Bailey May - Sinister Film Opening Deconstruction

SINISTER - FILM OPENING DECONSTRUCTION

In the first section of the opening we see 4 people, more or likely a family, standing up being hung round their necks attached to the tree.

This conforms to common representation as it is a family of 4 being killed in a slow torturous way which infects the reader with a sense of disgust.

Their is a suttle non-diegetic sound of film player in the background of it flickering through the film which dates this scene to be several decades in the past.

Its parallel to what's on screen as this type of killing was used many hundreds of years ago.

The setting of the pleasant green garden and clear sky juxtaposes the killing on screen which creates an eerie and uncomfortable sense for the audience.

This subverts common media image as killings and murders and normally taken place in dark,gloomy,stormy environments so the pathetic fallacy here is creating an uncomfortable, sinister edge to this killing.

In the next section we see the tree being cut by an unknown killer and the family struggling and wriggling in the air.

The fact that we don't see the killer gives the reader a reason to watch on to find out who killed the people. This cliff hanger conforms to common horror conventions on leaving the audience in the unknown.

The families clothing jeans,polo shirts, chinos exploits the stereotype of a common day American family of 2 children, one boy and one girl. 

The fact that the killer has chosen them as their target could suggest the even the most perfect of people/families aren't safe from danger and that no one is safe. 

Conforming to common media image in many horror films peoples ideas of 'perfection' are attacked to scare the audience and also to possibly send out an underlining message that not all of what you see as perfect actually is, which would give the killer some motive for their actions.

In the ending of the opening scene it is freeze framed with the image of the dead family

It is framed in the film roll style to highlight this is found footage.

Conforms to common conventions that found footage in a decent amount of horrors are central to the narrative of the film 

Additionally, the title at the end is seemed to be inscribed onto some sort of rock to give it a medieval, witchcraft sense to the film. Conforming to common representation that this type of killing is linked with medieval times and evil of that period of time.

Moreover, although it highlights the name of the film it also acts as a way to describe the sort of killing has to just appears because it had no diegetic or non-diegetic sound to anything that happened on screen giving it an uncomfortable, sinister edge. 

Continuing, the fact their is only the non-diegetic sound of the flicking film player through out the opening gives it an uneasy feel and makes the audience focus the whole time on the killing its self to really grasp the audiences attention to the sinister act that is taken place which most people would normally turn their eyes away from. 

Additionally from this end scene of the opening it establishes that it is found footage and is a  common convention of house/supernatural horror. This gives it an old feel to the footage which makes it even more unnerving for the audience as some people relate the past to tragedy and sadness through their experiences in life.