Monday 10 February 2014

The Stepfather Opening sequence


The opening sequence to The Stepfather starts straight off with an establishing shot showing us a street which looks like it is in the American suburbs. There are only a few titles on screen and then it gets straight into the film. The camera switches to a view of the house it is fading into, which is a big house suggesting a well off family. We then meet the first character, his face and clothes covered in blood hinting at the fact a murder has already taken place, making the audience wonder as to what is happening straight away. This character then showers, shaves and changes his clothes showing us a different side to him, he looks like a sophisticated upstanding member of society, until he walks out the door and we see a gory mess that he leaves behind, there is a dead woman in the other room and as he closes the door we see a girl holding a teddy bear who is also dead. The fact he has committed a murder and walked away calmly seemingly with no worries suggests to the audience that he has done this before and maybe will do it again later on in the film.

Overall the opening sequence is very effective in setting the scene for the audience as to where the film is based and it also highlights who the main character may be for the rest of the film. The mood is set for the rest of the film, it is probably going to be about a serial killer and from the name of it he marries his victims and then kills them. Criticisms of the opening sequence would be that the titles are too short, some people prefer to see everyone who is involved in the production of the film.

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