Synopsis:
Sinister is a 2012 American supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson and written by Derrickson (after a three year hiatus of filmmaking) and C. Robert Cargill. It stars Ethan Hawke as fictional true-crime writer Ellison Oswalt who discovers a box of home movies in his attic that puts his family in danger.
The film, a co-production between the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, premiered at the SXSW festival, and was released in the United States on October 12, 2012, and in the UK on October 5, 2012.
The film opens with Super 8 footage depicting a family of four standing beneath a tree with sacks over their heads and nooses around their necks. An unseen figure pulls at a rope attached to a partially sawed-through branch of the tree, causing their deaths by hanging.
Months later, true crime writer Ellison Oswalt (Hawke) moves into a home with his wife Tracy (Juliet Rylance) and their two children: 7-year-old Ashley (Clare Foley), an artist who is allowed to paint on her walls and 12-year-old Trevor (Michael Hall D'Addario), who suffers from night terrors. The local sheriff pays a visit, indicating his dislike of Ellison and his career; his books have often criticized law enforcement for mistakes. The tree with the partially sawed-through branch comes into view, revealing that this house is the one where the Stevenson family was murdered in the opening scene.
Ellison intends to use the case of the murdered family as the basis for his new book and hopes that his research will reveal the fate of the Stevenson family's fifth member, a 10-year-old girl named Stephanie who disappeared following the murders. Later that night Ellison discovers Trevor in a box, naked and screaming, having experienced another night terror. He carries him back inside.
Ellison finds a box (along with a black scorpion which terrifies him) in the attic that contains a projector and several reels of Super 8 mm footage that are each labeled as innocent home movies. Ellison discovers that the films are actually snuff films depicting different families being murdered in various ways by an unseen person holding the camera. A mysterious symbol appears in the films.
Consulting a local deputy (James Ransone), Ellison discovers that the murders took place at different times, beginning in the 1960s and in different cities across the country. He also learns that a child from each family went missing following every murder.
The deputy refers Ellison to Professor Jonas (Vincent D'Onofrio), whose expertise is the occult, to decipher the symbol in the films. Jonas tells Ellison that such symbols are that of a Pagan Babylonia deity named Bughuul (Nick King), who would kill entire families and then take one of their children in order to consume his/her soul, leaving the symbol behind.
One night, Ellison hears the film projector running and finds the missing children seated in the attic watching one of the films. Bughuul suddenly appears on camera before physically appearing before Ellison, causing him to fall off the ladder. The noises stop and the attic lights go out. Ellison takes the camera, projector and the films outside and burns them with petrol. His wife meets him outside and he tells her that they're moving back to their old house immediately.
At his old home, Ellison receives a video-message from Jonas, who sends him scans of historical images associated with Bughuul, including the symbol seen in the snuff movies; the images have been partially destroyed by the early Christians, who believed that images of Bughuul served as a gateway for the demon to come from the spiritual realm to the mortal world; the images include a scorpion, a snake, and a black beast. According to Professor Jonas, children who saw the images of Bughuul could be possessed and even abducted into the images.
Ellison discovers the projector and films (from the previous house) in his attic, along with an envelope of film labeled "extended cut endings". The deputy calls and informs him that every murdered family had previously lived in the house where the last murder took place and each new murder occurred shortly after the family moved from the crime scene into their new residence. By moving, Ellison has placed himself and his family in line to be the next victims.
The extra footage depicts the missing children coming onscreen following each murder, revealing themselves to be the killers, before suddenly disappearing. Ellison becomes light-headed, and notices a bright green liquid mixed with his coffee and finds a note reading "Good Night, Daddy" under the cup before losing consciousness. Ashley appears behind Ellison, revealing herself to be the drugger, under Bughuul's possession. Ellison awakens to find himself, Tracy and Trevor bound and gagged on the floor of the parlour next to the lit fire.
Ashley approaches filming him with the 8 mm camera and says that she will make him famous again. Ashley then decapitates Tracy with an axe before killing Ellison and Trevor off screen, using their blood to paint images of cats, dogs and unicorns on the walls. Ashley then views the film of her murders while drawing the murder in the lid of the home movies box. The film concludes with an image of the missing children staring into the camera. Bughuul appears, causing the children to flee in fear. He then lifts Ashley into his arms and disappears into the film with her.
The film concludes with an image of the box of films in the Oswalt family's attic, now accompanied by Ashley's reel, labeled "House Painting '12". The camera slowly pans away from the box, until Bughuul appears onscreen and the screen cuts out.
The film opens with Super 8 footage depicting a family of four standing beneath a tree with sacks over their heads and nooses around their necks. An unseen figure pulls at a rope attached to a partially sawed-through branch of the tree, causing their deaths by hanging.
Months later, true crime writer Ellison Oswalt (Hawke) moves into a home with his wife Tracy (Juliet Rylance) and their two children: 7-year-old Ashley (Clare Foley), an artist who is allowed to paint on her walls and 12-year-old Trevor (Michael Hall D'Addario), who suffers from night terrors. The local sheriff pays a visit, indicating his dislike of Ellison and his career; his books have often criticized law enforcement for mistakes. The tree with the partially sawed-through branch comes into view, revealing that this house is the one where the Stevenson family was murdered in the opening scene.
Ellison intends to use the case of the murdered family as the basis for his new book and hopes that his research will reveal the fate of the Stevenson family's fifth member, a 10-year-old girl named Stephanie who disappeared following the murders. Later that night Ellison discovers Trevor in a box, naked and screaming, having experienced another night terror. He carries him back inside.
Ellison finds a box (along with a black scorpion which terrifies him) in the attic that contains a projector and several reels of Super 8 mm footage that are each labeled as innocent home movies. Ellison discovers that the films are actually snuff films depicting different families being murdered in various ways by an unseen person holding the camera. A mysterious symbol appears in the films.
Consulting a local deputy (James Ransone), Ellison discovers that the murders took place at different times, beginning in the 1960s and in different cities across the country. He also learns that a child from each family went missing following every murder.
The deputy refers Ellison to Professor Jonas (Vincent D'Onofrio), whose expertise is the occult, to decipher the symbol in the films. Jonas tells Ellison that such symbols are that of a Pagan Babylonia deity named Bughuul (Nick King), who would kill entire families and then take one of their children in order to consume his/her soul, leaving the symbol behind.
One night, Ellison hears the film projector running and finds the missing children seated in the attic watching one of the films. Bughuul suddenly appears on camera before physically appearing before Ellison, causing him to fall off the ladder. The noises stop and the attic lights go out. Ellison takes the camera, projector and the films outside and burns them with petrol. His wife meets him outside and he tells her that they're moving back to their old house immediately.
At his old home, Ellison receives a video-message from Jonas, who sends him scans of historical images associated with Bughuul, including the symbol seen in the snuff movies; the images have been partially destroyed by the early Christians, who believed that images of Bughuul served as a gateway for the demon to come from the spiritual realm to the mortal world; the images include a scorpion, a snake, and a black beast. According to Professor Jonas, children who saw the images of Bughuul could be possessed and even abducted into the images.
Ellison discovers the projector and films (from the previous house) in his attic, along with an envelope of film labeled "extended cut endings". The deputy calls and informs him that every murdered family had previously lived in the house where the last murder took place and each new murder occurred shortly after the family moved from the crime scene into their new residence. By moving, Ellison has placed himself and his family in line to be the next victims.
The extra footage depicts the missing children coming onscreen following each murder, revealing themselves to be the killers, before suddenly disappearing. Ellison becomes light-headed, and notices a bright green liquid mixed with his coffee and finds a note reading "Good Night, Daddy" under the cup before losing consciousness. Ashley appears behind Ellison, revealing herself to be the drugger, under Bughuul's possession. Ellison awakens to find himself, Tracy and Trevor bound and gagged on the floor of the parlour next to the lit fire.
Ashley approaches filming him with the 8 mm camera and says that she will make him famous again. Ashley then decapitates Tracy with an axe before killing Ellison and Trevor off screen, using their blood to paint images of cats, dogs and unicorns on the walls. Ashley then views the film of her murders while drawing the murder in the lid of the home movies box. The film concludes with an image of the missing children staring into the camera. Bughuul appears, causing the children to flee in fear. He then lifts Ashley into his arms and disappears into the film with her.
The film concludes with an image of the box of films in the Oswalt family's attic, now accompanied by Ashley's reel, labeled "House Painting '12". The camera slowly pans away from the box, until Bughuul appears onscreen and the screen cuts out.
Referenced from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinister_(film)#Production
Production:
Blumhouse Productions is an American film and television production company, founded by Jason Blum. Blumhouse produces micro and low-budget horror movies, such as the Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Purge, Sinister and Ouija franchises.In 2014, Blumhouse produced the Academy Award nominated drama film Whiplash, for which Blum was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.The company currently has a 10-year first-look deal with the studio Universal Pictures.
Produced other films such as:
- 1995: Kicking and Screaming (associate)
- 2000: Hamlet (executive)
- 2002: The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina (executive)
- 2004: The Fever
- 2006: Griffin and Phoenix
- 2006: The Darwin Awards
- 2006: Graduation (executive)
- 2007: Paranormal Activity
- 2008: The Accidental Husband
- 2008: The Reader (co-executive)
- 2010: Tooth Fairy
Referenced from:
Distribution:
This film was distributed by Lionsgate. Lionsgate was formed in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Since 2012 they have been the most commercially successful independent film in North America. On the 26th February Loinsgate created a UK Company. The company has four divisions which include:
– Lionsgate Films
– Lionsgate Home Entertainment
– Lionsgate Music & Publishing
– Lionsgate Television
Lionsgate are known for their horror films which include: All seven SAW films, The Cabin in the Woods, You’re Next, My Bloody Valentine, Blair Witch Project, The Possession and See No Evil.
Other films include: The Hunger Games, Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2, Dirty Dancing, Kick Ass and The Expendables.
– Lionsgate Films
– Lionsgate Home Entertainment
– Lionsgate Music & Publishing
– Lionsgate Television
Lionsgate are known for their horror films which include: All seven SAW films, The Cabin in the Woods, You’re Next, My Bloody Valentine, Blair Witch Project, The Possession and See No Evil.
Other films include: The Hunger Games, Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2, Dirty Dancing, Kick Ass and The Expendables.
Timeline:
00:06: The clip starts with a transition from a black screen to a blank super 8 film, while fuzzy sounds are played. This instantly makes it mysterious and puts the audience on edge, indicating the tenseness about to come from the film. Tense environments is a common convention of horror movies.
00:06-00:7: It then cuts to a rolling tape and long shot of several people hanging from a tree. They all have nooses around their necks, bags over their heads, and hands tied behind their back. They are dressed in normal clothes in an open forest which makes it seem more realistic therefore furthering the feeling of fear from the audience. The fact the film instantly begins with a murder scene, commonly found in horror films, makes the audience expect there to be brutal, violent scenes in the film, creating an anticipation of terror right from the start. As the continuous clip is playing more mysterious and eerie sound effects are played to make the basic clip seem more horrifying to the audience. The colourful clip opposes to dark tones usually found in horror films however the music makes it seem just as frightening. The mysterious sound effects tie in with the mysterious setting and the fact that no one alive is to be seen.
00:07-00:17: The clip then cuts and goes through a sequence of the surrounding trees swaying about. The music continues to build up the tension as the scene goes on, the 4 characters are standing still. Along with the music, there is ambient sound of the super 8 rolling.
00:27-00:29: The scene then moves on to a sudden crackling sound effect as the tree falls which makes it jumpy and creates suspense. The short graphic match indicates how long they have been hanging and the crackly sound effects get louder which creates a build up to them dying and the actual film itself.
00:29-00:34: All 4 of the characters were all high in the sky, scrambling about, as well as this the branch which held onto them is on the floor. By the end of this clip, the music had a sting, at the tree branch hit the floor.
00:34:00:44: Through the duration of this clip, the scene showed the 4 characters struggling as the leaves off of the fallen branch were flying everywhere. By this point the music had returned to its original low-key pitch, creepy music.
00:44-00:54: The clip shows 2 characters still struggling for life, as the other two had suddenly stopped struggling, and instead just swung there.
00:54-01:04: For the next 10 seconds the audience watched the last two characters struggling for their life, and then they slowly stop and join the other two swinging. The Music is still the same, constant suspenseful along side the ambient sound of the super 8.
01:04-01:08: There is then a transition to a gap in the super 8 film, The title of the film 'Sinister' is then sprawled across in small, messy, white handwriting which has been edited over the clip and a black screen suddenly pops up again. The fact that the scene is so simply filmed and edited makes it seem even more scary as there is the idea of the unknown. The audience are not aware of what is happening apart from people are being hanged which creates the mood of tension and fear which prepares the audience for what they are about to see in the film itself.
The setting of the opening sequence of the film Sinister looks like it is in a back garden. This is apparent because you are able to see the corner of a building which looks like a house and a family are being hung on a tree.
Typography:
The only title that comes up is the film title at the end of the opening sequence. The typography is in upper case and in spiky fount style to convey the genre of horror. The typography is white positioned in the bottom right corner to present a scratched feel. this creates tension because it connotes evil. In addition, the title 'Sinister' is sprawled across in small, messy white handwriting which has been edited over the clip. The scratched messy hand writing is a generic convention of horror films as a lot of the films in this genre have the same style title. This convention has connotations of children as the handwriting is messy, indicating the fact that children are going to be involved in the opening scene.
Lighting:
As you can see from the screenshot below there is not a lot of lighting in the opening sequence of the film. The lighting is low-key lighting, this is to make it dark and create a chilling atmosphere. This is used to put the audience on edge and to intrigue them into what the rest of the film is going to be about. The use of low-key lighting is used to also empathise the dark shadows and to dominate the mise-en-scene of the film.
Costume:
As you can see from the screenshot below the characters in the opening sequence of Sinister are wearing normal clothing. However, they have woven bags over their heads as they are being hung on a tree. These outfits are used to give a sense of reality within the film, this adds terror to the film as it is implying that it could happen to anyone. Moreover, there is no use of makeup as all of the characters skin is covered.
Props:
The props used in the opening sequence of Sinister are ropes and woven bags. These bags are used to hung and cover the characters faces. this is to give a sense of mystery because you cannot identify the characters faces. The ropes are used to hang and murder the characters. Using these props are intended to scare the audience giving them a sense of suspense.
Sound:
This opening uses a mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic sound. One of the ways the diegetic sound is used is through the sounds of clicking and the tape rolling. Moreover, during the film opening sound before picture technique is used to give off the impression of a film roll being placed in the protector which is followed by the film. The diegetic sound is seen by the sounds of clicking and the film scrolling through. The sound is gentle which indicates tension and is a juxtaposition of what is going on in the agitated opening scene in which they can see on the screen. This adds the realism to the piece gives the idea that it is being played live, something in which I would like to replicate in my production. The non diegetic sound is the strong bass sounds which are heard alongside the diegetic sounds. Both these bring different parts to the opening individually but together they create a perfect horror atmosphere. The non diegetic sound is the strong bass sounds which are heard along side the diegetic sounds. Both these bring different parts to the opening individually but together they create a perfect horror atmosphere.
Transition analysis:
During the whole opening scene of Sinister, this is one of the only transitions: from the empty frame to one with a subtitle of the film, this is a rolling cut which appears up towards the end of the opening. This is done to make terror and fear to the audience as they had suspense built throughout the duration of this clip, and until the end when the title "Sinister" appears up on the screen, there have been no sudden movements.
Editing:
In the opening sequence, you can see that the whole sequence has an affect added over it. this is to give a grainy affect which makes it seem like it is being shown to that audience via a projector. This is shown in the three screenshots below. this type of editing would create tension because the footage that is being shown to the audience is a family being murdered. it also creates mystery because the editing makes it seem like it has been filmed on an old camera and is being projected to the audience.
In the opening sequence, you can see that the whole sequence has an affect added over it. this is to give a grainy affect which makes it seem like it is being shown to that audience via a projector. This is shown in the three screenshots below. this type of editing would create tension because the footage that is being shown to the audience is a family being murdered. it also creates mystery because the editing makes it seem like it has been filmed on an old camera and is being projected to the audience.
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