WM - Technical Analysis of Dog Soldiers

Dog Soldiers (www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2X5RL-U8ec)

Opens with a plain black background with white credits fading in and out in capital letters; this is then followed by a sound bridge of running water giving anticipation of what is going to be seen. The river fades in and Scotland appears in the corner in a computerised font and sound. Cut to LS of man filling up a bowl with water and then another cut to MS of man walking in the woods past a fire. Pans round following man to show a tent and his partner, the man takes his hat off to revile his very short hair, his army like hair connotes a ‘hard man’ status. Cut to his partner to show his company, cut to CU of partners face showing happiness of the time off work he has got to spend time with her, cut to CU of males face showing the relationship between the two, cut to both of them sitting close together with fire in front of them. A cut to a MS of the couple so show the actions of the female, CU of male face shows surprise and shock as he is given his gift, the CU of the blade further backs up the idea of the man being part of the army. CU of the female face cuts quickly to male face showing the pairs emotions. The scene then cuts to the pair in the tent as the light outside seems to have darkened, the camera pans to the couple getting intimate showing there compassion for each other, the sound of the zip of the tent opening causes a cut to the faces of the two people in terror as they realise something is out there, cuts to a CU of the zip moving, the fast cutting rate after this and the unsteady camera, when the female is dragged from the tent shows the horror and panic they go through.

The opening starts with silence as the credits take place and then a sound bridge occurs towards the end to add continuity, the computer noise of Scotland appearing is added over the top of the initial background music of water running and birds singing, the man’s footsteps are also heard above this noise and his voice loudest of all, the sound s of the fire and cups on the floor add realism to the sequence, this is helped by the constant background noise of the fire. There is new music playing as the woman gives the gift to the man, the music can cause tension due to its slow tempo and high pitch. This music then goes into the next cut of them in a tent; the pitch seems to drop as the music gets deeper, this can be hear as a sign of danger as in the music in Jaws. The music then hits a long low note as we hear the zip of the tent. The sounds of the creature are heard level with the screams and panting of the humans trying to stay alive.

The whole sequence is continuity edited involving mostly fades, this sequence has around 30-40 shots, although most of these happen in the last 30 seconds of the opening as the cutting rate increase dramatically, the changes of cutting rate means audiences don’t get bored of the slow cuts and regular rhythm but also have to time to settle in between the areas of quick cutting. The beast that takes the female in this is not actually seen by the camera, this adds mystery and will hook audiences as they will want to know what or who took her.