Opening Title Sequence Analysis - Silenced

 

In the opening sequence of 'Silenced', an opening sequence made by Hurtwood House students, we start off with a mid-shot of girls in a bus. There is not too many of them as they are spread out amongst the bus, but the vehicle is moving so we do know that they are going somewhere. There is a melodramatic sad song playing in the background which proposes the idea that the girls do not want to be in the position that they are currently in. After what seems like ages of them sitting there, we finally get an over the shoulder shot of what the driver looks like. He is a middle aged man and he tells the girls that they have one hour too clean. This suggests the idea that these girls work for this man or that they are under his control.

The scene then cuts to the girls cleaning in the house. We get mid shots and closeups of the girls and the expressions on their faces show that they do not want to be there. Also, they are all dressed in black which makes me ponder the idea that they either work for the man or are some sort of slaves to him. After the cleaning montage, we get an over the shoulder shot of a girl looking through a window and staring directly at the bus. The bus backs out and the girl makes a run for it. This once again adds to my idea that these girls are held captive by this man. The bus pulls back in and then the scene cuts to the man yelling at the girls to come down. The man then asks the girls in an aggressive tone asking where the girl that ran away is. But, like the title suggests, the girls are silent.

The man then shouts at the girl that the girl that ran away was cleaning with and he starts to chase after her because he knows that she knows where the girl is. By this point in the opening title sequence, it is made clear that these girls are being held captive by this man, otherwise they wouldn't have so much resentment for him. Next, the girl that was just being chased by is hiding but the girl that snuck away earlier taps her back and brings the girl into another room. The scene ends there.

The use of facial expressions and way the characters move show that these girls are being held captive by the man in the opening title sequence of 'Silenced'.