Kelso's Blog

How does the opening sequence of ‘The X-Files: Squeeze’ attract the audience?

The episode of ‘The X-Files’ entitled ‘Squeeze’ centres around a mutant known as Eugene Victor Tooms who is not your average murderer. He must kill 3 people before he is able to go back into hibernation. He eats the livers of these 3 people to survive. The opening sequence of the episode shows Tooms murdering his first victim in the victim’s office by strangulation.

Each episode of ‘The X-Files’ begins with an enigma; the writer and director play with the audience’s expectations as they anticipate a murder and use the typical conventions of the horror, thriller and science-fiction genres.

The opening shot of the episode is an establishing shot, a long high shot of everyday Baltimore in Maryland, the city where ‘The X-Files’ is set which gives the audience the impression that everything is normal, even though they know that something is about to happen. The sun is setting and it is getting darker which, when the audience know what the show is about, makes them anticipate something bad is about to happen. When the victim leaves the building, the angle is high and he is being focused on, singling him out and indicating to the audience that he is a possible target for someone. This suggests to the audience that he’s vulnerable and gives the impression that he’s being watched. When the man is walking to his car, there is a series of edits between the man and the drain. As the camera closes in on the drain, a non-diegetic crescendo builds up. This creates suspense for the audience. Eventually, two yellow eyes are visible in the drain, the eyes of the mutant. The use of yellow eyes instantly gives the audience the impression that they are currently looking at the killer. You can hear the sound of plucked strings which is used as a sound motif for the mutant so the audience will instantly know who it is whenever it is played. The audience can then tell that the view of the man is from the point of view of the mutant. The point of view shot allows the audience to see what he sees and this helps people take the character’s side. The image of the man is slowed down and de-saturated to show the audience that he’s the target. His skin turns a yellowy colour in the shot. The audience find out later that the mutant feeds on the livers of his victims, and losing your liver can turn your skin yellow, so there is a possible connection between the two.

When the man enters the building, he is being filmed at a high angle, which is further indication to the audience that he is being watched. The man is then framed in mid-shot from behind. The director uses this mid-shot to suggest to the audience that something is watching and following him. The red light above the elevator shaft is significant as it has connotations of blood and violence. The sound of the familiar plucked strings is used to tell the audience that the mutant is in the building. The audience expect to see the killer emerging from the shaft as the ropes are moving, but instead it cuts to the office which builds up suspense for the audience. In the office, the man is in the light but is surrounded by darkness, which suggests to the audience that he can’t see fully around him. The items on his desk suggest he is a normal family man. He undoes his tie which implies he has had a tough day and this also makes the audience feel sorry for him. When he calls his wife, nobody picks up, making his day even worse. This makes the audience feel even sorrier for him.

To suggest an atmosphere of trouble to the audience, the director has used the sound of breathing and screws being unscrewed. The audience then see a close-up shot of the vent and an arm emerging from it, but the identity of the person in the vent is not revealed so the audience are kept in suspense. When the vent door drops, it cuts back to the man making his coffee. From this, the character is represented to the audience as the soon-to-be victim. There is a non-diegetic crescendo as the man approaches his office so the audience will anticipate that something’s going to happen. Again, the camera is behind the man and you can’t see much around him. The camera eventually stops outside his office which builds up suspense for the audience. The office is dark when he re-enters which suggests an evil atmosphere. The attack is filmed in this way so the killer’s identity won’t be revealed and so that the suspense is maintained for the audience. In the final section, after the murder takes place, the camera pans across the victim’s desk and shows the now-yellow skin of the victim through the reflection. There is also blood visible on the desk which has connotations of violence. The plucked strings now have a lower tone, and a diminuendo can be heard, indicating that the killer’s work is done. There is another close up of the vent and an arm tightening the screws. The close-up of the vent suggests to the audience that this will be something of importance within the episode. Later on, we see the globe taken from the victim’s office in Tooms’ nest.

Without editing, everything you watched would be boring and repetitive.

Editing helps construct a narrative. Editing is so commonly used that we don't recognise it. Editing is normally invisible. Editing can be used to condense long, boring activities into quick bursts of visual information. The simplest edit is the cut. It is called this because in old-fashioned filmmaking, they found the best bits of footage and spliced them one after the other.

In the assassination scene in 'North by Northwest', after Roger Thornhill gets out of the car and enters the United Nations building, there are 26 edits. They are most frequent when Thornhill and Mr Townsend are talking.

In Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho', the pace of the editing in the shower scene when Marion is killed is fast to create tension and excitement. However, after her death, the editing becomes slower.

Dissolve - One scene dissolves into another, overlapping for a moment.
Fade in/Fade out - One scene fades out to black completely, then another fades in.
Wipes - One scene wipes across the screen, revealing or replacing the next one. This can happen in any direction.
Iris - The next scene replaces the last by appearing from the centre like the iris of an eye.
Jump Cuts - Two scenes that feature a common element right after one another, so something stays the same

The trailer for the 2012 horror film 'Sinister' involves a lot of quick fades to a black screen, dissolves and jump cuts.