Analysis - The Ward

The clip begins with a long shot of a dark and empty corridor, the camera tracking slowly until the name of the film “David Carpenter’s The Ward” comes up on screen. The corridor is dark and empty giving the impression that the building is abandoned and no longer used, creating an eerie atmosphere and establishing the horror genre. Locations of horror films are usually dark and abandoned as they add to the daunting atmosphere and create suspense. There is a storm going on outside and lightning flashes throughout the tracking shot adding to the atmosphere. Diegetic sound from the storm such as wind and thunder is also heard throughout the shot and all of this helps to establish the horror genre as storms are common in horror films and they add to the frightening atmosphere that this genre is associated with.

After the name of the film comes up on screen, non-diegetic music begins to play and the clip then cuts to discoloured and black and white photos of people being tortured and experimented on medically while they shatter like glass. The music is contrapuntal to the photos being shown as it is quite light and high pitched but it helps add to the eerie atmosphere being created. There is also diegetic sound of glass breaking as it shatters on the screen. The music hints at the film being a psychological horror as it only creates an eerie atmosphere instead of one of suspense commonly associated with slasher films. No main characters are introduced in the first two minutes and there is no death shown either which again hints at the psychological horror genre as they do not tend to focus on death and gore. The text of the title also hints at this as even though the text is a dark colour, which is commonly associated with the horror genre, the text is a general font and this is not a convention of the slasher-horror genre. However the photos show people in pain and possibly being tortured which suggest the film may actually be a slasher.

We find out that the film is based in a hospital from the tracking shot of a hospital corridor at the beginning as well as the photos of patients and doctors being shown throughout the clip. The name of the film “The Ward” also tells us that the film will be set in a hospital. The photos suggest that it may be set in an old and abandoned mental asylum as they show patients mostly being given brain surgeries and treatments. The photos are old as they are black and white or discoloured and show out of date medical practices being done on patients and showing them suffering/being in pain and this also suggests that the film is a psychological horror. No characters are introduced to us in the first two minutes so we do not know who the main character is, although there are hints that it may be a woman as two photos are shown of the same women curled up in different positions and locations suggesting she will be a main part in the film.