Textual Analysis - The Eye

 The opening of this film opens on a long shot, onto a very dark, night-time scene. There are bare tree branches moving slightly in the wind, like skeleton hands; a very typical, yet a little old fashioned feature used in scary stories and films. There is very low, quiet, eerie music building tension. There is diegetic sounds ongoing through out this opening as we hear hard objects hitting a metal surface. There is also a sound of crickets in the background to emphasise the night-time.

 Fast pace editing is used as each shot changes. Some times it cuts to black as if we, the audience, are blinking; Like we are seeing this event unfold before our eyes. We still hear the music playing at the same pace and we hear more objects hitting a metal surface.

We then quickly cut to another long shot of the outside, with a blurry foreground, as though the audience is viewing this scene from behind fauna. A person sprints past the scene in a blur, shouting something in another language, so the English audience does not understand what is going on, but the frantic footsteps imply that something immediate and alarming is going on. The music gradually gets lower in pitch signifying a slow down of the action, nearing a climax.

 In this shot, there is a dark, yellowing hut, that looks like it's existed for a long time. There is a non-English word painted in red graffiti on the hut. The chosen colour suggests danger or blood, warning the audience that this will not be a nice introduction. The fast pace of the editing is kept up, as the music gets lower and lower in pitch.

There is a close up of a light bulb being turned on. the hand uses a cord to switch it on, showing that this setting is a little behind times. The background is still pitch black, confusing the audience as to where we are. We hear the sound of the light bulb humming and heavy breathing that could suggest that the character who turned on the light has been running and/or sobbing; which also suggests terror.

It then cuts to a close up of some kind of inanimate object we are unable to recognise. In the background we see the shadow of a person walking around quickly. Frantic whispering can be heard, and we connect it to the panicked movements of the shadow. The music grows lower in pitch as the climax approaches.

We are then snapped out from the dimly lit room as we are shown a long shot of the opening scene, but this time, two young characters have occupied the shot. They project childish shouts in a different language and throw rocks. We then understand that the action they are performing links in with the sound of hard objects hitting a metal surface. We presume the metal surface is the hut we were shown earlier. 

This shot then confirms that the mysterious, stressed character is inside the old hut as we hear muffled cries and the smashing of glass as another rock hits a window. There is a mid shot of the shadow and there is more frantic muttering. The music gets lower in pitch still. 

Then, the close up of a hand preparing a black wire indicates that is what the character within the hut was up to. The colour of the wire has many dark connotations such as death. A woman is muttering as she ties the wire up and the music grows lower still.

The woman grabs a chair, which helps the audience clue together what is about to take place. The room is still very dark and it is very difficult to see exactly where she is or what she looks like, keeping the mystery. Kids are still shouting and throwing rocks. The shots become slightly longer to give the audience a chance to catch up with what is happening.

Music tension increases and still decreases in pitch. More diegetic sound as more windows are smashed by rocks keeping the reality of the event. We see a close up of the woman's feet as she struggles to reach something. To match this, we hear strained gasps and muttering.

There is a medium close up of a shaft of light through a cobweb, creating creepy lighting and emphasising the darkness. An object fades in from the darkness and it almost looks like a white, hollow, face. The music rises in tension as it closes in on the climax. More windows are shattered so we receive a fusion of reality and the surreal image of that face.
The last shot of this sequence is an extreme close up of the mysterious character's eye. This links in with the title of the film as well as shows the audience that she is only young because there are no visible signs of old age. There is a shadow across half of her face, hiding her full identity. The tear drop runs down her face to show that she is either scared and/or upset. The woman, through sobs, mutters something in another language. Her voice is shaky but almost begging, showing that she wants to be free of the horror she seems to be faced with. Music reaches a climax as it hits it's loudest, highest note and it cuts to the next scene.