The Grudge is a horror film about an American nurse who moves to Tokyo and encounters a vengeful, supernatural spirit who often possesses its victims. The film was directed by Takashi Shimizu, and was released in the UK on the 5th of November 2004. In the opening scene, a man appears to be leaving work when a demonic looking girl staggers in front of him, eventually turning round to reveal her jawless face.
The lighting in the scene is very dark. A small amount of natural looking light, as though coming in from a window brightens the room just enough to make out characters and the surroundings. This low level of lighting creates tension and denotes danger and venerability. The small amount of lighting also creates strong shadows. One of these shadows is used at the start of the scene when the audience sees a small child sitting on the stairs. This makes it seem as though the child is hiding in the shadows, denoting danger and giving the idea that the child is stalking the man. The fact the child is sitting in the shadows also connotes fear, as though it thinks the man will cause it harm.
As the scene progresses, the lighting provides more uses. The natural light from the window comes from behind the girl as she appears, walking in the room; this causes her to become a silhouette, hiding all facial features from the audience’s view. By not allowing the audience to see the girl’s face, it makes her seem more sinister and makes the audience want to know what her face looks like. When the girl finally turns to the man, there is strong light at the top of the stairs, where he is standing, and very little light at the bottom. This connotes the man as an angelic figure and the girl as a demonic one.
In the scene, the male character is wearing normal, quite smart clothes with a coat and a stereotypical doctor’s bag. This denotes that he is a doctor, probably leaving work. He is also wearing quite a large pair of glasses which connotes that he’s a clever and possibly nerdy character. He seems quite relaxed and casual as he walks down the stairs, until he notices something behind him. When he turns to see the girl walking through the room, he seems concerned and slightly scared. He tries to communicate with the girl, sounding quite concerned. As the scene progresses, he follows the girl, as though worried for her well being until she finally turns to him. At this point, he seems very shocked, dropping his bag, and scared; this creates tension and makes the audience want to know what it is that he is so shocked at. A close up on his face shows the sheer look of horror on his face. I feel the character was played very well and was very believable.
The girl is wearing torn, pale rags. These look as though they might’ve once been some sort of gown you have to wear whilst in hospital, implying that she may be a patient. The rags are blood stained, this denotes danger and death, as well as giving the audience an idea what she has been hurt in some way. She walks slowly, as though confused or demented, and doesn’t respond to her environment or the man in any way. When the camera gives the audience their first view of the girls pale face, she shows a youthful innocence and shows fear in her eyes. Her expression doesn’t change as she turns to the man and the camera reveals her entire facial form.
The camera angles in the clip help to build tension and make the audience relate to the characters as much as possible. The scene starts with an establishing shot, panning the entire room. This clearly shows the entire space in which the scene is set. Throughout the scene, the camera tracks the male character’s path, keeping the entire scene based around him and helping the audience to easily follow what’s happening. When the man kneels down to see what he slipped on, an extreme close up is used to show him putting his fingers in the blood. This helps the audience to understand the situation a little better, as though we’re solving what’s happening with the man. The use of an over the shoulder shot as the girls continues to walk down the stairs shows the man reacting to the girl bleeding and her emotionless face, as though she’s oblivious to what’s happened to her. When we get a first view of the girls face, a low angle, over the shoulder shot is used. This makes the man seem powerful and the girl quite venerable whilst still showing both of their facial expressions.
This scene makes good use of both diegetic and extra diegetic sound. Throughout the scene, an extra diegetic build up of sound can be heard, building up until the penultimate moment where we finally see the girl’s entire face. This works well, building up tension and keeping the scene exciting. On moments designed to shock the audience, the sound changes, adding low pitches noises to the already high pitched squeal throughout the scene. I feel the extra diegetic sound acts well to bring out the chaotic nature of this scene. There is actually very little diegetic sound in the scene. The room is silent, denoting emptiness (thus connoting danger), with the sounds of footsteps and the sound of dripping blood as the girl limps through the room. The sound of dripping blood creates quite a disturbing feel for the scene which I feel works really well. The scene also makes good use of diegetic sound with the intent to make the audience jump. This is when the man slips on the blood, making a high pitched squealing noise, over throwing all other sounds in the scene.
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