Beth DaviesThe Conjuring Opening Sequence Analysis

The conjuring is a well – known horror film about an old fashioned pot doll and was written by James Wan.

The opening sequence starts with the Warner Bros institution logo but in a different colour scheme. This is effective as it has an eerie effect for the audience, which helps identify that the genre of the film is horror. This is then followed by the New Line Cinema logo. This is a convention of any film to show all institutions of the film before it starts.

Following this, there is darkness for ten seconds with dialogue over. This is effective as it makes the audience listen carefully to the dialogue, which is crucial to the film. At ten seconds, an image of a doll’s face appears, which goes onto have shaky camera movements moving away from the doll’s head. The shaky camera movements suggest to the audience that the doll is dangerous and causes pain and nerves to people when near her, which (as we find out later in the film) she causes death.

The camera then goes onto show a low lighting mid shot of three people accompanied by dialogue of the story of Annabelle. This is a crucial part of the film as it informs the audience about the storyline of what has previously happened involving Annabelle.

At 1:21, a mid-shot of Annabelle appears and zooms in at steady slow pace. This emphasises the tensions that Annabelle causes as her blank expressions send messages of death.

Wan then goes onto show a flash back of the story starting with a mid-shot of the two women, from the beginning, coming through the door having a very loud conversation. This is effective because it shocks the audience by going from a quiet atmosphere to a very loud one. This is a convention of horror films.

After entering the door, the woman at the front bends down and picks up a worn stained piece of paper. Wan then uses a POV shot showing the point of view of the woman behind her. The shot shows writing stating, “Miss Me?” written in red crayon. The use of blood instead of ink is a convention of the horror films.

The next crucial shot is a long shot of the doll sat down in the hallway, leaning against the wall. This is crucial because the camera movement is very shaky, suggesting a hand-held device filmed it. This is effective as it influences the audience to feel nervous as it is the shot of the point of view of the women – which suggests the woman feel nervous and intimidated.

Wan the uses a close up of Annabelle’s hands, which shows her holding a red crayon, suggesting to the audience she wrote the note. This creates confusion for the audience as she is an inanimate object.

Wan then goes onto use a low angled close up of the blonde haired woman, which is then framed by the spare room, covered in red crayon. This also creates confusion for the audience as it suggests Annabelle has damaged the room.

The next shot used is a panning POV shot, which establishes the scene and shows the damage done by the doll. The non-diagetic sound accompanying the scene is very dramatic and emphasises the tension and panic within the scene. This is then followed by a POV shot of the ceiling which shows red writing stating, ‘Miss me?’, suggesting that Annabelle is actually alive and creates confusion for the audience.

Next, a floor level shot of the crayon rolling along the floor. This suggests that Annabelle has either dropped it or rolled it along the floor. The camera then zooms is at a fast pace, which can be interpreted to represent the shock of realisation of the characters within the scene.

This is then followed by a long shot of the hallway, which then zooms in to follow the dark haired woman carrying Annabelle out the door. This is used to make the audience feel like they are in the scene.

Finally, Wan uses an aerial shot of the dark haired woman placing both Annabelle and the note into the bin, suggesting that she has finally got rid of her which is not correct. This is a convention of a horror film as there are no such things as happy endings.