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THE BABADOOK

The Babadook is a 2014 supernatural and psychological horror film written and directed by Jennifer Kent. The story follows a  young widow who raised her six year old son by herself and is struggling to cope with his erratic behaviour and wild imagination. After she reads a storybook to him called 'mister Babadook' strange events start happening and they discover that they have accidentally unleashed the Babadook in their house.

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The opening to this film reflects the genre of psychological horror because it chooses to focus on the woman and her distress. the first shot is a close up of her face which shows her breathing heavily. There is also barely any

diegetic sound at the beginning of this opening, instead there is a series of odd and quiet non diegetic sounds that correspond with the images on the screen and create a creepy atmosphere. At 0:19 There is a muted voice that starts calling out in the background, but it is very faded and quiet which suggests that what is happening on screen isn't real.

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The lighting in the shot is very dark, which creates an eerie atmosphere. The low key lighting means that in some of the shots only her face is visible and the background is dark. This contrast between her and the background again puts the focus on her and suggests that her surrounding are not real. The erratic lighting with the flashing light on her face highlights her panic and creates a sense of confusion  and chaos. At 0:36 the light suddenly becomes extremely bright and blinding on her face, which shows that she is coming back to reality.

 

the first shot is very long and drawn out, using lighting and sound to create an atmosphere rather than lots of different shots. The shot also seems to have been slowed down, which adds to the confusion and dream like feel to the scene. When she turns to the side we are shown a close up of a man which makes you think that this could be a memory. As well as this it shows that they are in a car, which again suggests that she is replaying a specific event in her head. This is also the only shot that shows her point of view, again adding to the idea that this is her memory. When it cuts back to the shot of her face with the sudden bright light, the screen goes blank and it cuts to another close up of her face but this time she is falling backwards onto a bed, confirming that she was dreaming and that none of it was real.

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