1. Textual Analysis Of The Ring
Clip: (Opening Scene) 4:54-7:30
The building of suspense and also the strange representation of time and space is
key to our genre of psychological thrillers, suspense and tension is something we
need to effectively create within out project and textually analysing films that
effectively build suspense will help us to see what is needed within our own project.
This is something ‘The Ring’ does very well.
The use of sound is key in this clip in consistently building the suspense and raising
the tension within the audience. The first sound we hear is the diagetic sound of a
television crackling very loudly, which is out of the ordinary as the sound is out of the
blue. This sound builds tension straight away as the female character hearing the
sound has no idea why it is happening and tentatively blames it on her friend. The
character then turns off the TV but the sound starts again seconds later which really
aids the supernatural and psychological feeling as the TV should obviously not turn
itself on. The sound then stops again as she pulls the plug on the TV and a strange
supernatural sound starts, this sound continues while the girl walks upstairs until
suddenly, as she walks into the bedroom, a screeching sound is heard while the
images flash on the screen. The shot then cuts to the crackling screen for a few
seconds until the end of the scene. This sudden screech causes a real jump for the
audience and also adds to the psychological side of things as the sound is very
strange and supernatural.
Camera is also used effectively to portray the apparent fear in this scene. Many close
ups throughout the clip give us a view of how scared the girl is about what is going
on around her. These frequent close ups mixed with many mid shots of the different
occurrences in her house reinforce how fearful she is which helps to drive this fear
into the audience as well. The clip also tends to include slow and fast tracking or
panning shots which are used throughout to reveal something new for both the girl
and the audience. These shots are both effective as the tension is built throughout
using close ups and then the shot pans to reveal what the girl is seeing and then back
to close ups to portray her reaction to what she has just scene. This use of close ups
for reactions is something we aim to use effectively as a key part of the genre is to
display the fear of the victim throughout.
Editing is another element that is key to adding to fear and suspense in this clip. The
pace of editing is relatively fast throughout the scene and this adds to the tension
and how frantic the scene is. However, the editing starts to slow down which seems
to suggest something may occur and also aids the building the suspense for the
audience as it is almost luring the audience into a false sense of security. This is
proven to be a true as when she reaches the bedroom, the images flash and the
screen cuts to the crackling TV screen once more which suggests something must
have happened. This way of almost luring the audience into a false sense of security

2. is very important in any horror or psychological thriller as the element of surprise is
with the film maker, meaning they or we could spring any surprise at any given
moment.
Mise en scene is also used to create the effective verisimilitude for what is needed.
The mise en scene is all realistic in this scene as the setting is simply a suburban
house. Although the mise en scene is simple this is all important in making the scene
seem normal and again attempting to fool the audience into a false sense of security
when infact this innocent house is actually where the worst things will occur. The
costume and actress in this scene are also a standard portrayal of women in this type
of film, which is the damsel in distress type. This is a generic convention of women in
these films and is something we want to also use so that our film is made in the
same way that other psychological films are made.