Saw Opening Scene

Saw Opening Scene Analysis 

Genre: The audience can tell that this is a horror as it has many indications showing connotations of the horror genre such as, low key lighting and non-diegetic music to create tension. Also other indicators are that the character looks like he is in a remote unused place where no one can hear his screams, this is a typical situation in which the victim is in.

Narrative: as the clip starts the audience sees a man tied to a work surface in a dark old creepy room, this makes them question why and how he got there which intrigues the audience to watch more. Once the killer 'jigsaw' appears we understand that the man is here because he is done wrong and hurt others, this immediately arouses the audience’s attention as they start to wonder if this is justified and is 'jigsaw' a vigilante who kills for good reasons. This opening leaves the audience asking lots of questions about the rest of the film. However as this is the 5th installment in the saw franchise the films would already have an established audience which know that jigsaw is actually a crazy killer who kills people in horrific and horrible ways.

Use Of Camera: The scene starts with a close up of the man’s face and from this we see that he is the victim and in some sort of danger This shot clearly highlights the terror and fear on his face and gives the audience a bit more insight into what is going to happen. The shot then pans around him giving the audience a look at the setting and the dark room, creating tension as they know something bad is going to happen. This then changes and the camera then zooms out into a Birdseye view of the victim lying helplessly on the table. This shot creates and effect of empathy as the audience feel sympathy for the man and as the camera is above him it also expresses that he is in a vulnerable position and may be perceived as weak. The camera then focuses on a TV in a close shot of who the audience presumes is the person who did this to him showing a puppet like figure speaking which creates fear in the audience as the figure is quite disturbing with red lines on his face showing that he is powerful and strong and that he’s also a psychopath.

Sound: As the titles are rolling, the audience gets a sense of what the film is going to be about as the music is quite chilling and sharp, which is a typical convention of a horror film. As the scene starts the audience can hear non diegetic sound, which is scary and starts to create an uncomfortable atmosphere. This is then followed by some diegetic dialogue where we here the victim struggling and from this the audience can tell this man is in danger and is terrified for his life. The audience then hears more diegetic sound but coming from another character who is not present in the room, the voice is a low deep tone and sounds evil, from this we know he is the villain and that by what he saying we can tell he has no empathy or sympathy for the guy who is about to die. When 'the game' starts the audience can hear the swinging motion from the pendulum as it gets closer to the man this creates tension as we wonder if he is going to escape or not.