'Hide and Seek', John Polson, 2005

The film ‘Hide and Seek’ has a very clear genre; from the opening scene we can see that it is a horror film. We know this because of techniques that Polson has used these being, visual, non-verbal, verbal, diegetic and non-diegetic sound. The opening sequence to ‘hide and seek’ isn’t the quickest opening, however it allows the viewer to become formularised with the characters and try to understand the story. Polson challenges the audiences generic expectations, this is because in the opening sequence it is not that clear to understand the storyline, it may test the audience to see whether they can spot little clues, it will also bring a lot of questions to mind, for the audience to recognize what is happening they must watch carefully. For example in the opening scene it is clear that there is something wrong with the mother, however we don’t expect her to die that early on in the film, it is not obvious for the viewer to suspect anyone who might have killed her. Although we know that ‘hide and seek’ is a horror film, from the first few clips it would not come across to the audience as being a horror film, the first few images we see are of the child (Emily) and mother playing happily, we would not presume that someone was going to die, Polson may have intended to do this as it plays with the audience and what they might have suspected was going to happen. Nevertheless after watching the whole of the opening sequence we know that the films genre is horror.

‘Hide and Seek’ involves a lot of mise-en-scene elements which help the audience to understand what is going on within the film and see that it is a horror. Certain key features help to give it away, for example it is important to look at the; costume, location, non-verbal language, positioning of characters, lighting and props. Mise-en-scene is vital in the opening sequence it conveys lots of different meanings to the audience which allow the viewer to keep up, and be aware of what the situation is.

Firstly looking at what the mother wears when she is in her house, we notice she is dressed in a black outfit, very dull, makes her look depressed and as though something is wrong, the black outfit connotes death, funerals, sadness, the colour black is often associated with black magic, demons and evil. Polson must use colours in the right way to create the right emotions for the audience (colour is a very powerful tool for establishing the correct emotion). It was clear to see from the opening sequence of ‘Hide and Seek’ that one prop stood out, this was Emily’s doll. In every shot that we see Emily, the doll is also in it; Polson may have done this intentionally so that the viewer notices the doll. Furthermore the doll is given the name Alex, this is important for the audience to notice that the doll has been given a name as it means we need to remember the doll, it may have importance later on in the film. We become familiarised with the doll, don’t just see it has a doll. In one of the shots we see the mother taking pills, this shows us that there is either something wrong with her physically or mentally, but then from this we know that we must watch what the mother does, as Polson shows her to be main character in the opening sequence. From studying the non-verbal language in the film, it is apparent that the mother is worried, distressed or unset about something; these may be a series of semiotics to give the audience clues. Also the expressions shown on the dads face show that he is worried about his wife and doesn’t understand what is wrong with her. A key factor of non-verbal language used in the opening sequence which seemed to stand out, was the shot (low angle) of the mother looking down at her daughter, in a sad way as though she knew something was going to happen and she wasn’t going to see her daughter again, he eyes appeared very watery, like she was about to burst into tears. This seemed important to pick up on as it gave the audience an idea that something was going to happen to the mother, didn’t need any dialogue as it was summed up in her expressions.

Lighting allows the viewer to understand the emotion or feelings going on in a particular location, for example in ‘Hide and Seek’ John Polson creates a type of atmosphere with the lighting when the mother has been found dead in the bath, he arranges candles around the bath giving a warm glow/feeling, the candles can be used to resemble horror and also connote religion and dark Voo Doo purpose. Although the lighting in most the other shots of the opening sequence are clear, and don’t necessarily give the audience the feeling that the film is a horror. This film is set in New York, in a family house during the winter. Polson may have wanted it to be filmed in the winter as it adds a certain amount of mystery and makes everything slightly icier and cold.

When filming a horror film it is important to consider the camera shots, movement and angles as they convey different meanings to the audience, they help to tell the story. Refereeing back to the opening sequence in ‘hide and seek’ I noticed immediately that the first shot we see of Emily is an Extreme close-up from a birds eye view, but at the same time we are given voices in the background of a child laughing and playing, from this beginning we assume that everything is ok and they are a happy family. Another shot we are given which helps the audience, is a long shot of Emily’s mum taking pills, however there is more going on in this shot than the mother taking pills as in the fore ground there is a picture of the family, slightly out of focus, this could connote to us that the happy family there once was is now having problems and it is not as good as it used to be. Also when the mother dies, the dad opens the bath door, to find his wife dead however when this happens there is over cranking (slow motion), this allows the audience to take in everything that is happening and gets the greatest dramatic effect possible, then shown a close-up of the wife’s face showing her expressions and emotions. This conveys a large amount of meaning to the audience as we understand clearly different emotions and how powerful the characters are. Lastly panning is used when the dad picks his wife up out of the water, then we see Emily in the background as this happens the camera pans in towards Emily and finally we end up with a big close-up of Emily’s face, showing her emotions and that she is in a state of shock.

Sound is extremely important to anchor images, especially in a horror film, helps to build and enigma/tension. We are given a soundtrack from the very beginning of the opening to ‘hide and seek’ this music is spooky, mysterious, eerie; it is used to make the audience feel uncomfortable and scared. There are different types of sounds used in films these include; diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. The tap dripping, has been exaggerated to make the viewer feel nervous, and we know that there is something wrong, the tap dripping connotes blood and horror. Diegetic sound used by Polson is the creaking floor boards, heavy breathing and the door opening, every little sound adds more tension to the film. Background music used in ‘hide and seek’ is extremely important as it builds the atmosphere, creates an enigma, and puts the audience on the edge. Sound anchors images an enormous amount.

We learn a great deal about the characters through the dialogue and non-verbal language. Firstly we learn a lot about the mother when she says to her daughter (Emily) the following “I love you more than anything else in the world”, says it looking at her daughter, as though she may not see her again, from the way she says this we know that she is not being herself, there is something wrong which she knows about. Also when David Callaway calls for his wife, we know he thinks there isn’t something quite right as he has a nervous and hesitant tone to his voice. Moreover the non-verbal language, for instance gestures and expressions give the audience numerous clues/signs to what is happening in the narrative. When Emily see’s her mum lying in the bath, we can see by her facial expression that she is in shock and has been disturbed by what she has seen.

In the opening sequence the narrative is organised and structured around the mother, and daughter in the main, we are shown there is something wrong with the mother, but also that we need to recognise the relationship the mother and daughter had. In relation to how the audience are positioned with the narrative, we are given clues and signs to help us understand the relationship between the characters, which are the main characters we need to focus on, although Polson keeps the audience in the dark, as don’t really have any idea of why the mother died and who killed her. We are given the information needed so we understand the bases of the narrative. From the opening sequence we can notice that the father is slightly alienated from the mother and daughter, he seems quite distant from Emily, and we presume that himself and his wife might be having problems as they don’t seem very loving towards each other. For example at the beginning when the family are at the park, the David is watching his wife and daughter playing doesn’t seem to join in. the camera work is important here to show that the father isn’t near his family. The major themes used in the narrative that are obvious from the opening sequence are the use of camera work to portray the family, that although they are having problems and something strange is going on, they are putting front on. The music used is a main theme used in the narrative because in its own way tells the story, builds the enigma. Tension is created and maintained mainly using diegetic sound, the music used in ‘hide and seek’ creates the atmosphere needed for the film, keeps the audience involved, puts them on the edge. It is also maintained by the way the film has been shot, the camera work is extremely important as this is what the audience is looking at, the camera shots and movements engage the audience to the film.

The social groups represented in 'hide and seek' are a family who live in America, apart from this in the opening sequence there are no other social groups demonstrated. Although our reading of this film is challenged through ideological discourse. We are not sure whether the evil thing which killed the mother is male or female therefore our ideology is being challenged by the film, if we were to say whether we thought it was a male or female who killed her, then most people would say male, trying to reinforce our set beliefs.

I believe the target audience is those ages between 15-24, this is because it would appeal to these age groups mainly, not too scary for some people but then the younger ages might like it because they find it scary, and so it depends on the ages. John Polson aims at this age group because he wants to challenge there minds about what is going on. The probable reading of this film is the preferred reading; a family having problems, with a twist something strange is happening with the mother and they don’t know why. Although there might be other readings taken from this film such as, Negotiated reading (they understand that the family are having problems but don’t understand why the mother died, not sure if she killed herself, therefore they get confused with the narrative) or the Aberrant reading (they believe the story is real and the wife actually died in real life). As a British teenager, I feel that this opening sequence is clever as firstly we are introduced to the characters, which Is important for us to understand the bases of the story, however I believe we are meant to be puzzled about the cause of the wife’s death. I think that my view is slightly influenced by my age, I may not understand it as well as someone of a older age, it doesn’t seem clear to me of how the wife died, but I do not feel that my reading of this film will be different from a males point of view, I would say it may only vary very slightly because of my gender.