Analysis of Opening Sequence (Sorority Row)

Establish some of the Key Characters:
The beginning of the opening scene shows the 5 main characters who are girls from an all girls school Sorority Row, and their toasting to thier graduation, each girl gives a short toast of a breif description of one of the other girls personalities, and this is our introduction to each of the protagonist characters.

Plot/Enigma:
Just from the toasts in the first few minutes of the opening scene we know this is about a group of American teenage girls graduation, but as we get further into the sequence and storyline we see the girls talking about a prank they are playing on one of the girls ex-boyfriends as payback for him cheating on her, the girls show a live cast of a webcam video on a laptop of thier friend (Megan) and the ex-boyfriend in a bedroom and one of the girls explains to the others how they're setting him up to think he's killed her after the girls have secretly put tablets in Megan's drink to make her mouth foam, the prank carries on and they all follow through with it - even though some are unsure -, they then put Megan and her ex-boyfriend in one of thier cars and drive somewhere saying to him how they're going to bury her and 'no-one will ever know' but the prank takes a turn for the worst when the ex-boyfriend is so convinced he plunges a metal crowbar through the girls chest so that 'she wont float in the water' (where they planned to put the body) the girls are all in shock and don't know what to do and it's obvious she really is dead now, so they think fast and they bury her in the nearby well with the crowbar and a phone that the prank was being recorded on. (Even though this part is not in the opening sequence) the plot of the films goes on to be that months later all of the remaining girls start to get spooky anonymous text messages and the video of the killing on the phone they buried sent to them, along with pictures of the crowbar used to kill Megan, gradually one by one each Sorority girl gets killed off anonymously by some unknown pyshco killer that knows their big secret...

Location and Setting:
The opening scene is set in a bedroom of the Sorority Row house, and then moves into another bedroom (where the friend and ex-boyfriend are), from these two rooms alone we can tell this is a modern film set in the 21st Century America. We then move onto them in the car and then arriving at the 'burying' destination which is a peice of land next to a groggy lake which looks like it's been used to dump random bits of rubbish and an old deserted building sight as theres bits of metal, chains and mesh everywhere with a well in the middle (which is later used to dump the dead body in) this definitely sets the scene for the horror as we get a extreme long shot from across the other side of the lake looking onto the scene where the group of friends have pulled up, from this we can see the dullness and darkness of the night and the emptiness eeriness of the location, but we get a feeling this isn't just about the location there in, things are about to get weird altogether. We also have a long shot from behind the well, where everything in the background is blurry and we can make out the car pulling up so the camera is specifically focused on the chain and hook hanging in the foreground which creates a eeriness around whats about to happen.

Mise En Scene:
In the opening sequence of 'Sorority Row' they have used a fade-in cut, which then shows us a midshot of all 5 protagonist characters in a bedroom, we can tell that they are all young women/teenage girls by thier outfits (dresses, belly-tops, corsets) The camera then jump cuts into individual close-up shots so we get to see each girls face and characteristics, in this particular scene it shows us how each girl is different, we have the stereotypical blonde bimbo who's stuck up, the geek with the glasses, the tomboy in the football t-shirt, the foreign girl, and then the one who's different from them all and a bit quiet, and we can also see they take pride in their appearances with their hair and make-up all done perfectly. Despite all these differences it allows us to see that they are all one group/family... Which is the whole point of Sorority's 'sisterhood'. They also use shot glasses as props, this signals towards their young rebellious age and that once again they are celebrating something and that there is a party to take place. The producers also use sound to create the horror atmosphere, the use of on-edge thriller fast music played at key points in the scene really add to the spooky effect and emphasis the moment, the music gets faster when Megan starts choking and we haven't been let into the prank yet so it gets you on the edge of your seat. The camera then starts using very fast cuts and takes once the girls have moved into the other bedroom which Megan and her ex-boyfriend are in, jumping from one character to another in a range of shots such as close ups allow us to see their facial expressions and mid shots so we can also see their body language and the people in the shot, the use of the mid-shots also allows us to see actions being carried out by the characters to reveal things which might happen next e.g one of the girls passes car keys to another girl and she leaves the room... this makes the scene frantic and set at a fast pace, it builds tension and keeps us hooked.

When we move into the car scene and the ex-boyfriend is panicking, we also have a soundtrack being played here, even though this is also quite frantic and tension-building, it is more lighthearted and almost comical, as if it's taking the mick... Now we have been let in on the joke, we know there's no real serious danger (yet) so it's funny to see the state he's in.

Also, in the scene where there discussing what to do with the 'dead' body when the prank is still in action, the camera isn't steady like you normally find in films to create that smooth cut, there is obviously no use of a tripod or steady cam, the camera is literally shaking/moving with the person holding it to create an uneasy effect, to make us as an audience feel like where really there and feel the nervous/uneasy emotion with them too, the cameraman also uses some dutch angles where the camera is titled to the side, which is purposefully used to create an uneasiness and show there is something wrong/unusual happening within the scene. We constantly have jump cuts from long shots to show the location and positions of everyone and what they're doing, to mid shots of characters speaking, to close ups of peoples faces to see their reactions (in this case too see the girls laughing and exchanging humored looks)

In the final bit of the scene we have really fast jump cuts like before from person to person from long shots to close-ups for the same effects but this time to show the genuine horror and shock after the ex-boyfriend really does kill her, it also once against builds tension and gets our heat beating fast to show the emotion and horror of the situation as if we were in it too.