Analysis of Saw Opening

Mise En Scene:
• A gun of which the dead person on the floor is suspected to have killed themselves with. This foreshadows violence, pain, murder and death in the film.
• The corpse lying in the middle of the room also foreshadows violence, pain, murder and death.
• Chains which are trapping the two men in the room, this suggests that they are going to face a struggle to escape the unfortunate situation they have been placed in.
• The setting looks similar to an old school bathroom, this could show that those within the room are like school students and are powerless in most things that happen around them and that they will have someone controlling them, like a teacher/headmaster.

Camera Work:
• The film opens with a high angle shot above the man who is handcuffed to a stationary object, this suggests he is being watched and is powerless to stop the person who is watching and torturing him.
• There is also a close up of the man lying in the water of when he awakes to show the shock and fear on his face as he nearly drowns and dies in the water.
• There are mainly medium shots in the opening scene so that the audience cannot see the chains trapping the characters in the room. Also by the shots being medium shots it could represent the fact that we do not know everything about the character as we cannot see their full bodies.
• There is another close up when the main lights finally come on, the close up shows the pain on the man’s face as the beaming lights come on.
• A point of view shot is used when the man is looking up towards the lights, this shot is blurred to show what he is experiencing as his eyes are adjusting to the light. By the shot being blurred for this character it suggest that his future in the film is going to contain hidden surprises and be unclear.
• When the camera focuses onto the dead body in the middle of the room, it spirals upwards, this could be both to show how the situation is a ‘head spin’ for the characters. It could also spiral upwards to show that this was the doing of the person in power and control of what happens.
• There is a series of close ups on the dead body and weapons around him, making the audience aware of these weapons.
• There is a close up again as the man screams for help to portray his fear to the audience, also in this close up the camera becomes very jumpy to show how much he is panicking.

Sound:
• There is very little dialogue in the film as there is only one character for the first part of the opening, however when the other man can be heard it creates a sense of mystery as we do not know where or who it is coming from due to the darkness.
• When the lights came on the sound was very dramatic.
• There is eerie screeching music in the background which is mysterious and also due to the high pitches can hurt your ears, foreshadowing the pain the characters are going to be victim to later on in the film.
• The music is also parallel to the cuts of the camera when focusing on the dead person in the middle of the room and the objects around him.
• The main character throws up, portraying to the audience how disgusting it would be to actually experience the scene yourself.

Editing/Lighting:
• Producers ‘Twisted Pictures’ logo has barbed wire twisting with some form of sharp object piercing through the middle. This partially represents what Saw is about as it is a film about pain, torture and twisted minds.
• The titles and writing for producers etc. is wispy and mysterious also foreshadowing what the film is about as what is going to happen in the film is never clear or expected.
• At the beginning of the film there is only a single light of which does not give off much light, this suggests there is limited hope for the man being tortured.
• By the room being very dark in the opening, it creates a sense of mystery as it is unclear what is happening in the dark. As well as creating a sense of mystery it foreshadows something evil will feature later on in the film.
• Even when the room becomes well lit, it still inflicts pain on the man as his eyes have to adjust. This could warn the audience that those who appear to be good in the film may actually be bad.

Sam analysed the opening sequence to Final Destination of which is shown here: http://sansadler.blogspot.com/2010/09/analysis-of-final-destination-film.html