TM -Technical Analysis- Ginger Snaps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx0smKQtG6A
The film starts off with an establishing shot of a big housing estate. There is distant a distant sound of wind. It then cut to another shot of the housing estate. The shot has now pinned in on a few houses suggesting this is where we are going. Medium close up of a sign saying Bailey downs and in the background there is a field, a tracing shot is then used to move past the sign and into the field allowing the viewer to see a house. The wind noise is still in the back ground.

There then a cut to a garden fence where the camera pans left allowing us to see the garden. Wind noise has stopped. There is a barking sound in the back ground. The camera stops on a boy who is digging in the sand. A mid shot is used. The camera cuts to the mum racking the leaves with the sound to match. A handy cam is used so follow the mother to put the leaves into the bin bag. Sound of the leaves going in the bag, with a close of her hands putting the leaves in. It then cuts to the child in the sand pit looking at his hands, a mid close up is used. He then puts his hands to his face and blood is reviled by his nose.

Then there is a pan up on the mother to show her still putting the leaves in the bag, then shows a mid shot her face. A handy cam is used again to show the mother walking towards the child looking please with what she had done. Distant noises are used in the background to create an ominous tension. A Tracking shot is then used to show something moving toward the back of the child. We know this is the mother. A medium long shot is used. It then cuts to show the mother behind the child smiling. We can now see the blood on his face. The same distant noises are still playing in the back ground. There is then a mid shot of the mother looking at what is in the child’s hand.



Then cuts to show the child’s upper body and the mothers arm reaching for what’s in his hands. We then see an animal paw within a mid shot. A low string instrument it’s then used while she has the paw in her hand. It then turns into a high pitch sting instrument. This is used to create tension.. a mid shot of the mother picking the child up is then used. There is then a long shot through a metal fence of the two people giving it a sense that someone is watching them. The distant high pitch sting instrument is still playing. It is now joined by the wind noise again. There is then a mid long shot of the mother holding the child.

The music then gets louder and there is a reaction shot of her face. As the music reaches its peak we are now are a mid close up of the mother and son. She then lets out a long high pitched scream. A crane movement is used to go along the floor and uncover the dead dog lying on the floor. The crane movement then continues to show a path of blood coming from a hole in the wall. The music has intensified and the women still screaming. The crane action continues into the hole where it cuts to the title sequence. The music stops and changes into an eerie distend song. In the title sequence there is a black background with white font. A mist of blood is behind the writing.

The Soundtrack

The sound is very prominant in the film Ginger snaps. I helps so create enigma by the low key tones used. The distant noises of wind and howling really creates tension. The acting and mise-en-scene dont necessarily connote horror at the start, it is the music that helps create the asmosphere.

My thoughts

This technical analysis work has helped me understand how many shots go into a film, In just 2 minutes there is so much to see and write about.