First Film Deconstruction: Silent Hill (Directed by Christophe Gans)

Genre:
Gothic Horror
Background of the directors style:
Using stunning visuals to tell his stories, Christophe Gans is
what you would call an interesting director. He has tackled different genres, putting his own
unique spin on them each time. Before he started directing feature-length films, Gans made short
films.

The sequence begins with the logos production:

Davis. This production company is well known for
creating other popular gothic horror movies, such as:
Resident Evil and the Black Dahila. the background
changes (atmosphere darkens) and the sound effect
of a claxon is heard, referencing an important aspect
of the movie, and the video game from which the
idea was taken.

The first thing the audience sees is a woman,

presumably the main character, calling for another
character. The shallow depth (close-up) of the frame
means that the audience are solely focused on her
and it also intensifies her expression. The scene
quickly cuts to an low long shot of the setting. The
camera does show another person, but we know we
is not important in this scene as he is a part of the
unfocused background.
The character then runs and picks up a stuffed teddy
bear, this immediately makes the audience aware
that the character that was being called out for is a
child; due to the a teddy bear being linked with a
child. The camera then cuts to a very wide shot,
which makes the female character almost look
vulnerable.

The camera then cuts to a extreme wide shot, this

time one of a waterfall, again making the character
look extremely small, the camera then pans to show a
child stood at the edge of the waterfall, building
further suspense, and introducing another character.
The extreme close up that follows, shows the
emotions of the female adult character and also
shows that the child character is sleepwalking. The
bird's eye view empathises how tiny the child is in
comparison to the surroundings and how steep the
drop is.

The computer-generated imagery (CGI) in this next

shot creates a scary and disturbing feeling. The CGI of
the underground mine shaft on fire almost connotes a
feeling of hell. The downwards zoom begins to reveal
a pale smiling person, similar to the child, stood there
looking up. The camera swiftly cuts back to where the
child is, as the adult female grabs the child,
presumingly to stop her from falling, we see a cross
made of lights, indicating that there are some religious
references within the film, the male character then
arrives, trying to help the adult female character wake
up the child, as she screams the title of the movie:
Silent Hill.