Introduction
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Director: Anna Nguyen
Producer: Anna Nguyen
Distributed by: Namondej Productions
Synopsis: WHO ARE YOU? follows the journey of an amateur female investigator, Nadine, who suffers from dissociative identity disorder, as she agrees to investigate a murder case without realizing that she is the main suspect.
As the story progresses, she slowly figures out the truth behind all the nightmares she has been experiencing and the altered identity that has been controlling her actions.
"Who are you?", Nadine wondered as she looked in the mirror and saw her high school self.
Film Opening Sequence
Clip Duration: 02:05
Start Time: 00:00
End Time: 02:05
A character is seen walking out of a classroom, towards a locker, which the audience could understand that the scene is taking place in the school’s hallway. Based on the appearance of the character, the uniform connotes that she is a high school student, according to Barthes's theory. The tone of the scene was set to be blueish and in low-key lighting, which brings in the mysteriousness and coldness of the environment. The diegetic sound of rain was heard, as a non-diegetic sound of a group of girls gossiping followed by a high-pitched sound that adds a disturbing effect for the audience.
The sound echoes as the scene cuts to a tracking shot of a mysterious character, walking into the hallway, wearing a black hoodie from the back, which signifies that they are hiding their identity. The gossiping sound could now be inferred to be an internal diegetic sound coming from the mysterious character wearing a hoodie, which changes into an internal diegetic sound. According to Stuart Hall’s theory of stereotypes, audiences could infer that the character wearing a black hoodie could be a murderer or attempting a bad action. The choice of using a hand-held movement when revealing the back of the mystery character is to connote the unstable mentality of the character. Lightning and thunderstorms are also heard, adding further tension to the shot and introducing the character.
High-key lighting is also applied in this scene, binary opposites to the scene in the hallway. This high-key lighting was used to create an unrealistic, dreamlike feeling. She now no longer looks rushed or scared, but just looks satisfied and smiling creepily. We could also see clearly the appearance of the character, as it is a close-up shot. She seems to have dimples and blemishes on her face, with messy hair. This could be a hint that maybe the character has 2 identities and this is the identity that attempted the murder. Glitches then occur, connoting the switches and changes between identities. High-pitch sound was also heard, adding tension and bringing disturbance to the audience.
The scene then cuts to a medium close-up shot of the character, capturing her emotions of confusion, terrified, and disbelief of all the events that she has been through in a short period. Lisbet Van Zoonen’s theory of narrow ideals of beauty is also seen during the shot, where the appearance of the character looks a lot more appealing compared to the character that appeared in the mirror after the murder happened. The dark identity looked less appealing with blemishes while the normal identity looked a lot better, with her hair all in place and her face having no blemishes.
Analysis
A title ident of the production company, Namondej Productions is seen, followed by 5 other idents of the director, screenwriter, and actors. The title ident appearing in the sequence has a hand-written font, that looks swiggly, which complements the genre thriller. It also has an effect of glitches, which may be a hint for the content of the film.
A focus pull is then used from a single shot to a two-shot, when revealing that the 2 characters are spatially and temporarily in the same environment, interfering with each other’s world. The moment they interfere, a non-diegetic sound is heard to bring in the tension, alarming the audience about the upcoming event.
A series of close-ups from foot level to eye level is seen, showing the shoes of the mysterious character, the hand holding an exacto knife, and the close-up revealing the identity of the character. The close-up of the knife is an alert to the audience of the upcoming potential murder that may happen, the knife is the weapon that will be used, and the character in uniform at the beginning might be the victim.
The character is revealed to be a woman, with messy hair and smirks as she approaches the high school student. During this scene, we hear the constant diegetic sound of thunderstorms with lightning flashing, adding tension to the scene. We then hear a scream as the scene cuts to the 2 characters standing close to each other, and the mystery character raises her hand to attempt murder and the high school student drops her book, which is an alert to the audience about what is about to happen.
A close-up of the murder situation is seen, with the murderer constantly stabbing the victim, until she stops and an extreme close-up is shown, with the knife dripping blood down, which brings in the thrilling effect for the opening sequence. Thunderstorms and lightning continue as she drops the knife, panting and breathing hard, while looking terrified, before running out of the hallway.
Hand-held movement is again applied in this scene, tracking her running action, which signifies the unstable mentality of the character. There is a binary opposite between the 2 environments, the hallway that she is running out from is dark, while she is running towards a brighter environment, as Strauss suggests. This connotes that she is running away from her bad actions and leaving back all the murder scenes behind.
The sequence then cuts to a close-up of the tap water, before it switches to the character washing her bloody hands. The diegetic sound of hard breathing is heard, connoting the rush and panic emotion of the character. She then looks up into the mirror, as the scene match cuts into a different character that looks similar to the first time she is revealed wearing a hoodie, but this time she is wearing a white shirt.
The pitch sound ends as the scene cuts to the character waking up, breathing hard, connoting that she has just been through a nightmare, which is all the events that just happened in the hallway. A close-up shot of the character captures her emotion after being through the nightmare, in which she looks very relieved that it was all a dream. A diegetic sound of a bell was heard, she then looked to the right as the camera followed her, showing the bedroom’s door.
The scene then cuts to the character walking from outside to inside the frame, towards the house door, asking: “Who’s there?”. The tone of the scene also contrasts with the tone of the first scene set in the hallway, which has a warmer tone. The reason for the difference might be because she is at her house, therefore it might have more warmth than the scene in the hallway.
A small diegetic modulated sound is heard, that seems to be the beginning of the news is heard, while the scene cuts to the camera tilting down from eye level to reveal a piece of paper, that looks like a letter between the doors. She then opens the door, which the audience can infer that she is checking for the sender of the letter. The scene reveals the hallway, similar to the school’s hallway but there are no people seen. A high-pitched sound is applied once again to emphasize the feeling of confusion and afraidness of the character.
The scene cuts to a panning motion of the camera, revealing that breaking news is currently playing on the TV, before a whip pan is used to capture the character's action as she walks back inside, examining the letter. Breaking news is heard to be reporting a murder case that happened in a school, yesterday’s night. A POV shot is then used so that the audience can understand what the character is currently seeing. She then opens the letter, with bold letters written in blood that read: “REVENGE” is seen.
Right at this moment, the breaking news reported the victim of the case to be Joselyn Tran, 23 years old. The scene cuts to a wide shot of the character, turning to look at the TV while being shocked by what she just heard. The addition non-diegetic sound effect of tension was also used to further emphasize the piece of information that is just revealed. The same POV shot is seen as a notification sound is heard and the character receives a message from her captain, saying there is a new case and if she wants to accept it or not.
The scene cuts to a medium-wide shot of a staircase and the character is walking up the stairs. The audience could now infer that she accepts the case and might be on her way to approach the murder scene. Based on her outfit, and the message she received in the previous shot, the audience could also understand that she might be an investigator.
This is based on Stuart Hall’s theory of stereotypes that investigators typically wear a long brown coat whenever they are on a mission to investigate. A close-up shot set at a low angle then captures the shoes that she is wearing, which is exactly similar to the shoes that the murderer wore when attempting the murder during her nightmare.
The scene cuts to a higher-angle shot, showing the character walking up, while glitches happen once again. This time, the glitch is between the character in the investigator's outfit and the character in her high school uniform. This is the confirmation that she is indeed suffering from a psychological disorder that causes her to have multiple identities.
As she walks towards the scene, she stops immediately after seeing the murder scene. A shallow depth of field is first used, only focusing on a part of the character’s shoulder, before a focused push is applied to focus on the murder scene, which is the same as the one she saw in her nightmare. A non-diegetic sound of tension is heard, adding a surprising effect to both the character and the audience, but also bringing in the tension for the opening sequence.
A series of close-ups is then used to capture the evidence of the murder scene, including the exacto knife covered in blood and the blood splashes on the locker. The scene also uses the effect of the camera screen, together with the non-diegetic sound of a camera clicking, connoting that the character is capturing all the pieces of evidence she saw in the scene.
The camera slowly zooms into her face as the title ident, WHO ARE YOU? appears. This is not only the title ident but also seems like the question that the character is asking to the identity that has been causing all the troubles and attempting the murder. The ident also has a glitching effect, regarding the protagonist's mental disorder. The sequence then ends after the title disappears and the screen fades out to black.
In conclusion, WHO ARE YOU? has established its thriller genre through the use of codes and conventions such as low-key lighting, blood, and murder events. The technical and symbolic aspects of the opening sequence also complement the genre well, such as the glitches, hand-held movement, or close-up shots. The 2-minute opening sequence is also able to raise the enigmas for the audience, having them questioning the real identity of the character, the person who sent the REVENGE letter, how the protagonist solves the case, and whether or not more murder attempts may happen.
I felt like in the modern media industry, WHO ARE YOU? Is a psychological thriller that incorporates the use of dream sequences, hallucinations, a character with a potential split personality, and the layer of mystery that the character could potentially be the murderer. Regarding modern relevance, the exploration of a character with a split personality taps into the growing awareness of mental health issues, especially of what the protagonist has to go through such as school bullying. The dream sequence and blurring of reality also keep the audience guessing and create a sense of unreliability, which is frequently used in modern thriller films. Overall, WHO ARE YOU? Is a blend of established genres with a modern twist by focusing on a complex protagonist and the psychological aspects of the crime.
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