The Happening

1. The first shot of The Happening is the production companies and their logos. First we see 20th Century Fox, followed by UTV and finally Spyglass. The transition between these is a fade to black.

2. The second shot we see is the titles and credits on a background of clouds. The clouds appear in an unnatural way and look as if they are being played in reverse. The sky and the clouds both darken as the titles go along, as if it's foreshadowing what will later happen in the film. The sky at the start of this is blue and the clouds are white which makes the audience feel calm and relaxed. Gradually, the clouds and the sky darken and the clouds move by faster and in a more chaotic fashion which captivates the audiences attention as it helps to build tension. It also makes the audience feel uncomfortable. The titles appear in capital letters and in white writing which gives off a sad, but mysterious effect. The music at the start of this clip sounds like a wind noise which matches with the sky and as the sky and clouds get darker, the wind turns into what seems to be a low, screeching sound. The piano then comes in, in a minor tone which makes the audience feel uncomfortable. String instruments then come in after the film title appears. 

3. The third shot is a wide shot, looking up at the trees. There's the sound of leaves rustling which is parallel to this clip as the trees are blowing in the wind.  The sky is pale and mysterious whereas the trees are dark so there's a contrast in the colours. This shot is only displayed for a few seconds so the viewer may initially not think anything of it but it foresees what later happens in the film.

4. The next shot is of a man walking his dog in Central Park. A tracking shot is used to follow the dog as it walks along. The main focus of the camera is the dog, not the owner. The sound in this shot is the wind and leaves rustling like in the title sequence except it is a lot quieter in this shot.

5. This shot is an establishing shot of Central Park. It is shot from just above eye-level. It has people walking and talking as if it was a normal day. In the background of this shot is the typical sounds you'd expect to hear in Central Park, for example, people talking, the sound of traffic from outside Central Park, footsteps etc.

6. This shot shows two girls sat on a bench. This is a wide shot and it then zooms into the two characters. This makes you feel as if you're a part of the action and as if you're actually there. The general atmosphere of this scene is almost quite peaceful because the girls are just sat there, minding their own business but the sound adds a lot to the atmosphere and makes it tense. In this frame, the sound of people talking, the traffic etc are a lot quieter and the music is louder, the characters talking are the loudest however.

7. In this shot, one of the girls notices that people are acting strangely. At the start of this frame, she hears a scream and turns her head to her right to see where it came from. You don't get shown what the scream was for, just the rough area it came from, this adds to the tension and makes the user want to continue watching to find out more. Then when she turns back, she notices that everyone has stopped walking and is standing still except from one man who is walking backwards towards the camera.

8. In this shot, the girl who noticed the odd behaviour notices that her friend, Claire, has zoned out. It then cuts to a close up of Claire's face. Claire's acting as if she is possessed and in a very robotic manner. She avoids contact with her friend and just stares forward. She then asks her friend what page she was on repetitively and acts in a robot like manner. It then switches to a high angle, extreme close up of Claire. You then see her hand reach towards the spike in her hair. This type of shot is used as it creates a reduced field of vision, makes the viewer feel disorientated and creates tension. In the background you can hear bells, the wind and a screechy type noise which makes the audience feel uncomfortable and tense.

9. In this shot, it shows Claire's hand continue to take the spike out of her hair, slowly to begin with and then her grip gets tighter and she takes it out in more of an aggressive manner. She then stabs herself in the neck with the spike. All of this is done in a very, robotic, possessed manner. You can hear the sound of wind, a double beat which sounds like a heartbeat, used to create tension, a screeching sound, the sound of a very faint wind chime and a low sustained note. There's no dialogue which adds to the suspense as it leads the viewer to concentrate purely on the action and wonder what is going to happen.