How does the opening sequence of The X-Files: Squeeze attract the
audience
X-Files:
Squeeze is about a mutant called Victor Tooms who is killing people. He steals
and eats the livers of the victims to hibernate. But at the crime scene leaves
no sign of entry. Scully also becomes a victim.
In most
cases the viewer expects and anticipates that the opening scene will be similar
to every other episode and will feature a murder/attack. Convention of horror,
sci-fi and thriller to get the audience expect and anticipate the tropes of the
openings.
The purpose
of the opening shot is to establish the setting, in this case a long high angle
shot of Baltimore. The mise-en-scéne of this shot is the sunset which suggests
that a death or an attack might happen. It then dissolves into another shot 2
The reason
why he is filmed at a high angled shot is to show that he is weak, vulnerable
and to single him out as the target and a victim of the episode. Viewers expect
him to be the victim.
The edits
used when the man is walking to his car, the area around him becomes
de-saturated, goes into slow motion and he turns slightly yellow this is
related to the liver being removed after he dies so in Hindsight this edit I
clever. The effects of the edits make the killer seem more predatorily and this
confirms that he is the victim.
The sound in
this sequence is a pulsating crescendo drowning out the diegetic sound to focus
on the killer and the victim. The crescendo builds up to the eyes in the sewer
to show that he is possibly the killer.
When he
enters the building we still feel that the man is the victim when he enters the
building because the angle is still a high angle shot, suggesting that he is
being watched. He is then framed in a mid-shot as he’s walking through the
build to mask anything that is behind or around him this makes him seem like
he’s being followed to keep the audience in suspense.
Then it cuts
to a shot in an elevator shaft which suggests that this is his entry point. The
red light in the shaft has connotations with blood, anger and murder the music
that corresponds with the killer plays making this seem even more obvious but
later on is proven that this isn’t the point of entry and is a ruse.
The
mie-en-scéne in the office shows us that the victim is a family orientated
person because the items on his desk like the family picture. His office is
shrouded in darkness and he is in the light making him seem like the
target/victim. Then he tries to call his wife and doesn’t get an answer and
leaves a message saying he has had a bad day to sympathise with him.
Then he
leaves the office to go make some coffee the point of this scene is to build
tension by placing the camera behind the victim to hide anything that’s around
him, it then cuts to a shot of a vent which is later revealed to be the entry
point for the killer, breathing is heard from the vent then a hand comes the
killer’s sound motif is playing suggesting that it’s the killer, you still
can’t see the killer’s face. As he’s walking back to the office the camera is
still positioned behind him, it’s a red herring because the killer is in the
office. The door slams when he renters to office.
The
mise-en-scéne is significant because you can’t see the first strike because
it’s behind a closed door in the dark office making him seem alone and
vulnerable. It’s also filmed this way so that you don’t see the killer’s face.
In the final section, after the murder has taken
place the camera movement is significant because it reveals some clues about
the killer’s motives; it pans through yellow glass where you see the victim
look yellow which correlates to liver failure we are told later in the episode
that he takes and stores livers from the victims. The camera pans to a picture
of his child, then there is a quick cut t the vent being screwed back to the
wall from the inside with the killer’s sound motif playing again with the heavy
breathing. It then cuts to the title sequence.
