A Nightmare On Elm Street - Textual Film Analysis - George Myers

By GEORGE MYERS

A Nightmare on Elm Street was first screened on November 16^th, 1984. It was written and directed by Wes Craven, commonly known for directing the SCREAM franchise and is widely regarded as one of the pillars of the horror genre.

The intended audience of this film is adult, which is clearly referred to in the films Restricted/18+ rating. The genre takes to role of the famous, world renowned horror-sub genre, the Slasher!

The opening sequence to this film is roughly three minutes long. Throughout the course of this opening sequence, we are introduced to two characters. The first of the two characters being of the male gender, the other female. The male character is seemingly, a lot older than the female character of whom has been introduced.

The costume work found in this introductory sequence is very distinct and unique; it really sets the scene and compliments the mise-en-scene. The male character of which we are introduced to, is wearing the distinct red and green striped jumper and the young, distressed female character is wearing a white night gown. The male character is also immediately seen to be wearing a knife-fingered glove, seemingly handmade. In addition to the white night gown worn by our newly introduced female character, it looks worn and tattered. This indicates that it has experienced some form of damage, possibly meaning the wearer has been in danger recently.

Throughout the introduction of this film, there is not actually speech used. There is the occasional moan and groan, as well as a blood curdling scream towards the end of the sequence. I feel this acts to the fear factor of which the film is trying to achieve as it leaves the viewer in both suspense and mystery.

The soundtrack to this section of the film is used tremendously and uses simple eerie noises such as the dripping of pipes and the sharp whisper of the wind. It also implements an electronically created soundtrack to its title sequence and occasionally present throughout, which sounds abnormal and strange, adding effect to the film’s scare value and packs a punch unexpected.

In terms of the sequences cut rate, the cuts are rather frequent, especially in the beginning, and shots are changed almost in the space of several seconds throughout the entirety of the introduction sequence.

Now, moving on into the key aspect of camera work. There are a wide variety of angles, shots and movement used in the introduction sequence of A Nightmare on Elm Street.  There is a strong use of the high angle shot which is used to almost make the female character seem inferior and small. This adds effect in that it creates the impression that the female character is helpless. Other shots used in the sequence include the over the shoulder shot (used from the male character’s, Freddy Kruger, perspective), close-ups, long shot as well a good use of composition (handmade knife-fingered glove and tools used etc.)

The mise-en-scene of this piece is very eerie and really sets the scene for the rest of this chilling piece of filming. The eerie boiler room setting, the sounds and music that is enough to make your hair stand on end and the clever and effective camera work all add up to create a great fearful mise-en-scene.

With reference to text use, the font used for the title banner is very distinct, bold as well as being presented in a sharp, red colour. This font type is carried out in order to present the introductory credits and additional information such as cast, characters, and production members such as the writer, director, screen writer etc.

Overall, this film introduction makes great use of technical features such as a great mise-en-scene, good camera work as well as a chilling musical score. This introductory sequence really sets the pace for the film ahead and is created to a very high standard for its time, and even more so today.