The Cradle Screenshot Analysis

We decided to start the film of with the first institution New Line Cinema. We chose New Line Cinema as they have previously done horror films such a Final Destination and The Nightmare on Elm Street. Fans of the institution will then be inclined to watch our movie if the institution is associated with it. A piece of music called The Doom March starts to play here and continues throughout the opening.

We also decided to create our institution as often films have one big name institution then one unknown institution involved in the making of their film. We called our institution LHM Pictures as it is the first initial of each of our names.

The first action shot is a mid shot of a door. The door slowly opens to reveal a long shot of a crib in a room. The lighting is dark in the room as this helps to create a scary atmosphere for the viewer. The camera then slowly zooms in to a close up of the crib which is rocking back and forth. It then zooms out again. The close up is key as it tells the viewer the baby is going to be important in the film.



There is then a completely black screen. The black here connotes death and foreshadows later events during the opening. There is then the non-diagetic sound of a girl screaming. This will immediately put the viewer on edge as they will want to know what has happened.

Following the black screen is a long shot of the babysitter running down the stairs to answer the phone which we can hear ringing in the background. This is the first time we are introduced to this character. she is wearing a red and white dress. Here the white connotes innocence and vulnerability and the red connotes danger and blood.

The next shot is of the character still running to get the phone but from a different angle, showing continuity editing. The music here starts to build to crescendo building the tension even further.







Suddenly the camera jumps to a mid shot of the killer who is stood outside holding a knife one hand and a baby in the other. This shot is only a second long as it's aim is to scare and worry the viewer. For this shot I changed the exposure and the white point and also added a video effect called Raster to create a scary effect.

The camera then goes back to babysitter who is now answering the phone. Through her facial expression and dialogue we can tell that the person calling is in fact the person stood outside. Not being able to hear the voice of the killer keeps the audience distanced from this character which is effective so that they interact with the victim rather than killer.

Some more continuity editing is shown as in the previous shot the babysitter drops the phone and runs out of the frame. This shot is following as the babysitter runs through a closed door. Here we can see her panic and we know that something is wrong.





Again there is a mid shot of the killer outside. This is the same shot as the previous one of the killer. The use of parallel editing here allows the viewer to make the connection between the babysitter inside and the killer outside.

The camera then jumps back to the babysitter running through the door and out of the frame on the right side. Again her panic is evident, putting the viewer on the edge of their seat as they will want to know where she is going and what she's going to find once she gets there.

Some more continuity editing is shown when we see a long shot of the babysitter still running through the living room and to some doors at one side of the room. The long, wide shot allows the audience to be fully aware of the characters movements and actions.




We have the same shot of the killer seen twice previously appear for one final time. Again, to distance the audience from the killer they have their back to the camera and a cloak over their head so that the identity of the killer is kept anonymous.

Following this is a shot from the same angle as the twelfth shot. As the babysitter reaches the doors she tries to open them and it becomes evident that they are locked. This will make the audience start to panic as they will be worried for her and what is going to happen.




The audience then see the same piece of action happening from the other side of the door through the glass so there we can see the facial expressions on the babysitter. The camera is also at a slightly lower angle which helps to create the impression of vulnerability. The editing here is extremely fast and each shot only lasts a second of so. The quick pace adds to the feeling of despair and panic.

Finally we have a mid shot of the killer outside again, however this shot is longer than the previous ones which have only flashed up on screen for a second or so. Also this shot does not have the raster effect to it, however after every second or so the raster effect is used then disappears immediately. This is to create disorientation and confusion for the viewer.


The credits then start. We chose to have a black screen with red and white copy as these colours have been evident throughout the opening and have connotations of death, blood, danger and vulnerability. The different colour copy slides on from either side until it meets in the middle. Each name stays on the screen for 6 seconds.



Finally we ended the film opening with the name of the film as this would be a key place to finish. We used the font My Scars which we downloaded from 1001 fonts for the credits as we thought it had a chilling design to it.