As above so below-opening sequence analysis

As above so below:

Story line:

“Miles of twisting catacombs lie beneath the streets of Paris, the eternal home to countless souls. When a team of explorers ventures into the uncharted maze of bones, they uncover the dark secret that lies within this city of the dead. A journey into madness and terror, As Above, So Below reaches deep into the human psyche to reveal the personal demons that come back to haunt us all”.

Opening sequence if used with a steady cam to film from main characters perspective, almost lost diary or journal being done. The setting is in the Middle East (Iran) and the clothing set up and atmosphere is very suspicious this first scene consists of the protagonist whose name is scarlet, is on bus journey into Iran looking to discover historical values and artefacts. During the bus journey she is frowned upon by a very suspicious woman sat diagonally in front of her. The next scene switches into a tunnel and it’s very dark with red lights along the walls. The only source of light is torch used by the protagonist and the character that she is accompanied by.

Sound is played in suspense during the build-up of the scene; the sound creates a tense atmosphere, during the walk through the tunnel its very dark and the use of camera work from different angles building up more and more of a tense atmosphere for the viewers.  The red lights stand out in the tunnel and trying to see anything else is hard as it is all low key lighting during this part of the scene.

The sound of sirens in the tunnel flood the surroundings, it really creates the atmosphere of panic and the use of a steady cam helps show the panic more and the rush the characters were in.

Eventually she finds what she is looking for, a wall with loads of ancient language on, she is rushed as there is incoming threat of violence from soldiers. When she breaks through the wall she discovers what she was looking for.  A calf with ancient language all over with meaning behind another clue to the historical past.  The use of the steady cam helps showcase the rush of the character and when running the editing between the use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound really create a huge atmosphere.

The title sequence fades in after the opening scene, with music fading background making a suspicious thought. The title fades in slowly with the next scene coming.