The Happening. Introduction analysis.

At the very beginning of the introduction for the titles we are given a camera view of some clouds which are sped up so they seem to be moving faster than clouds normally would. This view is backed up by some eerie music which is played along with the movements of the clouds to increase the tension which we feel for the very beginning. Straight after the titles it moves onto a med-close up shot of a dog walking forwards with it's owner. We are given a few shots of people about a park going about their daily business as usual after focusing in on two people sitting at a bench. There is no music at this point in time but we do hear some diagetic sounds of people talking in the background. The camera then cuts into a two shot of the two women sitting on a bench as they have a conversation, we get the feeling that something is wrong when the first women begins to repeat herself. During this moment we hear the non-diagetic sound of a girl screaming in the distance. Then we get a close up view of the first woman as she begins to pull an item from her hair and kills herself. This comes as a shock as this is something we would not expect. This is when music begins to play at a low tone to resemble something building up. We then get a cut to another location in the same town where we see we are at a construction site. We are given a medium shot of a group of people working at the site laughing and having a conversation which is interrupted by a body which hits the ground next to them, the camera shot then changes to a close up shot of the mans reaction of his friends falling. Then again another body falls not too far from the previous one and this is when the non-diagetc sounds of the music begins. It slowly crescendo's as more and more people fall from above which is when the man starts to look up, this is given in a close up view. The music now reaches a really loud tone and with booming noises of string instruments. This helps to make the viewers feel uncomfortable as these people seem to be killing themselves without any thought so it gives the idea of a surreal thing happening in a place which we all are comfortable in (Urban areas). This is the end of the introduction but it has done well to introduce us to the storyline of the film and how it can shock and thrill the audience.