30 Days of Night Analysis

Institutions :- Ghost House Productions, Columbia Pictures in association with Dark Horse Entertainment.

The establishing shot sees a close up of a mans face illuminated against a background of snow. Through the camera angle we can see that the man has been through something traumatic, although it isn't apparent what that was. The mise-en-scene adds to this effect - by having dull, torn, scruffy costume and make-up, that makes him look asthough hes been bleeding, depicts the rough experiences hes had.
The non-diagetic music plaed above the wind adds to the eerie set, showing that the film is a horror. The sound of the wind howling has been enhanced to emphasise the isolation and so adds to the terrifying ambience.
There is a shot of a ship, which appears to be rusty and perhaps broken, therefore establishing that people have either tried to leave and could not or people have been stranded - a typical start to a horror film. The first sign of movement is when the man walks across some amount of snow, toward a village - the camera angles show the man walking from long distance to close up therefore demonstrating the vast amounts of snow and so distance he has had to travel. From an eye-line match of the camera we can see how the village appears to this man, yet it appears to be empty - this is shown through the lack of sound, with emphasised wind in the background.
For the opening shot, there is no dialogue - which goes to convey the isolation of the village. Although it is usually common during conversation, there is a 180 degree rule, whilst the man looks down to the village then the village looks back - and vice versa.

There is no imediate representation, other than perhaps a traveller - who appears to be lost. The lack of background information of the man leads the audience to believe what they want about his character and reason for being there. The target audience would be young adults, as younger and older people tend to scare easier and so would not appriciate the film. It targets the younger generations as it is full of thrillers and suspence.