In the opening scene of ‘Tormented’ the first image shown is a close up-tracking shot of the word ‘police’ on the side of a police car, the fact that this shot is a close up grips the audience immediately as they start wondering what has happened and why there are police there. The camera then tracks along the side of the car then up to eye level and tracks alongside paramedics running through a crowd of school pupils into a school building. The audience promptly notices the editing technique of slow motion has been used, this emphasises that we are seeing a climax point in the storyline and highlights the importance of the scene, which without the slow motion effect, would pass quickly because of the fast paced nature of the situation, so the effect tells us this is a pivotal moment in the film.
Next we see a school girl being escorted out of the school, down the steps to the police car by two police officers with a crowd along either side of the steps. Medium close up shots are used, this shows us her facial expression but also shows us her shoulders and body, and this creates the feeling that we are part of the crowd-close to her as she walks past. A clean cut is used to transition between many short shots of her from different angles, for example jumping from a shot of her from the right to a shot of her from the left then to the front etc. this accentuates that the entire crowd is staring her. As she is put into the police car a high angle shot is used, this makes her look vulnerable as she sits in the police car.
The non-diegetic music that runs throughout has a slow tempo and helps to build atmospheric tension as the music has a sense of tranquillity to it, which doesn’t really match with what we are seeing, this makes the audience feel uneasy and want an explanation of what is happening.
Then the scene cuts straight to the credits, the music changes to a more upbeat, rock song. This symbolises a change in mood and the genre of the song tells us that the film is aimed at teenagers and a theme that runs throughout the film is rebellion.
The credits in this opening are written in a scribbled style as if drawn in an exercise book or on a school desk or like graffiti on a wall. This is a stereotypical representation of rebellious teenagers, and hints to us that the film will include other things that typical teenagers are characterized as doing. Each of the main actors has a picture scribbled next to their name- these pictures give us an insight into what each character is like and also gives a clue as to how each of them will be killed.
The film title ‘Tormented’ appears in the credits, this also looks hand drawn and is written in a gothic, tattooed style font. There are also other things connected to teenagers in the title, for example there is a ball of chewing gum in the centre of the ‘o’ in the word ‘tormented’. These things are all associated with stereotypically rebellious teenagers.
After the credits there is a cut to a shot of a funeral service. The audience knows it is a funeral because of the mise en scene; the setting of the church, the shot, which is a mid shot of a girl giving a remembrance speech, somebody’s name written in flowers, a coffin and we also see shots of outside in the graveyard. Gravestones and coffins are both significant symbols of death.
During the funeral scene a schoolboy stands up and disrupts the funeral and the film cuts to a long shot of him being dragged out. A long shot is used here so we can see the boy is still protesting, but we can also see his whole body- this shows the people who are leading him out and the hold they have on him. Following this the scene cuts to a shot of the boy being thrown down some steps by a PE teacher. A high angle shot is used to show the boy on the floor as this makes him look vulnerable and exposed, it also shows that this is the view of the boy that the teacher has. On the other hand a low angle shot is used to show the teacher from the child’s perspective; this gives an impression of dominance and power. The teacher is stereotypically dressed as a PE teacher, wearing a tracksuit, and he also is fitting the stereotype of a PE teacher in the way that he has an aggressive manner and comes across as a bully.
There are many techniques used in the first five minutes of the film ‘tormented’, all of which, subconsciously or not, have a big impact on the audience and shape our opinion of the film. Some of the techniques also influence the viewer into jumping to conclusions about what has happened and will happen as the film progresses.
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