Opening Sequence Analysis of Hostel 2

Camera Shot/Angle/Movement

The camera shots in the opening sequence of Hostel 2 are very weird as all we can see is someone emptying someone’s bag and it feels you with suspicion onto their recent activities.

The shots are also all low angle shots as all we see is the hand and also the movement of the camera varies at it is mostly still and focusing on one object.

There was also a first person view when the character is looking at the wallet  

Sound

The sound in Hostel 2 is very strange as all the way through the opening sequence there is the sound of raindrops in the background and also other very realistic sounds such as when the character unzipped the bag, puts the objects on the table and also when the fire is burning. 

Editing

The editing in Hostel 2 is very simple as most of the shots follow on after the other e.g. the objects he removes from the bag as the camera cuts from the objects on the table to the wallet in his hand.

 

Mise en Scene

The mise en scene in Hostel 2 is basically just based around the series of objects that the character removes from the bag such as a bottle containing an unknown liquid, a watch, other pieces of jewellery and a wallet containing someone’s personal things such as their id, credit cards and money.

Characters

There is a character in opening sequence but we never get to see his face so we can’t establish if he is the main character or not.

There are also other clues to other clues to other characters in the movie such as the person on the id picture in the wallet.

Locations

The location of Hostel 2 seems to be a room with a fair amount of lighting.

Although the ID card we see says California it is quite obvious that the location isn’t the same as the character seems to be wearing quite old fashioned dirty clothes.

Which suggest that the character is poor and probably stole the bag from a tourist visiting a foreign country.

Narrative/Plot

The storyline of Hostel 2 isn’t so clear but from what we see the character doing we can gather that he obviously stole the bag of someone as the Identification Card doesn’t belong to him and also that they are probably going to come and look for it.

Themes

The themes of Hostel 2 are death and mystery as the character that we see on the screen may have just killed the person that owns the bag.

Visual Style

The visual style used in Hostel 2 is very specific as the opening sequence start with a character opening a bag and as he removes the objects from the bag, the camera also positions in a way that we can see what he his doing.

 

Genre

Hostel 2 is a thriller/horror as it has some of the conventions that a film containing death and graphic scene has.

The fact the he burnt the picture at the end of the opening sequence the death of that character.