CB; Textual Analysis 1 of The Skeleton Key (Softly, 2005)

Analysis of The Skeleton Key
Opening Sequence

 



Genre
The film belongs to the horror genre, being a subgenre of supernatural horror with its ghostly story background. To a great extent, the audiences generic expectations of a horror are fulfilled with the montage editing of voodoo ritual symbols and traditions in which are shown in the opening sequence. To add to the thrilling effect of a horror film, the images have been saturated in order to give a grey effect and making them look old and spooky. 

Form and Style of Opening
This style of opening is a typical montage in which provides the audience with a series of images that are portrayed throughout the film and give the audience their first insight into what the film could possibly be about. A sense of foreshadowing events are introduced within the opening as three key characters are identified, a young woman, an elderly woman and what appears to be a man with some sort of illness. We see the young woman throw the elderly woman over the edge of the upstairs railings and immediately get the impression that she is the protagonist and the elderly woman is the antagonist, instantly giving the young woman credit. This is further highlighted within character exposition, as a mid shot of the young woman holding a knife in fear is shown to communicate how she is using the weapon as a method of self defence. We also receive the feeling that the young woman is attempting to protect herself from evil as she stands in the centre of a pentagram with candles plotted all around, reinforcing that this was a religious belief thought to prevent evil from harming individuals. Evil is additionally connoted within the opening sequence, as an image of a black cat is included within the montage of images with an aim to emphasise the suspicion of black cats and in relation to witches.The title is integrated into the footage right at the very beginning of the opening, first zooming out gradually from a close up on the screen into the centre to ensure that the audience can read the title, before zooming in slightly to make the title more bold and having a lasting effect on the audience before the film begins. The title of the film connotes to be about a key in which is very old and hasn't been used for a long time as the word 'skeleton' conveys. The use of its name also suggests that whatever it opens will contain nothing but evil and something of a demonic influence.

 

Film Language - Telling the Story
Mise-en-scene helps to illustrate meaning within the sequence as it implies that the elderly woman is very respectful of her appearance as she is seen wearing a neck length frock. Also, the young woman appears to be wearing a black top within the first few images shown of her, implying evil with black also being associated with death, further foreshadowing up and coming events within the film. The camera angle within the opening sequence often places the characters to the left of the screen, giving the impression that they are looking at something in the other corner of the room in which the audience cannot see. This creates a sense of suspension and so motivates audiences to continue watching the rest of the film. The sound in which is played throughout the opening challenges audiences generic expectations,  as it doesn't anchor the typical sounds of creaking doors and mysterious footsteps in which create tension on audiences and are usually very effective. The ideas I could take from this opening sequence to include within my preliminary task are:

• Montage editing
• Low key lighting
• Close ups
• Long shots
• Mid shots
• Camera angles

Narrative
The narrative is organised by a selection of images in which reveals aspects about the story. For example, the introduction of a pentagram immediately highlights religious allusions and cultural beliefs that this symbol will protect and work against evil. Another example is the photo of the black couple at the very end of the sequence in which looks fairly old, therefore the audience can gather the idea that this could be incorporated within the narrative some how, although are unsure as little information has been provided. The audience are positioned in relation to the narrative as we are provided with the title of 'The Skeleton Key' in which we can then make our own predictions on what the narrative is supposedly about. We are mainly positioned with the younger woman within the opening sequence as she is given the most prevalence, with 14 of the shots including her in them. This leads to the alienation of the man who has an illness as he is only shown in the sequence twice, adding to the growing suspicion as to what illness he has and why he is in the house with the other two women. The major themes within the narrative are:

• Religion
• Beliefs
• Illness
• superstition
• Possession

Representation & Ideology

• Both young and old social groups are represented in this sequence mostly by the use of mise-en-scene (costume).
• It is clear that religious beliefs are valued within the sequence as the pentagram highlights, as well as superstition with the image of the black cat.
• Ideological discourse of both age: young and old and gender of the household being female dominant are present.
• Emergent ideology is illustrated within the sequence as a slightly higher camera angle is used on the man in order to make him look small and vulnerable, also he appears to be sat down on the bed whereas the two women are standing on the feet giving them a sense of importance.
• This challenges the dominant ideology of a patriarchal society (that men are more superior than women )as he is portrayed as weak and fragile as is marginalized from the majority of the sequence.

Media Audiences
The target audience for this film is mainly aimed at the horror genre audience of males aged between 15-24, containing a male gaze of a young female target who is victimised by the older women. The possible audience readings of this opening sequence are:

• Dominant (preferred)- with the understanding of the religious aspect to the narrative as well as knowing that good vs. evil will play a major part within it also.
• Negotiated- as the audience can recognize the religious significance however, could not be followers of a religion themselves or believe in ghosts and demonic activities.
• Oppositional- as religious followers could oppose to the misuse of the pentagram by a non religious follower who uses it for her safety.

Opening sequence clip: