This is a clip from the American TV series Supernatural, created by Eric Kripke. It was produced by Kripke Enterprises, Wonderland Sound and Vision and Warner Bros, who also distribute the series and is broadcasted on The CW channel.
This scene is the introduction to Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Immediately, the text shows exactly where the scene is set- Chicago, Illinois- and the non-diegetic music begins to play.
The camera pans down from the bottom of a train track, where we can hear the diegetic sound of a train passing by, increasing the tension of the scene as it sounds rather like screams.
Next we see and hear the storm and flying debris, giving the area a sense of impending doom, as we can hear the distant thunder storms- perhaps there is a hurricane on its way.
As we pan further down, we see a sign saying 'one way', further insinuating the oncoming storm, as it could be suggesting the 'one way ticket to death'. Then we see a white mustang creeping along like a predator surrounded by prey- the fact that it's a white car goes against stereotype of evil objects being dark like the black of the Ying Yang. The non diegetic music that used to be an ominous humming of deep voices, which created an even darker feel to the scene, then changes to lyrics of 'O Death', so the audience immediately knows exactly who the character is.
Editing is then used to split between what feels like slow motion as the car pulls along the road, to extremely fast, as it pulls onto the sidewalk. This makes the character seem more powerful as he seems to control time, and also separates him from the rest of the people in the scene as he claims the entire shot, so it seems as if it was only him moving through time.
We then see close ups of him emerging from the car, first his foot, as he steps onto the pavement in time with the music- almost as if he were aware of it- then we see his hand holding the walking stick- but the focus is immediately drawn to the ring on this finger- the object of his power.
These close ups act almost as a teaser- we do not see his appearance, only his dark clothing and his aged hand. This makes him appear more mysterious and dangerous.
Again, he seems to shift through time as he begins to walk through the crowd. The shots seem to be only behind him when the camera is near, again not letting the audience see his appearance, but we can see part of his gaunt face, instantly making him somewhat more frightening.
We can also see in the long shot, that he is walking against the crowd, grabbing the audience's attention as we track along to keep him centre frame.
Afterwards, there are straight cuts to go with the music as someone approaches Death, creating tension as we can see that he is going to walk into him. The camera is then close up as we seem the man hit his shoulder, making sure that the audience understood what had happened and that there will be a punishment for it.
Then as we follow the man who hit him, he no longer seems to be affected by the slow motion, and turns and growls angrily at him to watch where he's going. We cut back to Death as he strokes the shoulder where the man hit him, building more tension. and we see his face for the first time, and the audience will know that the man will pay for his actions.
The non diegetic music then says 'Lord have Mercy on your Soul' as we cut back to the other character as his face turns to shock, further creating a feel of inevitable doom, cutting to a long shot, we seem him fall to the floor- in slow motion- dead. Death walks away without a backward glance.
As a last ominous message, we hear ' my name is Death and the end is here', which almost seems like a promise to the people of Chicago that they are all about to be slaughtered like the man he so effortlessly murdered.
This last scene makes Death seem as powerful as a God. People are dispensable to him, not worthy of a second glance, the fact that he can kill with a mere thought makes him scarier than any other kind of monster that can tear apart it's victims with sharp teeth and claws. Killing people is something he does often and without remorse. Also, the fact that he kills a man for walking into him again makes him so much more superior to the human race- the man was an irritant, like a nagging fly, that he just crushed under his foot because he got in his way.
The amount of thought that went into this scene and the sheer brilliance of it is the work of a professional company- they have equipment, the man power and the software to effectively create such a compelling scene.
Unfortunately, we only have 4 people and minimal equipment to create our film, but we would like to be able to try and recreate the same effect this clip had on the audience, as we also have a dark character in our film.
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