The Happening Analysis

 

The Happening Analysis

The opening credits are produced fading in and out of clouds. These clouds have been filmed and then sped up creating the effect that a storm is coming and fast. This mirrors the story-line of the film showing us that something bad is going to happen quickly. The music in this opening scene starts off quite quite but then as the storm builds the music becomes layered building to a climax. The clouds are filmed from a worms eye point of view, this is to create the feeling that we are inferior to the scene. The font is in white, this is so the title and the credits stand out against the sky.

This next shot is a low angle tracking/panning shot. They have used a low angle shot to make the dog look inferior to us. The tracking/panning shot has allowed us to view the area so that the viewer can establish where the scene is set. We are able to see the dog but not the owner, this makes us as viewers wonder who this man is and allows room for our imagination to try to understand the scene. In this shot we can hear background noise of the park creating a normal atmosphere, this juxtaposes with what is about to happen making the impact seem bigger to us when it happens. There is also a ere musical tone that  covers the scene, this creates a tense atmosphere indicating that something bad is about to happen.  

This is a jump cut from the scene previous to a skyline shot through the trees. The rustling of the branches juxtaposes with the scene before creating significance, showing that the storm is coming closer. There is a sound bridge, the eerie music and sound of the public talking has continued onto this scene showing that we haven't changed location.

The next scene is at a low angle shot looking down at the two characters making the viewer look superior to them as they will be the victims in this scene. The two look very normal and calm, although this is true the audience can still hear the eerie music over the top of them talking, this creates dramatic irony and tension as we know, as an audience, that something bad is going to happen to them.

Here is a close up of the characters face. This shot is used to show the viewer her confused and worried expression. This builds suspense as we cannot see what she is looking at, we can only understand by what it is by the characters narration. This creates mystery and confusion for the viewer.

We can now see some very odd behavior of a lot of characters in this wide angle shot. This shot juxtaposes with the first scene we see of the busy park making the contrast huge and uncomfortable. The strange eerie music is still playing and is building on the suspense.

Here is an extreme close up of the girls face. This is so viewer can see and connect with the characters emotions. Her look of confusion is very worrying and disturbing for the viewer as we do not know what she is going to do. The music is becoming more layered and intense, which mirrors the first scene with the clouds.

The camera is now at a high angle shot. It has followed the girls hand movement into this extreme close up. The viewer can now see clearly what she is doing. We can see that she has quite a firm grip on the sharp needle like object and is pulling it up out of her hair towards the camera, this indicates that she is going to do something harming with it. The music is of a dull beat, like a heart beat. This creates a lot of tension. The music as also changed tone as it is now of 

                                                                                         violins building up to the climax.

















This shot shows a close up of the actions that the girl had made and also the reaction of the other character. This is the climax of the opening scene. The close up allows the viewer to see exactly what is going on, the extreme close up is very intense and detailed. There are sound effects of the needle piercing the skin of the characters neck, making this scene even more horrific for viewers. All of the natural background noise of the city has stopped, indicating to us that the virus has effected everyone there.

Although there is still  music playing and the panting of the dog.