Tuesday, 1 November 2011

The first thing we see in the sequence is the man, presumably an older relative, angrily throwing a bottle of alcohol into the lit fire place and as the flames rise we get a sense of a hell like atmosphere, which really emphasizes the fact that he is evil, almost comparing him to the devil. The fire almost makes the scene more intense and connotes that it is a dangerous situation. Then as the girl walks into the hallway, we see the man standing in front of a window with the flashing lights of a storm behind him. First of all we can tell by his body posture that he is the more powerful one between them both. We can also see the lighting here and through out the sequence is very dark and low key, to show the mental and emotional darkness in the home. As here is standing there we see him in silhouette, this shows him as a dark person and adds to his portrayal of the villain. It is also really light behind him outside, this could show that there is hope outside these walls but he’s blocking it from her. Also the lighting emphasis the drama and the stormy weather could also represent the sadness and harshness of the situation.

We see as his forces open the door that he is angry but his facial expression, and we can tell from hers that she is petrified and desperate to escape. We can also see who the villain is by their costumes, because the man is wearing black, which is a denotation of death. With the girl we can tell she is the innocent one by her bright blonde hair which portrays her as very young, however her costume is orange and closely resembles a prison uniform which tells us she’s not all entirely innocent, this as well as the mans funeral like costume both could foreshadow the later even of the accidental murder of the girls younger sisters death. As he grabs her we see her button fly off this shows he is both vicious and subtly hints and sexual abuse. We can see when she scratches his face, how desperate she is to escape, it’s almost like she is attempting to crawl her way out, of her current lifestyle.

Later as we see the younger sister of the girl stepping into the closet, it shows her stepping into darkness. This is done to show that she is now the victim, stepping into the metaphorical darkness of a darker lifestyle. He is again shown standing in a powerful posture and like before he is also shows and bigger and taller, which adds to him being more powerful. When we see her with a gun we know why she is completely innocent, then when after she’s shot it and we see it hit a pipe we know she’s missed him. As we see her frantically we know something must be wrong and as it was similar to the way she did with her sister earlier, it hints it might involve her. When we see her sister dead, we see she’s wearing a long white dress, this shows her innocence, as a victim and the white could also show her as an angel. Lastly when see the girl holding her sister we can tell how much she cares for her, and in addition to body language and proximity, we see by her facial expression how distraught she is and how that is truly heartbroken.

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