1408: Horror Movie Research

In today’s Media Studies lesson we watched and analyzed the opening 2 minutes of 1408 to give an idea of how to begin the opening to our own horror film. Below is a table of the screen times and the descriptions of the scene.

Screen Time (Seconds)	Description of Scene
00:00 – 00:14	The film begins with a black screen which gives connotations of evil associated with non dialect sound (Evil/Horror).
00:14 – 00:28	Still a black screen which shows the opening credits in a white font. At 00:28 the title screen fades into an extreme long shot/establishing shot on a long road, the road is deserted which is a stereotypical horror setting and gives the viewer in sight to the location of the scene. The weather is also bad as it is a dark scene with lightning and heavy rain which is pathetic fallacy as it resembles the motion and characters mood.
00:30	The name of the first actor appears on the screen.
00:31 – 00:33	The camera begins to pan across and the second actors name is displayed within the credits.
00:40	The title ‘1408’ appearing in a ghostly affect with the heavy rain in the back ground.
00:45	The car in the shot reverses which connotes the driver is lost or confused.
00:49	Screaming on the radio begins with a voice of a man shouting “open the gates of hell”, this may symbolize that the driver of the car is entering a dark place where something bad may happen (hell/death/haunted).
00:50	Close up of the man in the car. This introduces one of the characters in the film as we get to see his face close up.
00:56	Point of view shot from the man in the car looking at a sign, ‘you are now leaving Fairfield County. Please come back’.  This connotes that Fairfield County is deserted as the sign is almost begging people who leave to come back. This relates to the gothic/horror them of isolation.
01:02	Close up shot of the man in the car uses a map which supports that he is lost. Still showing the opening credits
01:09	Extreme close up on the car tire of the car the man is driving, may connate to something of importance in the storyline possibly stranded.
01:15	Shot fades and enter a new screen which shows the car pulling up at a house. The house has low key lighting and is surrounded by trees which could show that the character is isolated as the lighting may reflect the mood within in the building. The starting credits are also still appearing.
01:25	Extreme long shot of The man coming to a bridge, the lighting around the bridge is very dark, this is in order to show the characters surroundings and the scenery of a forest which again is a stereotypical horror setting.
01:30	Point of view shot viewing the man walking toward the house which is dim lighted and outside is an old fashioned street light which may resemble the age of the building. The point of view shot suggest someone or something is watching the house or man.
01:38	The man enters the hours which looks very old fashioned as the interior include the chairs, lamp and curtains is dated. The colour of the walls is a dull green which may connote happiness to sadness/darkness within the house.  The camera shot is also point of view from the man behind the counter.
01:52	Welcoming old couple, who seem delighted to see the man, suggests that he is one of very view visitors (isolation – horror). The old man then mention the houses haunted history which connotes that something bad is going to happen to the man visiting the house.
02:00	Old couple and man discussing the history of the house and woman hands over a leaflet which is a prop used to show an image of the lady/maid who hung herself from the stairs which is also in the mid range shot. The theme of death and use of the prop is stereotypical of a horror genre.