Jonjo Sharp
The Final Destination and Vacancy 2: The First Cut
Opening Scenes
In this essay I am going to analyse and compare two horror movie openings, The Final Destination and Vacancy 2. I chose these two films because I haven’t watched them so it will be easier to watch the opening without judging the rest of the film. I am going to compare the similarities and differences of the two films and analyse camera shots and effects made to improve the film. I will watch the opening several times and focus on a key aspect each time, e.g. Camera angles, dialog, mise-en-scene etc. I am also going to watch The Final Destination in 2D and 3D to see whether it affects the film and which is better.
The Final Destination
I first watched The Final Destination. It opened up with a race cars going round a circuit and rock music was playing in the background, this set the scene and shows the audience that it is a fast paced race and that it looks to be a good day out with the family. They show it’s fast paced because they use a tracking shot and a close up on the cars which, mixed which the heavy metal rock music, it a hyped mise-en-scene which lets the audience predict something is going to go wrong. It then shows a long shot of the crowd cheering. It then introduces some characters in which a slight jump scare happens. It then shows a mid-shot of a family and includes some humour among them. It then shows the crack in seat, which caused the jump scare earlier and shows another crack forming above the main character, that is male. The music then speeds up and sounds serious and next we see an accident take place. The camera pans and shows a piece of paper floating in the wind, that then falls in the hands of the main character, the paper reads “In Memory Of Our Beloved Drivers”. This indicates that many people have died here before. Then the camera closes up to a t-shirt that states “Life’s a Bitch & Then You Die... Any Questions?” which also shows the audience that death is about to occur. From this indication, it then shows the source of the problem, this is the race cars. The music gets tenser and the camera fixates on the cars which are being partially repaired and then focuses on the error which will cause the problem. The problem then happens, which is a car crashing, which results in a death that then turns the mood of the scene. The cracked bench then gets snapped in the hysteria and signifies and tension snapping and now it’s gone out of control. A close-up is shown of a part of a bench sticking up; this shows that the stick will be used later on in the scene. The scene then show a large variety of deaths that occur, it seems the film focuses a lot more on disaster than gore or scares because when a person is killed the camera immediately switches to a different person who then dies. In 3D most deaths are things that can shoot out at you which cause a jump scare that is really effective and emphasises the death because you are fixated on whatever is jumping out at you. You then see the main characters die and then a zoomed close up on his eyes then changes the scene because when the camera zooms out you realise that he is in the present time and that it was his imagination. He then says everything that is about to happen and runs for the door. Everything does happen and they escape the death trap although one girl dies which is used to cut to the title.
Vacancy 2: The First Cut
In Vacancy 2, they use a very long opening, in which they use it to set the scene. It starts with some captions telling you that a motel was shut down for videotaping over 200 murders. Between each caption it show quick footage, which is shot in night vision with the hand cam. Screams are heard which makes the audience scared into believing this is real which is a great effect. It then cuts to a deserted woodland area where some newlyweds are driving dangerously along the road until they pull over and start to have sex, while the audience is heavily focused on the scene it quickly cuts to a close up of someone’s face which causes a jump scare. I think this is really effective because, most men will probably be focused on the gorgeous girl so they won’t expect to the see an ugly man staring through the car window. The man warns them off, which results in them staying at a random motel that is run by two weird fellows that gives them a room to stay in. The camera doesn’t stay constant it keeps cutting to each person quickly which gives the mise-en-scene a fast, quick paced impression. It then skips to the couple in a motel room about to have sex and show the two owners watching them through hidden video cameras. They then drive off when they are finished and another couple come through. The man doesn’t give his real name and goes into his room with, what is thought to be, a prostitute. The two owners watch through the cameras and are surprised when the man lays a plastic sheet over the bed and tell the girls to lie on her stomach. He then stabs her in the back many times while the two men watch in horror. The film had no real indication of an opening so I decided that it would be until the first death.
Both movies have some similarities such as the music they use which both sets the mood and raises tension. These are both used well and without them the films would be boring and wouldn’t emphasise each death. Both films use indications of deaths such as The Final Destination, where it says “Life’s A Bitch and Then You Die...Any Questions?” and Vacancy 2 where the owner says “Scream if you need anything” to the killer. They also use jump scares to play with the audience until the carnage actually happens, this is most effective in Vacancy 2 though because you are most focused when the jump scare occurs whereas in The Final Destination just does it to mess with the audience.
Camera Angles are used differently in the movies because in The Final Destination they use fast paced shots to get the audience ready to see the disequilibrium whereas the entire opening of Vacancy 2 sets the scene by using a newlywed couple and finally at the end introduces the killer slightly. The Final Destination uses close-up shots to draw more attention to the deaths but on the other hand Vacancy 2 doesn’t show you the death closely but makes you witness it happen from behind the killer which is highly effective.
