Saw

Saw

- Setting

In the opening of Saw, we only see one place. This setting is a bathroom, which it is revealed that the two main characters are trapped in. The room is dark, and it seems to be old, and rusted, which could connote that they are trapped here, that the place they are in has been abandoned, and so have they. However, for the first 1:30 of the film, they are in absolute darkness, and we don’t see a lot of the setting. Because of this, the bathroom comes as a shock, and the audience are just as disorientated and confused as the characters.

- Sound

The sound in this clip is mainly diegetic, with the ambient noises of the bathroom echoing in the background, and the two men are talking, which are all fairly normal sounds. This creates verisimilitude, but the fact that there is a slight echo to their voices creates tension, and goes towards the feeling of claustrophobia. As well as this, there is slow non-diegetic music playing in the background of the scene, which creates pace and helps the audience to feel just how scary this place is.

-Camera movement/shots

Throughout the clip, close shots are the predominant shot used. This is because we know they are in a small room, as the audience can hear the echo from their voice, and as such viewers need to feel like they are in the room with them, which can only be achieved by close shots in such close quarters. As well as this, close shots help to create the feeling of claustrophobia, a device used to create fear predominantly in this film. As well as this, we get a shot of the room, which shows the setting, and is important to show the audience just how trapped the characters (and them) are.

-Edits

Edits are used for good effect in this opening, linking the close shots perfectly to create a scary environment. The edits are mainly straight cuts, linking one shot into the other, creating a flow. The rhythm made by the edits is quite a fast one, which not only builds tension, but also helps the audience to see just how disoriented they are, and also how confused they are.