assesment 2

HOSTEL

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=O3I1A090


Analysis of the opening of Hostel (2005).
Credits:
Quentin Tarantino Presents A Next Entertainment/Raw Nerve Production
Starring:
Jay Hernandez
Derek Richardson
Eythor Gudjonsson
With: Jan Vlasak
Barbara Nedeljakova
Jana Kaderabkova
Jennifer Lim
& Rick Hoffman
Casting:
Kelly Martin Wagner
Special Makeup Effects Design and Created by:
Gregory Nicotero
Howard Berger
Music by:
Nathan Barr
Edited by:
Geroge Folsey JR a.c.e
Production and Costume design by:
Franco Giacomo Carbone
Director of Photography:
Milan Chadima
Co Producers:
Daniel Fleiss
Eli Roth
Chris Briggs
Written and Directed by:
Eli Roth




The opening of hostel shows micro themes within the opening sequence that represents horror, at the start you hear the blood trickling and splurging away as if its going down a drain or a flow to somewhere mysterious, also over that you can hear whistling, as if it is getting closer, this is a non-synchronous sound as we hear it but we do not see it until further in the film. The camera cross cuts to another room, it looks sewer like, the lighting is very dark as it makes it very spectral, the splurging of blood still occurs throughout this opening as we can hear it over still, also with the whistling getting louder, it then jump cuts scenes to a close up on a puddle where we see a reflection of a blue neon sign reading HOSTEL but this is backwards and flipped, all of a sudden whilst still focusing on the puddle a loud non-diegetic incidental sound appears it creates a tensional feel as we don't know what is going to happen, then we see, close-up, a trainer stomping into the puddle which is in sync with the heavy beat that was playing, the camera then pans up on the guy who stomps into the puddle, we then focus on him in a medium long shot walking into a hostel, it is early day, so the lighting used is natural, this represents the start of the day, we then swap character positions as the other guy walks through the door we change and jump to focus on a group of three guys walking out of the hostel, the noise isn't really dramatic or striking in this part until they get outside and we hear diegetic sounds, like people talking, bells of bikes cycling past, birds cheeping etc.. these are known as ambient sounds. The mise en scene is quite low class as the paintwork on the buildings is quite worn away and the clothes of the people are quite down standard with typical combat like trousers and hooded jackets, the colours are quite dull and matte, throughout the opening set, the other people are mixed in well with these as their outfit/costumes are very similar, the setting looks quite a urban area with the torn down posters stuck up around the area. The music starts to play fast beats like from a guitar then you hear the characters begin to talk and the camera pans up to the neon blue sign we saw earlier in the film saying Hostel, this represents the title of the film which is a different way to show what the film is about by focusing on the sign which stands out from the dull surroundings. The camera focuses on the three guys walking away from the Hostel then the camera match on actions to them walking towards the camera laughing and messing around, the surroundings are of a typical urban city life, people cycling, cars parked up on the road side, yet their is still non-diegetic music playing over the top. The camera then zooms in to a medium close up on the three guys wallking around the corner, dialouge then comes into the film as they start discussing what they can get up to, the camera cuts and there is a close up on one of the guys lighting up a ciggarette, this is a flashback of what happend the last time they went to amsterdam, this shows you that the type of place they are in isnt a very high class as smoking is obvisously allowed in the place, the sync isnt the same as what is being said as it is showing you what happend and then the guys are talking over the top of it saying what they enjoyed etc.. we then go into a nightclub scene from where they had visited, the lighting is quite dark with strobe lighting effects and neon lighting, the music is very beaty and loud to represent the rush and excitement at the scene. There is alot of shot reverse shots in this scene where the characters are talking to each other and dancing around, we then cut away from the medium long shot of the group and focus in onto the guy opening his bag to get out money to buy more drinks. The lighting is still very dark so the characters are only visiable from the lighting thats shown in the club, also the music is still playing the heavy beats which gives a sence of hype, the group split and the camera zooms into a close up of the two guys who are having a kind of argument, you see this by the strong language and tone of voice they are using. This opening sequence doesnt really show horror, but the use of camera mise en scene and sound play a big role in this.