BLACKOUT

The film i have choosen to write my essay about is called BlackOut, it is a claustrophobic thriller about a group of individuals who become stuck in a lift during a holiday weekend in their apartment block, in the small space the 3 people become agitated and their tempers start to fray.

The opening titles are very edgy as they use the same sort of effect that we have choosen for our media project opening titles, the flickering titles give the effect that something is not quite right. As the actual film comes into view we can see an old house, the furniture in the house is very old fashioned at first and gives us the feel that there is something mysterious about the house. Next the cmaera begins the pan across the room which is still giving the same effect as the intital shot, the house seems very old and the slow panning gives the viewer an eerie feel. As the camera is panning round the room you can hear the dripping of a tap or shower, this noise is very creepy as we later find out in the pan that the dripping is infact the dripping of the blood onto the floor, behind the hand coming out of the bath we can see a man, although we can not make out what he looks like as the shot is focusing on the hand and arm coming out of the bath. At first we think that the man sitting in the background of the shot has murdered the girl in the bath, but the next shot of the man is when he is sitting in the background and the arm is once again in the foreground which could once again make us think that the man is looking over the work he has done however the shot moves from focusing on the arm to actually focusing on his face, that seems striken with grief. This could tell us that he has either come in the bathroom to find the girl with the slit wrist or he has fully realise what he has done and is now coming to terms with his actions. The man starts to "narrate" his thoughts on what he has lost, however we can not fully trust him as he may be an unreliable narrator because things are coming from his side. His eyes aren't looking at the slit on the girls wrist but he is infact looking at the girls face, showing that he has a connection with the victim because he doesn't care about the slit he only cares about the look on the girls face and her eyes.