Analysis of opening of No Vacancy (Mark L. Smith 2007)

The film belongs to the horror film genre. The audience’s generic expectations of the film are meet instantly in the begging of the film, as we see a dark road with two people alone driving, and are very lost in the middle of the night. The text does conform to the characteristics of the genre, as there is two people lost out in an unfamiliar place, its dark and the tension is building as the story unfolds.

Mise-en-scene conveys meaning in the opening sequence by using the typical characters, locations, props and themes to give the audience an understanding for the story which is unfolding in the opening sequence. There is a shot in the opening sequence when they are driving along and the shot makes it look like someone is watching them from the forest. There are many other shots throughout the opening sequence where camera shot, size angle and movement are important as they all create tension and suspense. We learn through non-verbal language and dialogue that the characters used for the opening are feeling stressed and tired as they are lost so they aren’t looking out for dangers or anything suspicious, which makes them an easy target. The director also uses blurring of the background so you focus on the character in the shot, this is used when the main character is driving, we see his face in the mirror so the road ahead is blurred making the audience think too look out for dangers in the road.

Tension is created and maintained by jumpy things happening in a short space of time. There is a part when they breakdown and a man comes out of a motel and makes the audience and the characters jump as it seems he came out of nowhere. This added with the initial feeling to look out for danger as its dark and the use of shadows makes the audience feel on edge.

The social groups represented in the opening sequence are young adults, as they are the only two characters we see in the opening of the film, and they are alone and lost making them look venerable to the man in the run down motel. Semiotics as a framework shows how representation is constructed as we look at the situation the two characters are in, and the signs and symbols used in the opening sequence which gives us and idea of what the characters are like, and also a incite into the plot of the film.

The target audience for the film is mostly aimed at a younger audience who want to get scared, and have a thrill from watching. The possible audience readings for the film are that, even though its made up, this could be real and because its set on a small road out in the country with normal props and characters, it makes it all the more realistic for the audience. Because it seems realistic, as there are no fictional monsters or settings involved. The ideology present in the film is that even though the film doesn’t use the typical unnatural, monster like creatures or characters, and uses more of the crazy murderer type character the views are of a more realistic and unconventional one.

The stars used in the film are Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson, using stars in the film help bring the audience in to view the film, as they may have seen films they’ve been in before. The film is and industrial film, and has been produced by Sony pictures. There were many ways in which the film was marketed, TV advertising, before film adverts in the cinema, billboards and magazine advertising, are all used to boost ratings and bring the audience in. In the opening I would say that it is hard to see a particular institutional context as you only see two young adults but you could say that young adults were the target group for the film.