Codal Analysis Of Horror Openings

By Bethany Bouchareb

Visual Codes• Location: This movie is shot in an

isolated area in the middle of nowhere, suggesting an idea of loneliness and lack of escape, which predicts mayhem and anarchy.

• The weather: The weather acts as a pathetic fallacy and the mist within the film suggests confusion which predicts something bad is going to happen that no one will understand.

• Props: A spinning weather vane suggests a cold breeze which presents quite an eerie and haunting feel to the film, and suggests something/someone is lurking.

Audio Codes

• Non Diegetic: A non diegetic soundtrack runs on the throughout which is quite low and haunting, which immediately sets the narrative for the rest of the film and informs the consumers that something is going to go wrong

• Asynchronous: The non synchronous sound of someone screaming accompanies the soundtrack and is played simultaneously with it, this occurs with the dark credits of the movie. This hints violence, horror and distress

• Minimum Dialogue: Barely any dialogue is used, simply a cry for help by calling a characters name, this is in a woman's voice and suggests a damsel in distress, which follows Propps theory

Narrative Codes

• This opening does not hint Propps theory as it does not introduce the characters at this point as the opening is merely of setting and credits

• It does not hint Todorovs theory because the film has begun mid disequilibrium which the audience can guess from the screaming

Enigma Codes

• The screaming stop as the title rolls on screen which almost acts as a question and answer. Why is she screaming? You then see the word exorcism. This produces enigma codes for what has happened?

• The isolated house: What is going to happen to people in which they cannot escape?

Visual Codes• Setting: The road in this opening scene is

very long and stretched and nobody else is seen on it (initially), surrounding this road is a field which again is empty, this produces visual convention of an isolated area and lack of ability to escape is something was to happen, which it always does

• Characters: The young woman is represented as sexual figure and as easy prey as she is represented to be very feminine by having a vest top emphasising her chest, is good looking and by doing actions such as painting her toenails, this suggests Propps theory, a damsel who will become in distress

Audio Codes

• Mood music: Mood music is used at the beginning alongside the credits to set the scene, before any moving imagery is used, the genre is established. The music is eerie and low, a typical convention within horror movies

• Synchronous: The sound of the cars during the hysteria of the teenagers nearly being chased off the road emphasises the danger within this scene and adds to the already made disruption of the equilibrium

Narrative Codes• Propps theory is included as the young

woman is slightly represented to be a damsel in distress for future references within the film, the boy is the one driving in the dilemma and therefore the one in control, as they survived this presents him as a protagonist

• Todorovs theory is included as everything is fine as they are driving initially, then they are in a road incident which seems someone is trying to take them off of the road and which is the disruption of the equilibrium, now the audience is left to wait for the disequilibrium to begin

Enigma Codes

• What happened to the other people mentioned within the clip when the girl explains being afraid?

• Why is the other cry trying to crash into the 2 teenagers and take them off of the road?

• What is the significance of the number plate which was highlighted in the opening scene through a close up shot?

• Why is the girl returning home from spring break early?

Visual Codes• Setting: The boy has been put in a locked

room in a mental institution, the room is small and is isolated off from the rest of the world, this follows onto the convention of having no way to escape and therefore it is evident something bad is going to happen

• Characters: A young boy is used which represents vulnerability and produces a binary opposition as innocence becomes vs. the horror, it becomes an indicator that something bad is going to happen and that such innocence will become corrupted

• Props: Blood is used to display killing, also alongside the blood in this opening is a mutilated body, this is disturbing imagery and follows the convention of murder and effort to frighten

Audio Codes• Non diegetic: Eerie music is used which sets the scene and the consumer

can assume that something bad has happened previously, the music becomes even more eerie as the door shits and the boy is alone, indicating that something bad is going to happen again. As the woman walks away the sound again becomes louder and more detailed, this again enforcing that something bad is going to happen, this also happens in jaws as the shark nears, the music becomes deeper and faster, I will attach the jaws clip to display this

• Synchronous: When the door shuts closing the boy in and off from the world the sound is very loud emphasising this point and indicating the future disruption

• Diegetic: The typical grudge sound of the ‘ah’ can be heard by the character, and it is hinted that danger is about to occur, a running theme is a convention within horror series, the theme in this horror is done by the diegetic audio

Narrative Codes• Propps theory: A child is used to

be a victim as he is killed, this is because his youth is a portrayal of vulnerability, women and children are often used as this victim within horror

• This film begins with a disequilibrium due to the boy being killed within the opening scene, however this could be due to the fact that this movie is the 3rd within the series and narrative has already been established in the previous films

Enigma Codes

• The Grudge: How did I get in? • The Death: What will now happen if a death

has occurred so early on? • Who is this grudge? • Why can’t anyone see the grudge?