Martin Elesheku

Dead Silence Textual Analysis

Title: Dead Silence
Release date: 16th March 2007
Director: James Wan
Genre: Horror/ Mystery/ Thriller
Sub genre: Supernatural Horror
 

The name of the film I am going to analyse is “Dead Silence” which was released during the year 2007. The director of this film was James Wan and the genre of this film is Horror. Sub-genre for this film are mystery, thriller and supernatural.

The narrative of the film “Dead Silence” starts with two Characters Jamie and Lisa who are living together and are preparing to settle in their new home with a family. This is disrupted when a package arrives from an unknown source and is seen to be a ventriloquist dummy. Jamie leaves to go get food for himself and Lisa but when he returns he finds his wife dead and is now on a search to find out what killed his wife and if it is connected to the doll. The new equilibrium of the film is that Jamie thinks he has stopped Mary Shaw by destroying the last doll, Billy, but when he sees his father it is revealed that his father was a dummy all along which meant that Ella was Mary Shaw. She confronts him and he screams which enables her to kill him.

Dead silence use of Mise-en-scene carries many aspects of the typical horror genre conventions. In terms of setting and locations there are scenes which show Jamie living in a motel in the middle of nowhere after his wife’s death to connote the typical convention of being isolated. The theatre of Mary Shaw connotes to the convention of places with a “dark history” which is used in other horror films such as The Amityville Horror and The poltergeist. This is used in Dead Silence to show the curse that Mary Shaw has plagued on the town of Fairview. Other locations that are a typical conventions of horror would be the graveyard where Mary Shaw and her puppets were buried. A lake which is outside the abandoned theatre of Mary Shaw and a basement which is used in Henry walker’s work room.

In terms of lighting low key lighting is used in most scenes of the film such as the scenes where Jamie is searching for extra clues towards his wife’s death and also when he is looking for extra clues regarding Mary Shaw. This use of low key is a typical lighting horror convention as it can be used to create shadows or unfamiliar shapes in the darkness.

 

In terms of props the dolls which are made by Mary Shaw are typical of the horror genre as the audience will first see the first doll, Billy, appear and since it is a horror film expect that it is the centre of the horror when the real horror is the ghost of Mary Shaw. 

In terms of make up when the victims of Dead Silence are killed they all have their tongues removed by Mary Shaw because of her curse and song which connotes to the typical convention of grotesque deaths in the horror genre.

Now in terms of costume this mostly applies to the protagonists of the film which are Mary Shaw and her doll Billy. Mary wears a black dress when alive and as a ghost which can link to her being evil and cursed. The same can also be said for Billy as the doll has a black tuxedo on which could combine the link in which Mary has with the Doll. Black connotes evil in the horror genre.

When discussing cinematography there are significant scenes that apply when linking to horror genre conventions in Dead Silence. This would be during the scene where Jamie and Lipton were searching the backstage of the theatre and high angle shots were used while in the dark. In horror we expect to see high angle and low angle shots that are used to connote fear and nightmares in the horror genre. Another use of camera in terms of the horror genre conventions would be POV shots of Mary Shaw slowly approaching Henry when he is trying to escape the basement. This allows the audience to see the world in the creatures eyes even though in this film no change of film features changes but still builds suspense in the scene. Another use of camera that conforms to the conventions of the horror genre would be the extreme close up shots of Mary Shaw just before she attacks a victim. This is a typical convention used to bring fear to the audience as they can see how horrible the antagonist looks and see how it kills its victims thus building a lasting memory in their minds.

There are also factors in editing which are linked to the horror genre conventions which would be the slow paced movement which is done during the scenes where he is sleeping and the doll Billy slowly turns his head towards him and also during the scene where he is looking through Mary Shaw’s possessions and is scared by a vision of her corpse on the chair. The audience can tell that if the editing hasn’t been paced up in a while then they get the feeling that something bad is going to happen.

Sound is a major aspect of horror films and has a huge effect on the audience when used this can be said in Dead Silence in the scene where Jamie comes home and hears the whispers of his wife when the audience know that something terrible has happened to her. This makes the audience feel as if there is an evil presence with the character and brings them to the conclusion that there will be a terrible outcome when the protagonist finds the source of the noise. Throughout the film the audience hears screams made by characters as that is the way Mary Shaw kills her victims as if they scream she immediately kills them and takes out their tongues. The on screen diegetic sound of screams is very typical of the horror genre which is used in nearly all horror films to express the fear of the character and what kind of situations they are in.

For the film Dead Silence the characters do to great extent stick to typical characters of the horror genre. The main character Jamie portrays the typical hero/victim of the movie as he tries to find out why his wife died and stop the curse of Mary Shaw. Officer Lipton portrays the typical police who wants to arrest Jamie at first as he thinks that Jamie killed Lisa and then buries the doll as evidence but later becomes a red herring and believes Jamie and starts to help him search for the truth at the abandoned theatre. Mary Shaw portrays the evil antagonist as she places a curse on those that murdered her will be plagued by her vengeance which is aimed at Jamie’s family. There are also Henry and Marion walker who portray the kind of characters who are seen as freaks because of the effect that a dark past has had on them which in this case would refer to Mary Shaw effecting both Henry and Marion. Not all the characters are seen to match the conventions of the horror genre as Ella is blonde she would be seen as one of the first to get killed but instead she manages to trick the audience by making it seem that she has a minor role but instead turns out that she was Mary Shaw all along. But the convention can be matched with Lisa who is the first to die in the film which supports the convention on how blonde girls tend to always be the victim.

The themes which appear in Dead Silence are the themes of possession which links to Mary Shaw enabling the dolls to move at her will.  The theme of revenge which links to Mary’s vengeance on the Ashen family. Theme of the supernatural also appears because of the fact that Mary Shaw is dead but her spirit still lives on. These themes are seen to be typical of the horror conventions as seen in such films as paranormal activity, Friday the 13, The Exorcist.

The storyline has the classical structure of what most horrors are like to a great extent as in  the beginning Jamie’s wife is murdered by an unseen source which makes him go on his search to find out what killed his wife and how it is related to the ghost of Mary Shaw. It can be said that the ending does break the convention to some extent as when Jamie burns billy he thinks he has beat Mary but it turns out to be Ella who is really Mary. Most horrors don’t give such a plot twist ending that Dead Silence gave and normally just leave one character alive who goes insane by the effects or lives peacefully as seen in Friday the 13 part 2 and Halloween.

The scene of the film which I am going to analyse is the scene where Jamie is in a motel sleeping but is haunted by Billy and sees Mary Shaw for the first time.

 In terms of cinematography the scene starts with an extreme long shot of Jamie arriving at the motel to rest for the night. Then we have a panning shot of when Jamie is sleeping and the camera moves to Billy who is placed on the chair opposite. There is then a close up shot of the sink dripping water which then cuts back to an extreme close up of Billy slowly moving his eyes towards Jamie. Again the camera cuts to the sink with a close up showing how no sound is coming out of it. The camera cuts to Jamie as a medium close up who turns over and sees Billy right in front of him when he hears him call his name. Afterwards there is a slow panning POV shot of Jamie looking at the corner of the room to spot a figure. The camera shows a medium close up of Jamie but then an extreme close up of Mary Shaw. After this there is a close up on the bed lamp which Jamie reaches for and turns on which leads to the camera to cut back to Billy who is still on the chair with a medium Shot.

The consistent use of extreme close ups link to the genre conventions of the horror genre and also show what the source of fear is in this scene as the fact the audience see ECU of Mary Shaw and Billy which are seen to be the antagonist of the movie tells the audience that it is them that the audience is meant to be afraid of. The slow panning shots also connote that something bad is going to happen as when Jamie goes to sleep the camera starts to move slowly towards the dummy which makes the audience think that the dummy is going to do something bad. There is also the POV shot of Jamie when he is looking at Mary Shaw which does link to the horror conventions in a way even though it is not in the eyes of the antagonist this time the audience get to see what Mary Shaw looks like and now can share the feeling of fear that Jamie would have as that is the first time he had seen it as well.

The Mise-en-scene used in this scene can be seen to be typical of the horror genre conventions. The setting used in this scene is a motel which is well away from civilisation which can show that while he is in the place he is isolated from society. The main prop in this scene would be the doll Billy as in this scene the doll move on its own will to haunt Jamie which is the source of horror in this scene. This can link to horror conventions as there is always unexplained events or phenomena that occur in horror films such as things that cannot move start to move such as Child’s play. Another prop that can be noted it the sign that flashes motel outside the window continually going off and on. This can be an emphasis on the horror genre as the sign is the colour red which flashes over the doll billy and also shines on Mary Shaw when she is seen which can show how they are both signs of evil even shown by sign lights.

In terms of costume for this scene it would be Mary Shaw’s costume that is seen to have meaning and relate to the horror genre as she is seen to be wearing a black dress which connotes evil. In the horror genre convention the colours red and black connote blood, danger and evil which matches for Mary Shaw who is evil. The makeup of Mary Shaw is also a factor that can link to the horror genre conventions during this scene as the audience see that she has white irises and small black pupils which can instantly tell them that Mary Shaw is not human anymore and is something that cannot be explained until they see the rest of the film.

The lighting during this whole scene was low key in the motel room and also in the bathroom where it shows the tap. This is a typical horror convention as this technique is used to bring fear out of the unknown and also to create shadows but in this scene the darkness covers everything except for Billy which can hint again on how the doll is not normal.

Sound in this scene is very effective in building up fear as when Jamie goes to sleep we have on screen diegetic sound of the motel sign flashing and also have the onscreen diegetic sound of the sink dripping which add to the quiet suspense of what is going to happen. There is next on screen diegetic sound of Billy’s eyes moving towards Jamie which immediately gets the audience’s attention at the fact the doll is going to do something evil to Jamie. Also during this scene when Mary Shaw appears there is non-diegetic sound of slow eerie opera that would normally be played when there are spirits or ghost which can show the audience that Jamie is being haunted by a ghost.

Editing for this scene is very little but still very effective as this scene is set at a slow pace which builds up to Mary Shaw showing herself. This can be said when Jamie is sleeping and it takes a while for Billy to surprise Jamie by being in front of him and surprising the audience at the same time. This is typically used in the horror conventions it leads the audience to believe that something bad is going to happen which this scene does but with and extra add of putting Mary Shaw in the scene as well. The use of cross cut in this scene does build the tension of silence. This is seen from billy the doll to the sink in the bathroom how eventually when no sound is heard from the dripping sink the audience are going to expect the worst case scenario to happen.

 

Storyboard of the Extract

Poster Analysis

 

Written version of Analysis:

 

1) The gesture from the hand and the word silenced are linked. This may even give the audience an idea of what they will expect to see which will consists of scenes that depends on the characters silence to help them survive.
 

2) The word “scream” is a main convention which is heavily used in nearly every horror film which will definitely tell audiences that this film is a horror film.

3) The film has an R rating which also shows that this film is for a mature audience.
 

4) This information can also show who the target audience is for this film. Not only horror fans but also fans of the saw series who found saw to be an entertaining and scary film and would want to see different film the creators made.
 

5) The fonts of the title, slogan and the USP are all in capital letters to show the information most significant on the poster.
 

6) The USP of this poster is using saw’s success to attract larger audiences as the fans of the saw series would be enticed to see a film which was created by the same people who made Saw.
 

7) Title of the film, Dead Silence,  makes audiences aware that it is a horror due to the usage of the word “Dead” . They can also tell by the way it has been edited to look more blurry which can link to the words looking more ghostly and supernatural.
 

8) The slogan of the title “You Scream, You Die” can also signify to audiences that tit is a horror film and also the fact that the font is in capitals and is also in red which links to the horror conventions of red being danger.
 

9) The black background has horror aspects as the colour black is associated with evil and darkness.
 

10) Deformed hand with sharp nails shows the audience that the character is not a ordinary human. Not only that but is also has wrinkles and depicting this character as an elderly character and also  looks almost decayed which can link it to being dead. already gives that supernatural feeling which does show viewers it is a horror film with supernatural elements.
 

11) The use of a dummy can show how it directly addresses the audiences by looking straight at them which builds the to the convention of how you are always being watched.

Review Analysis

Written Version- The Guardian Review

1. Words taken directly from the critic himself to describe how he feels about the film
2. Formal words like “lucrative” can suggests that this review is for audiences who can understand such complex words and their meanings
3. The reviewer makes the reader aware of the story without giving too much away
4. The reviewer starts by making it clear to the reader who the director is and what he has done which in this case is James Wan who is known for making the Saw franchise which some readers will recognise
5. The fact he describes the film as a “reasonable shocker” shows how his mind was challenged but overall the film could not make his overall decision based on this. 

Voice Village Review

1. The reviewer expresses his feelings about the way the makers of the saw franchise bring upon their ultimate creation. This can be seen by some readers as sarcasm but it could be his true feelings initially.  
2. The reviewer uses simile to compare the ending to a magic trick which, in a sense, the readers would find naturally funny but also may have them wondering how the author found the film’s ending “twist” hilarious. This may  lead  readers to the fact of the ending not being successful in scaring the audience.
3. Use of speech is informal compared to the review by the guardian so this review can appeal to a mass audience than the guardian which is mostly viewed by a niche audience.
4. The narrative is not explained in the formal way guardian did but in the reviewers own edgy words as he gives it that horrific atmosphere that the readers should feel from watching the film as he mentions “grisly demise” and “old dark house chillers".
5. The use of “James whale-era emphasises how it is an old fashioned film.
6. Reviewer makes jokes that some readers may understand as he links an old ventriloquist to the film and even refers to the films versions as being “semi menacing” to the old puppet which would  naturally give readers a bad view of the film.
7. Reviewer describes how the film failed to make him afraid as he describes it as “innately unnerving” which can show the weakness of not only this but other horror films if they fail to scare the audience.