'Dead Wood'
Starting with probably the most intense title of all: 'Dead Wood's' opening sequence does follow some of the most common conventions of horror. It starts off with a soft melody, birds accompanied by sounds of a piano. The audience is presented with a tilt shot of woods (a secluded location - the most common convention in teen horror) alongside the soundtrack, creating an illusion of safety (however the low notes in the music create an eerie aura). The weather is surprisingly good, battling the genre convention (no pathetic fallacy) and adding to the illusion. Also, the lighting is rather bright and warm, being a great juxtaposition to the events that are occurring. However all of the 'safety' is killed by a jumpscare - making it all more effective - of a foot splashing into a puddle (or even a fake scare, since there is not actually any danger the audience should fear - other than whoever or whatever's chasing the character, naturally).
From that point onwards, the pace of the opening picks up and we are presented with the character of Rob running through the woods. Of course, he inexplicably falls over - another convention to add to the list. The camera is extremely shaky, resembling Rob's movements and making the audience feel equally as disoriented as the victim himself.
In the final moments of the opening, there is a quite unusual use of slow motion which creates more tension; the character jumps and for a brief moment it seems like he is going to make it to the other side. Of course, as it usually is, he does not, following another convention of teen horror: someone dying in the first five minutes of the film. After he dies, we are presented with a high angle shot of the tent and the female character inside of it. That shot follows another one of the genre's conventions - someone investigating a strange noise, that someone being Rob's friend calling for him, and subliminally tells us how vulnerable the girl is in the face of the killer (whom we never actually see, as it is most likely they - or it - were to be revealed later on in the film).
'Dead Mary'
Putting the word 'Dead' in the title appears to be a convention of it's own at this point. The opening sequence of this film doesn't use any particularly unique codes but it plays with conventions in a quite unusual way for the teen horror genre. Firstly, not a lot happens; the beginning of the film is very slow paced. Secondly, no-one dies, no-one falls over; there is no chasing in general. Unlikely, to say the least. That obviously doesn't mean the opening doesn't use any popular conventions of course.
The first thing the audience can hear is chains creaking - suggests danger, maybe someone imprisoned - but after a second, it only turns out to be a (broken) gas station sign. In that moment, by paying close attention to detail, we can see that the location is secluded. Another convention the opening falls into is the lack of signal - the girl can't tune the radio nor can she use her mobile phone; that may be significance in the future. Also, the way the girl is dressed explicitly tells the genre of the film - a lot of her body is exposed to the audience, she also acts in a very 'annoying girlfriend' kind of way. Typical, unfortunately (someone could even say
conventional)
The weather is not bad (no pathetic fallacy), the bright natural lighting does not indicate danger - there just seems to be no threat whatsoever. That is of course until we see a point of view shot of someone in the woods looking at the girl (the importance of that shot can be told by the music 'kicking in'). There are multiple close ups and extreme close ups and barely any music - the purpose of that was obviously building suspense. Additionally, this opening has a quite nice 'piece' of foreshadowing - the moment when the female lead is holding a flare gun (which is most likely not going to work in the future).
Despite the main character having, well, almost no personality this opening does stand out as pretty unusual - the way it plays with conventions certainly helps it with not being as formulaic.
'Wrong Turn'
The opening to the last film beings with an establishing shot of woods with an ominous soundtrack in the background, suggesting danger - straight away a secluded location accompanied by an adequate use of non-diegetic sound. The audience is then shown two characters rock climbing - male and female, with the female obviously not being dressed appropriately, of course - from a high angle; implying how vulnerable they are. The male finishes climbing faster while the female acts like the 'damsel in distress'. There is just something about teen horror and set gender roles, both in 'Wrong Turn' and 'Dead Mary'. The weather, just like in the previous two openings, is surprisingly good - apparently pathetic fallacy is out of the genre fashion. However, worry not, there are different conventions to follow, such as: the death of the character(s) within the first five minutes (we can assume the female character meets the same fate as the male), the car being just out of reach or the victim falling over (although I have to admit, it was thought out better than in other films, as this time, it was not the victim's fault).
Some of the sounds such as the the moving bushes, the male being hit (possibly with a rock) or the rope being cut are enhanced in order to build tension in the scene. Sound, in general, plays a big role in this opening and often synchronises with the action that can be seen on the screen, making the sequence much more appealing to the audience.
The camerawork is also an important technical code (although not as important as the sound) - while there is not a lot of mise-en-scene due to the nature of the location, the shots used fit well with the action. When we are presented with the point of view of the character, the camera is shaky, resembling the disorientation and fear.
Overall, after witnessing the opening of 'Wrong Turn', it appears that it is a next generic teen horror in the sea of the genre. The best part about this sequence is definitely the use of both diegetic and non-diegetic sound: they help to build up the tension and simply make everything more bearable.
