Arlington Road Opening Analysis

The very first thing the audience is shown in a black screen that fades into a bright white, blurry screen with a very faint figure standing in the centre. A sharp, pearcing sound is heard as it changes. Tnere is faint music on in the background of a piano. All shaky and wobbly the figure moves closer and you can tell that it is distressed in some way. The figure then gets vcery close to the camera and the camera fades into a new shot which is clearer and further away showing he is walking up a street with houses either side. This shows that it is set around the same time as it is now. The way the figure is walkig towards us shows he is hurt/drunk. His feet are walking inwards and he keeps tripping. A face then appears merging together with the person struggling up the road merging together to make the audience feel uneasy. Then close close up of the face is more detailed and iot looks as though he is drugged up. He is lookiung directly at the camera which makes the audience feel worried about what will happpen next. The camera angle then changes to a point of view shot which is shaky and blurry as if it is comiung out of the figures own eyes. It shows him looking upto the trees whicch ives the audience a weloming to the setting. The camera then changes to the ground where a close up of his feet walking. He is tripping over his own feet and obviously is struggling to walk straight. The camera then shows thwe back of his neck where you see him swaying from side to side. The camera then shows the boys lips and the moves up his face to his eyes which look very scary because most of his eyes are white and looking up like he is going to faint. The point of view shot then comes in again showing houses and cars that are on the side of the road. Then the camera aims at the side of the boys head showing his ear and side of his cheek which is sweating. This shows the boy is shocked or worried. The boys eyes then appear again moving around and around, not focusing on wear he is going. The boy suddenly moves as if something is there and the shot the moves to the side of him showing all of his body. Still blurry, you see a bloody type object or thing that he is clinging on to. He looks very wary as his face is continuously moving from side to side to see if anyone is watching him. The shot then shows his eyes and the focuses on a line of the pavement. Shots then change from his face, his lips and then his eyes. When you see the whole of his face hes look very scary because he is in shock about something. The shot then quickly changes to a point of view shot for a second and then shows his feet moving strangly again in slow movion. You then hear a heart beat. There is then bloody dripping onto his blue and white shoes which shows the audience that he has injured himself or someone. The camera then zooms out to his legs which is walking faster and bloody is dripping onto his treouser leg and shoes. This makes the audience worry. His feet are are srumbling in different directions as if he cannot control which direction he is walking in. The screen the turns completely white and the setting then chamnges to inside of a car. The camera is aiming at the windscreen, the audience is able to see where the car is going. The car then turns a corner and then surroundings are very similar from where the audience have just come from. The music then changes to a more hyper thumping sound. This give tension. The man then turns onto a long straight road and the figure is very faintly seen walking down the centre of the road. The camera then shows the boys face which look determind to get somewhere fast. The setting then changes to the car again as it gets closer to the boy. You then see the car stop from the outside very quickly. A middle aged man then gets out the car door very confused. The boy is then shown from behind still struggling. You hear nothing but the man shouts his name making it obvious he knows the boy. There is no response to the boy so the man runs to him knowing something must be wrong. The man the gets to the boys side and turns him around. There is thena close up of the boys arm, all bloody and black. He has obviously burnt it or harmed it very severely in some way. The boy then lets go of his arm showing there are no figures and the injury has taken all of the boys skin off leaving nothing but the bone. The man thn kneels to him holding his arms and shaking him to try and get a response. The boy then falls into the mans arms and the man holds him tightly. The camera then circles the man and the boy with the man shouting help but there is no sound. This 2 minute opening gives the story away before anything was even shown. This makes the audience want to watch more to find out how the boy hurt himself.