The Open Door

Opening credits-The opening text appears slowly

on the screen which immediately gives an eerie
feel to the short. The use of a completely black
screen with a white text gives the intro much
more of a sombre mood, whilst the non-diegetic
sound of a creepy piano playing slowly in the back
ground adds to the sombre feel. I also like the use
of the smoky text beneath the main text as this
creates a sense of intrigue and mystery.
The short then starts with an establishing/panning shot
of a young woman walking down the road of a quiet
village, which immediately gives the impression that
something bad will shortly happen. The use of black
and white reinforces the stereotype of the horror genre
also the fact that the woman is walking alone and looks
very vulnerable again reinstates that it is clearly a
horror as stereotypically the woman is the one in
danger.
The camera the changes to an extreme close-up of the
protagonist putting the key into a lock this shows that this will
be an important part of the short film and should stick in the
viewers mind. It then cuts to an extreme close-up of the door
not properly shutting, which is followed by a high pitch
screeching noise which is a common convention of the horror
genre and also drives home the point that the door and lock is
an importing part of the story whilst also building suspense
and tension.
The next scene is a close-up of the woman laying
down relaxing, however during this she is
constantly fidgeting and the non-diegetic sound of
the high pitch noise in the background which
creates good suspense.



There is a number of quick cross-cuts between the protagonist and
a man who has not been identified but by the eerie music
continuing to play and the fast cross-cuts it is easy to identify him
as the villain. This shows that the short follows Vladimir Propps
theory with a clear heroine who is a passive and a clear villain who
seeks to harm the heroine. The short then cuts to an extreme
close-up of the villain whispering into the heroines ear its not
Jamie the music then comes to a climax and this is the point in
the short where the viewer will feel most threatened as it plays on
the fear of our homes being invaded by a stranger.
The short then cuts to a medium shot of the
protagonist waking up and you can see a sense of
relief wash over the character and the eerie music
stops which makes the audience believe that the
danger has passed. However, this is a common
convention in many horror films and shorts so many
of the audience will know the short is not yet over.
This means many horror films do no not follow the
standard convention of Todorovs narrative structure
of a new equilibrium.
The final seen is the most effective in the entire short in my
point of view. The director uses an over-the-shoulder shot
to show the heroin visibly distressed with the man who
looks clearly to be the villain walking slowly up behind the
young woman. This is made even more effective by the
fact that all music is brought to a stop which makes the
scene much more eerie. There is then a flash of lightning
which symbolises that the woman has just been attacked.
However, leaving the short on a cliff hanger will make the
audience think about the short more and come to their
own conclusion.