could mean a death or murder is going to occur another essential thriller convention.

The beginning of the movie we establish the setting which is in New York City and we know it's the start of the New Year; the writing is on a black background which contrasts with the white signifying good against evil. Classical music is played throughout the beginning which is played in minor key again its preparing the audience for something bad to happen.

In the next shot we see an extreme close-up of a little girls eyes which portrays innocence, we then see a close-up of her hand holding onto a pole then another holding a doll. Another close-up follows and we see her smiling. The shots represent that she is happy with life and nothing is really going wrong.Afterwards there's a 360 degree shot of the sky and the trees and the audience sees it in the point of view of the little girl, this is a useful technique used in thriller movies because we feel like we're on the merry go round with her. This could also be a foreshadow of how her life is going to be spinning out of control.The following shot is a reverse zoom out to a birds eye view show and we learn she's in the park, also we establish her mum is pushing her and they both seem very happy, again this worries the audience because we know this happiness may not last.

The next shot is a wide shot of a park and we see a man is walking towards the mum and daughter. These shots help us distinguish the main characters of the movie. The positioning of the man in the frame makes him look weak and not as involved in the family as he would like, then we get a close-up of his concerned expression suddenly the camera switches to the mums happy face. This binary opposition keeps the audience intrigued and want to know what's going on.

Subsequently there's a wide shot if a kitchen and in the corner we see a family portrait and the light is shining only on the mum and daughter. This represents the bond between the mother and daughter is stronger than the one between the father. The mother is in the kitchen taking pills with alcohol so we know she is not as happy as she seems and there's something wrong with her. Additionally she's wearing black which signifies death; the director is giving the audience clues as to what is going to happen next another thriller convention.

In the next shot the mother is playing the hide and seek game with her daughter, the title also reflects the characters psychological state because she is hiding something from her daughter and husband and they have to find out what's wrong with her. Next there's a reverse shot of the mother and daughter and a close-up of each others smiling faces and then the mothers face abruptly turns serious and the audience wonders what's going on. This is reflected by the child's response, and the mother tells her she loves her. This is an emotional goodbye so we know this may be the last time they see each other. This is followed by a two-shot of her kissing her goodnight. As the mother closes the door since the child is scared of the dark she sleeps with the door open and again there's binary opposition, the light opposite the dark.

In the next scene we witness how the husband and wife's relationship is unstable. The reverse shot shows the wife in the distance which is also present in their relationship. However he seems concerned about her which is expressed in the close-up of his face. She seems distant and they have troubles because they go to therapy.

In the consecutive shot there's a wide shot of the women in the bath and we can hear dripping water, this is where the audience can feel tension starting to build also because of the eerie silence we can sense something is going to happen. We then see a close-up of the husband sleeping and he's suddenly awoken by a nightmare and this could signify where his relationship went wrong with his wife. When he realises she isn't in bed and its 2:30 and goes to look for her, the audience is kept in suspense. This is achieved by him walking slowly through the house also there is no diegetic sound, the only thing we can hear is the dripping of the water and his footsteps which makes us even more worried. It’s made worse when he calls out to his wife so she's not responding, already we can tell what is about to occur.

To keep us even more anxious the husband opens the bathroom door slowly and we expect to see something there, but we don't so we become even more curious which is what a thriller aims to do. He then pulls back the bath door and before we see the mothers body laying in a pool of blood his expression tells us something is wrong. Immediately everything goes in slow motion which adds a more dramatic effect, also non-diegetic sound is added again which sounds traumatic and it coincides with the classical music playing which also played at the beginning. This could represent how there family life will never be the same.

Lastly there's a two-shot which zooms out to a three-shot and we see the daughter in the doorway and the camera slowly zooms up to her expressionless face and we can tell how she won't be the same happy child she used to be.