House Of The Devil opening Analysis

The ‘House of the Devil’ was made in 2009 but it is set in the 1980’s and it was directed by Ti West.






The first title is the film title, actor names but only the starring roles and the main characters , the casting director, the production designer, the original score, the sound designer, the director of photography, the executive producers, the co-producer, the producers, the writer, the director and then the editor. The film also pauses on the titles up until the casting director, this could be to allow the audience to read the titles. This will influence our film as this is as how it does professionally and we want to film to look professional.

The mise-en-scene is very effective for signifying that the film is set in the USA in the 1980’s because of the costume as this is something that people in the 1980’s would wear in America. This will influence our film as we would have to find similar clothing that British people would have worn in the 1980’s in order for it to be believable. The housing is good for signifying that it is set in the 1980’s as they are brightly coloured and they are quite old fashioned. This will influence our film as we will have to find an isolated house that was built in or before the 1980’s.

In the opening seconds there is a diegetic church bell ringing in the background this suggests that it is heaven at the moment as the main character has just looked at a house during the day however later on it suggests that the ‘devil’ may come later on in the film.  The non-diegetic  sound when the main character is walking is quite positive and hints at a sense of adventure for the girl it suggests that she will overcome future problems such as being haunted by the ‘devil’. This will influence our film as we could include non-diegetic music that sends subtle hints to the audience at what might happen to the character as it engages them.

The cuts between the over shoulder shots are quite slow, this suggests that it is a normal conversation and that the film doesn’t want to create much tension yet as the film is the equilibrium stage in ‘Torodov’s theory’. This will influence our film as we could also use slow cuts to show that the girl is in equilibrium when she is in her room.

When the main character is walking to her destination the camera is following her by panning walking. This suggests that the character is going on a long journey as the camera panning lasts about 2 minutes. This will influence our film as it is an effective way of following the characters story. There is also a distant over the shoulder shot when the two characters are talking by the side of the car this suggests that is a normal conversation between them and it allows the audience to feel part of the conversation.