Analysing Horror Genre Opening Sequences - 'The Witch'

The third opening sequence from the horror genre I am going to analyse comes from 'The Witch' directed by Robert Eggers.

The film opens with very dramatic foreboding non-diegetic music, over a title card, immediately creating a sense of tension and unease for the audience. This type of music is common in films from the horror genre, setting the tone for narrative events to come. is important as it establishes the horror genre by very quickly unsettling the audience.

The serif font used in the title card 'THE WITCH A New England Folktale' is typical of the genre with its archaic, scratched out design.

The opening shot is a medium close up of a girl in traditional puritanical costume which has very strong connections to the folk horror sub-genre. Again, the sequence features children as important characters and, as is conventional of the genre, this child is presented in the film as both a victim in peril and as a malevolent force, whilst younger children (who become the film's victims) are shown in subsequent shots. This idea of the character's duality is emphasised instantly by the use of side lighting (a typical lighting technique of the horror genre) which throws half of her face into shadow. The long take on the girl as she listens to her father speak is unsettling, creating anticipation and suspense, forcing the audience to focus on the girl's blank expression. Slow editing is a hallmark of the horror genre and is frequently used to build tension or lull the audience into a false sense of security before a jump scare.

The tight framing of these shots suggest that these characters are trapped, possibly by their beliefs, and that there fate is already sealed. The use of tight framing, alongside beginning a scene without a conventional establishing shot, is one way in which horror film directors instantly unsettle their audience.

The director cuts to a medium close up from behind the father and even though the shot is in shallow focus, the framing makes it appear almost as if he is on trial (a common narrative convention of folk horror films set in the distant past and in ones with heavily religious themes). This is followed by a series of shots of the packed courthouse as the man and his family are banished from the settlement.

The lighting in all of the shots inside the courtroom is typical of the horror genre, with the low-key lighting, the backlighting and the side lighting, all contributing to an unsettling aesthetic.

The director cuts to a point-of-view shot, a common type of shot in the horror genre, from the back of a cart as the family leave the settlement, before cutting to a shot of the cart getting smaller and smaller in the distance. As is common in the horror genre, the setting appears isolated and threatening, foreshadowing the danger of isolation that is to come for the family as the narrative progresses.

As the scene ends and the family find themselves totally in the wilderness, the non-diegetic music reaches a sinister crescendo, almost like Satanic chanting.