The Strangers - Opening Analysis

This film starts off with a black screen, and bass heavy music playing straight off the bat. Titles fade on and off screen telling the audience the production company involved with this film. With the music still playing in the background, we are able to hear a narrator reading the text that fades o and off of screen next. The text gives the audience a brief description of the events that take place before the movie begins, and also gives a teaser as to how the film might finish.

There is then a sound bridge of a car starting up and driving. There is then a montage of different houses fading in and out of shot. Each house that appears seems to become more and more isolated in relation to location. This gives the audience an idea of how hidden from society this couple will be.

It will also give the sense of no escape, and no one to call for help. The montage and the music give off the feeling of suspense, already giving the audience a taste of what they might feel later on in the film. We then hear a sound bridge of a 911 telephone operator talking to someone on the other line. There is then a shot from the front of a car, and the windshield has a massive hole in it. There are two boys standing far behind the trucks, and the camera pans and tracks until they can be seen through the hole in the windshield.

The audience can also see the area that they are in, and they seem to be surrounded by forest. This gives a true feeling of isolation. there is then a hand held long shot, from inside a house, of the two boys walking through an open door. They are looking around as if to signify that they have found this place open and busted, to show the audience that they are not a part of the main story. There is then a close up shot of a vinyl record spinning, but no music is coming out. Then there is a close up shot of a ring box on the floor surrounded by rose petals. Then there is a close up shot of a bloody knife lying on the floor. A medium close up shot of a wall splattered in blood is then shown on screen.

And finally, there is a medium close up shot of a shotgun placed on a counter top. These five shots tell a story in itself, of how a couple were going to have a romantic get away, and one of them was going to propose, but it all got interrupted by a brutal and violent happening. Whilst all these shots are coming onto screen, we can hear the 911 call going on in the background. If you listen to what the person is saying, you will then realise that the person calling is one of the two boys that went into the house. By showing all these clips, it tells the audience that this is the aftermath of what happens in the movie. The voice then echoes out and the audience is left with a black screen. The music then becomes more grungy as the title of the film, The Strangers, appears on screen. This is when the movie begins.