Analysis of an opening sequence

Saw V
What is the movie about?

In Saw V, Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) is seemingly the last person alive to carry on the Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) legacy. But when his secret is threatened, Hoffman must go on the hunt to eliminate all loose ends. In the Horror Sequel, people escape one trap just to get caught in another.

As part of our project i analysed the clip below from the time 0:51 seconds:

The scene begins with a threateningly dark lit scene. It shows a close up shot of the characters panic stricken face that is immediately noticed by the audience as the victim in the sequence. Non diagetic sounds are used in the process to create dynamic effect. A close up shot of the characters face is taken from a birds eye view to show the fear and vulnerability on the victims face. At the beginning, the character is forcing himself to take a metal chain of his neck; this is because he rapidly wakes up and sees himself chained to a table. The room is all dark and mysterious. Suddenly a spotlight is then shone of the victim’s body, the camera is slowly moving towards the right so you can only see the back of the victim’s head which is then followed by another close up of the chains that are tied on the characters ankles.

Dark mysterious lighting is used to create enigma and suspense for the audience of why the man is lying down chained to table. The atmosphere is very tense and frightening. The camera slowly then suddenly rises up and in the process does a 360 degree fast pace long shot. The camera distances itself away from the character using an extreme long shot so that now the audience can see the whole room. A medium shot is now used to see the victim clearly, you can see the dread and fright on his face and the words “help” that the audience hear just signifies the fact that the victim is in serious danger. When a medium shot is used, you can see tattoos on the characters body; this shows that the character is stereotypically imaged as a slightly rough person. The camera slowly moves around the back showing the characters head again, but this time the sound of the television flickering automatically makes us think that it’s going to switch on itself. A close up shot is then used towards the television and a person has covered their face using a distinctively ugly yet scary looking mask,  the audience instantly recognises this person as the villain of the whole movie. Instantly we know that this person plays a major role in the sequence. Cuts are used back and forth to show the victims face and the use of non diagetic sounds in between are building up the anxiety and fear for the audience. In the process of this happening, we can closely see the villain on the T.V screen and the slight use of slow heartbeats pumping quietly in the background makes us pay attention to what the villain is saying.

The victim on the table had paid for his crime in the eyes of the law by staying behind bars for five years, but he still  has not yet paid for his crime that he committed in the eyes of the villain. This partly answers the questions that run in the audiences mind about the victim. We then see a close up shot of a cutting tool that is going to be released above him sliding side to side. This creates terrifying feelings and thoughts towards the victim. The camera cuts and then shows us the chains linked to the cutting tool above when it is going to be released; this gives us an impact towards the character and creates images and confusion about what might happen next. Is the victim going to die or survive? The victim then has to place his hands in to the boxes; which on the other hand contain blades that are going to crush his hands to dust. We then see a close up shot of the victim from a birds eye view, he is screaming. This adds to the dramatic impact and the depth of the opening scene. The timing the villain has given for the victim is 60 seconds. This means in 60 seconds the victim has to get his hands crushed by placing them in the boxes on each side of him. All builds up a lot of tension for the audience and a lot of fear. Here it just shows how vulnerable the victim is and the inescapable position he is in. When the blade is released sliding side to side lowering itself each time, adrenaline kicks in instantly for the audience creating excitement yet alongside this its also creating shock and terror and sympathy towards the victim.

As the character struggles close up shots are used to show the characters face and shots are used to show the blade lowering slowly and slowly. Here we can hear the victim screaming for help and is longing for someone to save his life, yet as the audience we know that is very unlikely. An extreme close up shot is used to show the hands of the victim and we also see the chains turning to crush the victim’s hands. As we hear the victim scream for his life this is creating dramatic dynamic effect to the whole opening sequence. Bird’s eye shots are used again to show the intensity on the characters face. The slide if the blade swinging just above the victim is causing dramatic fear and apprehension. The sound of the victims hands being crushed are gruesome and very intense and frightening, cuts are used to show the blade and once again going back and forth to show the intensity on the characters face this is also shown by using close ups.

As well as this, cuts are again shown to see the hands being crushed, for the audience this is definitely shocking and it immediately creates a feeling of pity. All these enigmas are used to create suspension and confusion for the audience. The hands get crushed and the sound of blood splattering causes sickness for the audience and suddenly extreme close up shots are used to see the chains turning and this time we can see the blade from extreme close up. Enigmas are created to make the heart beat fast for the audience. When the blade is lowering down the finial time it then slices the victims stomach open and causes such an intense and terrifying feeling close up shots are used to see the blood splurging out of the victims body and to also see the victims face with blood all over it. Shots are used to see the side of the characters face, this increases the emotions are feelings and the audience can then clearly imagine and see what the victim is going through.
All of a sudden an extreme close up shot is used to show someone looking through a hole the victim turns his head to then see the eye in the hole looking towards him and as the audience we instantly know that “the eye” could be the villain looking through that hole and the sound of the final slice on the victims body finishes the whole opening chapter of the movie finalising it with the confusion of who could be looking through that hole in the door or wall and question of why he killed that man so brutally.