CK: Technical Analysis of The Possession opening (Bornedal, 2012)

For this task I chose to analyse the opening sequence of The Possession (Bornedal, 2012) because it's sub-genre is supernatural horror which means it directly relates to what our group are planning to do, as well as this it's box office success makes it a valid film to draw from technically and take inspiration from.

 

Technically, what I have learn from this is:

 

Mise-en-scene:







• Old fashioned objects are very eerie.
• Darkness also adds mystery and fear to the audience.
• The elderly woman adds a sense of powerlessness and futility to the film, if the director had chosen a young man in the prime of his life to play this part, then it may not have been as effective.
• The distorting of the woman's face is extremely disconcerting and seems very unnatural.

Camera:

• The use of tracking left to slowly reveal the room in the establishing shot builds the tension and adds to the mystery, this can be noted in the first shot.
• Tracking in helps to draw attention to the focus of the shot, in this case it was the box, this can be noted from 23-29 seconds.
• At the beginning of the clip the camera movement is very slow and controlled, which builds tension, however, towards the end of the clip (when the woman is writhing on the floor for example) the camera movement speed increases notably, and this makes her agony seem more immediate and dramatic.
• The box is generally framed in the centre of the shot, which makes it feel like its drawing everything in towards it, and thus it has all the power. The woman on the other hand is usually framed in the first third of the shot, which makes her seem timid and powerless in comparison.

Sound:

• A backing track which is asynchronous with what is occurring on screen, for example the jazz music combined with the tense struggle of the woman trying to destroy the box (which can be noted from 53-109 seconds) is very effective at causing discomfort and tension within the audience.
• A child's voice out of context is very disconcerting, this is shown in the establishing shot.

Editing:

• A faster cutting rate increases the tension dramatically (noted towards the end of the opening).
• The vast majority of shots feature the protagonist, which gives her prevalence, however it also makes shots which feature the antagonist (in this case, the box) seem more important and stick out more.


                                                        Here is the clip and analysis: