Analysis Of - The Strangers

As the trailer starts a piano can be heard as you see the "Rogue Pictures" and "Intrepid Pictures" logos. A wide shot establishes the scene of a lake surrounded by trees at night time. It then cuts to a house with the porch light on, which has several trees outside. Birds can be heard above the sound of the piano. It then cuts to a close up of a sheet with red rose petals on it this could connote passion and love, the next scene we see is of a table with candles on it then a man lighting them the scene seems romantic. It cuts again to a mid shot of a female in the bath she looks calm and happy. We then get the first narrative spoken by the characters their dressed up for some kind of event and he produces a ring and tells her "you are my girl" it cuts again to a close up of them hugging in which she replies " I love you Jimmy". The piano stops and a bang or knock can be heard they turn around and we see the window and hear something creaking. The screen fades to black with the creaking sound still there and a female says "what is that?" the words "inspired by true events" appear in faded white lettering. The lettering fades away and there's a close up of the woman in the window peering out. The camera fades and a set of swings appear one of which is swinging and causing the creaking sound. The screen fades to black again and the words "We always tell ourselves" appear in the same faded creepy white lettering. The creaking noise is still there as we see a small shed through the trees with a single light illuminating the door. Jimmy says "its OK there's nothing here" then the screen fades again and the words "There's nothing to fear" appear. You then see a living room in darkness with light passing through it which could either be car headlights or a torch while he says "i haven't heard a dog bark or a car pass, nothing" as hes saying this you get a mid shot of the woman standing still then we get a close up of her hand as she locks the door. The screen fades to black again and "But sometimes" appears followed by "we're wrong" under it. Then it cuts again to a long shot of the female stood in the middle of a room which is well lit however in the background which is still slightly in shadow a person walks casually into the door way and stares at her their wearing a suit and a sack on their head with eye and mouth holes. She doesn't see him then it cuts to a black screen quickly and there's a loud sound like a drum which creates suspense. It then cuts to a shot outside of Jimmy standing near a car with the door open, a eye line match shot as he looks into the woods, it cuts and we see where hes looking its dark and you cant really make anything out, the camera shakes slightly and the woman says "there's someone out there" as shes saying this it cuts to a mid shot of her looking terrified and like shes been crying. It cuts again to the shed and we see a small looking female walk out wearing dark trousers and a red coat the colour in this case could mean danger shes also wearing a white mask which looks like a dolls face. It cuts again to Jimmy with him looking over his shoulder heading back into the house, it cuts to where he was looking which was the shed but the girls no longer there. It cuts again with the eerie music picking up slightly of an extreme long shot of a figure out in the open with a few trees close to the camera whoever it is, is stood under a street light. It cuts again to the woman looking out of the window into that exact spot but again there's no one there, it cuts to a close up of her face and she looks scared. It fades to black and the sound of a phone line being cut or disconnected can be heard. It cuts and a slow song can be heard playing and Jimmy peaking out of one of the rooms in the house down a corridor, the scene is in darkness except for a lamp which he says "hello". Point of view shot as it cuts to the the living room which is empty it then cuts quickly to the LP player showing the LP spinning. It cuts again to a shot with Jimmy stood in front of the camera faded and the woman looking around the door behind him emphasised, she looks frightened. It cuts again to the fire place and it pans slightly dramatic music starts playing as it cuts to a close up of the fire you can see a mobile phone melting, you hear her say "what is it?" he replies "its my phone" as the scene cuts to a mid shot of him. It cuts again to him walking through a door, the camera cuts and we see him from the other side of the door as he walks in, he looks shocked. It cuts again to a mid shot of her putting her hands over her mouth looking shocked to. We then get an eye line match shot of her looking at the window which has the word "hello" written in white repeatedly all over it she says "oh my god" the music slowly fades out as the events unfold. The camera zooms into the window slightly and it cuts again to her walking into the bedroom (the bed with the rose petals on it can still be seen) Jimmy says "we gotta get outta here". It cuts to a mid shot of him stood facing the front door he says "I'm gonna open the door and i just want you to run, OK?" as he says that the camera turns to her looking worried it cuts back to him and a loud sound is heard and an axe is put through the door behind him he leaps out of the way and we see a close up of the head of the axe with wood going everywhere. It cuts back to him stood in front of her and shes screaming they stumble back and the camera cuts to the chairs toppling over, as they do this they knock the LP player and the music starts playing over the scene the camera cuts to an extreme close up. It cuts back to her screaming behind him as hes trying to protect her. The camera cuts to the axe smashing its way through the door then the screen fades to black with the words "this summer" the words shake and the scene cuts to the swing set and a girl sat on it wearing dark clothes and a mask but you can see she has blond hair, The music is still playing but it doesn't seem to fit the events which are unfolding. A series of quick cuts happen with the door swinging slowly open then a close up of the woman hiding looked scared, then a shot of a man stood in the house with the guy in the suit and mask holding the axe behind him it cuts again to the black screen with the words "what are you afraid of" the words shake and it cuts again to the first girl with dark hair wearing a mask standing up from behind something. A succession of really fast paced cuts of the woman holding a knife looking around trying to protect herself, Jimmy outside again with trees behind him, the man in the mask running towards the camera, a window where one of the girls in a mask appear, to a close up of the woman screaming again, then the blond girl in a mask looking through some slats of wood which appear to be a door, of Jimmy in a car behind the wheel he gasps and looks behind him quickly, of another car driven by the masked people hitting their car, of the woman outside on the ground trying to get away from the girl with the mask and dark hair who's holding a knife, a close up on the knife inside the house held be the woman (you can tell because of the clothes) the curtain is moved away and the word "killer" can be seen on the window this makes you think that they may not be as innocent as they have been made out to be throughout this trailer, throughout all of this dramatic music has been played in a loop which gives the impression of the CD maybe being stuck and not able to play past a certain point. It cuts again to them running into the cameras view then someone stood outside of the shed holding a torch you cant make much out because of the way the torch is angled. Quick cuts as we see Jimmy holding and aiming a shotgun, the woman stood at the window screaming again banging on it frantically, it then cuts to an odd image of the three masked people looking at Jimmy and the woman they have their backs to us the music cuts out and the screen fades to black. You can hear the woman say "why are you doing this to us" dramatic music starts again as the image of a masked persons face comes onto the screen faded a different woman's voice which is kind of echo-ey says "because you were home" the words "the strangers" appear in white writing in the bottom right of the screen. It cuts and the names of the two lead characters appear "Liv Tyler" and "Scott Speedman" it cuts again and you can see one of the girls in a mask peering from an alley as she slowly walks into a better view, it cuts to a black screen which says "coming soon".