Silent Hill Opening Analysis

‘Silent Hill’ 

Christophe Gans, 2006

 ‘Silent Hill’ is a modern horror film. The opening screen is first black, with the name of the director shown in white lettering; the font connotes that it has been typed. This is a motif font for horror as it suggests a grimy and imperfect feel to the text. Yelling can then be heard over the black, of a woman and a man. With the woman asking if the man can see anything. It then cuts to an image of a house at night with a low angle shot of a young woman, dressed in pyjamas, screaming a name. This fulfils generic expectations of a horror film, as the establishing shot of the young woman introduces her as the protagonist, commonly used in modern horror films. The time this takes place in is night. Which is also classic for horror films and conforms to the generic expectations of the audience. This connotes more fear and mystery as the audience can see little of what is happening and creates an enigmatic scene. The woman later runs down a pathway in the dark, past silhouetted trees, to pick up a stuffed bear. This creates an assurance in the audience that this is a horror film, as the trees silhouetted against moonlight are a motif amongst most horror films, and so create a certain connotation with horror. The stuffed bear has a connotation to children, especially female children; this also conforms to generic expectations, but suggests more of a psychological horror. This is because stuffed bears connote children, and innocence, which would normally challenge expectations, but doesn’t, as the rest of the mise-en-scene and the woman’s reaction to finding the bear suggest fear, and a sinister meaning to it. This conforms to psychological horror as it takes something the audience normally connotes as something safe, and turns it into something evil, and to be afraid of. Displaying a motif ironically. Near the end the audience is shown an image of the girl and the woman hugging, this takes place on a cliff, with a burning cross shown in the background. This fulfils more generic expectations of a horror film, specifically a psychological horror film as the cross connotes the church, and Christianity, however the fact that it is burning suggests an evil association with the symbol. This turns the symbol of something normally associated as safe and wholesome into something bad and evil. It also suggests a religious theme to the film, and treats religion ironically, which is popular in most horror films. One part of the opening sequence depicts a girl on top of a cliff, swaying as she stands. This connotes that she is possessed, which is very common in horror films and so the audience’s expectations of a horror film are further fulfilled. The shot then dissolves to what the audience is shown as what the girl is seeing in her mind, as a tall structure tinted red, with black pieces. This conforms to generic expectations, as these are classic camera styles and filters used in horror films. Lastly we are also shown the woman in a tunnel with graffiti inside it. This connotes fear again as the tunnel is dark, and the sound of running water can be heard, moving vehicles above can also be heard, but echo in the tunnel and have a warped sound to them. This sound technique is used in many horror films and so generic expectations are fulfilled to the audience.  

 Mise-en-scene conveys meaning in the opening sequence by using darkness and the use of symbols. At the end the audience is shown the woman and girl embracing, with a burning cross in the background. This suggests an evil meaning in the text as a burning cross has connotations of the ‘KKK’ which are depicted as evil in society. The burning cross also has meaning behind it as a cross symbolises Christianity, which is thought to be a good thing in society. However the cross being shown as burning connotes a demonic feeling and corruption associated with the symbol. Or that God is absent in this location. Another symbol used is the stuffed bear. This has wholesome connotations with it as it symbolises children and innocence. However this is betrayed by the woman finding it discarded on the dirt floor. This connotes that something has happened to the owner of the bear, probably being a child, and that there is a loss of innocence, which creates an enigma. Showing the woman pick up the bear also suggests that the woman is the mother and that she is looking for her child. When the audience is shown the image of the girl wearing a one-piece set of blue pyjamas with a white butterfly on it, the audience assumes the girl is innocent and good through iconography.  This is also exaggerated as there is a bright white light shown on her face to make her seem more angelic, severely contrasting with the burning cross. The butterfly icon also symbolises youth, as does the one-piece set of pyjamas. The colours used during the girl’s vision also conveyed meaning as the director used black and red colours when the camera tracks down in a bird’s-eye shot. This forms connotations with hell. Which again conflicts with the girl depicted as innocent and suggests more corruption within the girl. This occurs again once the downward tracking stops at an image of the same girl, but instead of her being covered in white light, she is covered with a dark red light, suggesting evil and corruption once more and forming connotations with hell and a demonic feel. This creates an enigma as to who the girl is, or which one is the real girl, and what the significance of this is. At the beginning the audience is shown a house. The style of house suggests it is an American, family home as the connotations with the size, style and lights shown suggest so, e.g. the audience is shown a white picket fence which forms classic American family home connotations. The camera techniques also convey meaning. At the start the audience is shown an MCU of the woman’s face. This is used to show her expressions, which convey fear and looking for something as the camera goes close to show her looking around. A later ELS is shown of the woman running through the woods, this is shown to the audience to depict how vast the area she is searching is, and let the audience see the environment, to receive the connotations of the location. Also at the beginning the audience is shown a low angled MLS of the woman, this makes the woman look more powerful to the audience and establishes her as the protagonist. This is in contrasted with the man on the balcony in the background, out of focus, depicting him to the audience to be not as important. When running along the pathway, the camera films the woman running along the leading line. The camera then pans right to a new stretch of pathway, this suggests to the audience that this is where the woman is about to run along, and creates a new leading line. The audience is also shown the image of the girl on the cliff. The camera then crabs and pans left to the woman emerging from the woods. This shows the distance the woman is from the two characters and gives a smooth effect, making the audience feel like observers. Also when the woman turns to a new leading line, the camera pans very quickly as a swish pan. This makes the scene seem more frantic. The director uses a steadicam when circling the characters, and when panning. The camera never tracks with the characters. This makes the audience feel as if they are observing the situation without making them feel as if they are in the scene. Another angle is where the audience is shown a bird’s-eye view of the girl on the cliff, this shows the audience the environment, and connotes the girl to be less powerful and insignificant. Lastly the director uses an MCU at the end of the two older characters to show expressions of the characters clearly, and lets the audience focus on dialogue easier. Sound anchors the image connotations effectively in this sequence. As at the beginning crickets can be heard, this enforces the connotations of night, and the woodland location. This is further enforced with the sound of running water connoting a stream nearby. Car sounds also enforce that there is a road above the woman while she is under the bridge, which then echoes when shots under the bridge is shown, warping the sound and creating a mysterious effect. ‘Whooshing’ sounds are used to indicate the speed of the cars. A deep rumbling sound is used to anchor the image of a waterfall being shown. When shown the girl on the cliff a music track starts of a male groaning voice, with deep music behind it, this connotes sadness and darkness which anchors the image as having evil connotations. When shown the ‘vision’ of the girl the audience hears metal bars hitting one another, this anchors the image of the structure and connotes that it is unstable, and also makes a high pitched noise indicting the speed at which the vision is being shown. At the beginning the woman is shouting ‘Sharon’ this suggests that the woman is searching for a girl named Sharon. She also begins to look around frantically, this suggests that she is worried and anxious about the whereabouts of the girl. It is also clear to the audience that the man and woman have a romantic relationship through the way at the end they speak close to each other, hugging one another. It is also clear later that Sharon is their daughter as when she picks up the stuffed bear, suggesting to the audience that Sharon is a little girl, as she shouts ‘Honey’ which connotes that she is their child. This is later enforced when she says ‘wait for mommy’ which shows they are one family. From the girl we also learn that she has been sleepwalking as her body language suggests so to the audience, and through incomplete sentences. We also learn that she is scared of a place called ‘Silent Hill’ as she screams when she says it. Lastly we learn that this has been a problem from some time as the parents say that ‘she said it again’.

Other techniques the director uses is fading in and out of black at the end and beginning of the opening sequence to have a smooth transition between scenes. He also uses some shots starting high, then coming down low, so the audience feel they are being put into the action.

 The narrative is organised chronologically with some fast forward cuts, to switch to different parts of locations without spoiling the continuity. The audience is placed mainly with the mother throughout the opening sequence, but are placed out of the scene for the majority, by the use of bird’s eye shots and static shots, and panning instead of tracking with the character. The scene also cuts to what other characters are doing for small amounts of time so the audience can see what is happening altogether. Another example of this is that the director chose the camera to track into the vision, past what the girl’s viewpoint was. This gives the audience a more in-depth view of what is happening. But sacrifices being closer to what the character is seeing. The audience identifies the woman as being a young American mother. This is because of the clothing that she wears, which are a white tank top and a pair of shorts. This is the kind of clothing an audience associates a young woman to wear. And identify her as American through her accent. The audience also identifies her as a mother through her body language with the child, as she embraces the child, and calls her ‘honey’, then refers to herself as ‘mommy’, which is stereotypical American parental dialogue. The audience also identify the girl as being her daughter, and alienation is employed as the audience discover there is something mentally wrong with her. This is shown by the audience being shown her ‘vision’. Where a series of demonic connotations take place, alienating her from stereotypical depictions of little girls.

The audience is shown that this takes place in America through the iconic image of an American styled house, and through showing what cars are going past over the bridge, being mainly SUVs. Also the trees added with the stream and waterfall connote that it is a small town and therefore suggesting the location as an American village. The major themes in the narrative are mystery and fear. This is because the audience are not shown what the woman is looking for, for a duration of the opening and are left at the end with the enigma of ‘Silent Hill’ and what has happened in the past, as this clearly has happened a number of times. The theme of fear is created by showing a great deal of CU shots of the mother’s face when she is looking for the girl. Also, created when the girl is screaming on the floor the fear is created by showing how scared she is, the audience then empathises with the character and becomes scared also. Tension is created by hearing the screaming at the start, but no visual idea of what is happening, this pulls the audience in, waiting to see what is going on in the scene. This is then maintained as the audience follows the mother to see what she is looking for. Once she sees the girl, even more tension is created through the ominous music, and the threat of the girl falling off the cliff. This then comes to a climax when the girl begins to tilt forward, exciting the audience, but then the woman tackles her to the ground, shocking the audience.

 Parents and young children are represented in this sequence. The parents are represented by the two adults. They are represented to be caring and loving concerned parents as they are shown at the start and the end of the sequence to be concerned for their daughter’s health. They are also shown to care more for their daughter than for their own safety, as the father is shown running across a road with cars driving fast towards him, and only nearly missing hitting him. This shows that they value their child a great deal and so the parents are put in a  positive light with the audience. They are also depicted as being the ‘heroes’ as the mother saves the girl from falling off the cliff at the last second, clearly saving the girls life. This connotes that the mother is heroic and protective. It represents small children as people who cannot help themselves, and are helpless without adults. This is shown by the girl screaming about the vision, and almost falling off the cliff, but being saved by her mother. Later on both mother and father are shown hugging the daughter in a protective stance, lowering the audience’s view of her independence.  The ideological discourse created in the opening sequence is challenging the stereotypical view that men are the heroes, this is challenged by showing the shot of the mother getting to the girl first and the mother saving the daughter, without the help of the father. It is also challenged by filming the majority of the film with the woman, this connotes her acts to be more important than the male’s actions. Lastly this is also shown with the camera angles as the woman is shown with a low angle and in front of the man in the establishing shot, this connotes her to be more powerful as she is at the front, at a low angle, and the man is out of focus in comparison. Another ideological discourse in the sequence is enforcing that children need their parents for protection, and are not safe without the parents and are not independent. This is shown by the director showing mostly what the parents are doing throughout the sequence. Without showing what the child is doing, and she remains an object for the majority of the narrative. This is also shown by the parents comforting the daughter while she screams. This connotes that the parents are more in control and that the child cannot handle the situation whereas, they can. The parents are also shown hugging the child, this is a protective body language and connotes that the child needs protection form the outside world. The use of semiotics is employed to identify  how the characters are represent by for example giving the audience an image of a burning cross the audience connotes that the child is or has something evil to do with it. Also the child is represented as young and innocence by the use of having a butterfly on her pyjamas. But combined with her sleepwalking, this connotes that she is not in control and is in fact helpless. The woman’s tank top also is used as a device to show her role in the sequence as white tank tops are a classic symbol of a female that takes control through action. This is true as the audience is shown her saving the girl from falling. Lastly the symbol of a stuffed bear signifies that the woman is looking for a child, through connotations. This gives the audience a steady flow of clues as to what is going on in the sequence.

 The target audience for this film is young males. This is because horror films try to mainly target young men as they as a majority are more likely to enjoy a horror film. Probable readings of the text are that the girl had been sleepwalking and is having visions of hell, and the parents saved her form falling to her death, and that Silent Hill is a place where they can stop this from happening. Another probable reading is that the girl is possessed and that the thing that is possessing her wants to try to kill her, and that Silent Hill is where this can be stopped. A negotiated reading may be that the parents are the ones doing this to her and that the parents are trying to kill her. An abberant reading may be that the woman is from the future trying to save herself as a kid. As a British teenager I read the text as the girl being possessed by something to do with a place called ‘Silent Hill’ I enjoyed the text as I found it ominous and enigmatic. My age may have influenced my reading as I am neither a parent, adult or young child and so cannot relate to the characters as well as someone else could, this may have made me miss certain clues within the dialogue in reference to explaining the enigma further. My gender may have influenced my understanding slightly as I may have not identified with the main female role in the sequence and saw the man as more of a hero than another might. My cultural background influences my reading of the text as many religious icons were used, and so other religious backgrounds may not have understood those references.