Sorority Row

Sorority Row is movie about a group of sorority sisters who conduct a prank that goes horribly wrong and ends up killing one of their house-sisters, which eventually leads them into getting stalked by a serial killer.

The opening scene starts with a establishing shot showing us the setting. We also experience some mysterious diegetic sounds. For example we hear some trees rustling in the winds and see them falling off the tree, which is tells us it’s windy, cold and the movie is set in autumn which is very typical in a thriller/horror movie because most incidents happen in the dark and the trees give off a spooky effect. We then heard a dark and gloomy sound which creates tension as the camera zooms into the house. As the camera zooms into the house we are shown the title of the movie in the first minute. . The camera then moves into the house and we are shown a lot of teenagers dancing, drinking and having fun. We can instantly tell they are teenagers from the outfits there are wearing and how they are acting. Zooming into the house also makes the audience feel like they are actually entering the house themselves. As we go into the house, the music dies down and we heard a more upbeat song as the party goes on. We also see that there’s a party going on and we experience some slow-motion to create the party atmosphere. The camera still continues to move around the party focusing on a couple of girls doing a dance routine. I also notice that the camera focuses on the girl leading the dance telling us that Cassidy is one of the main characters. The camera then moves around the room again, showing us another of the main characters, Chugs who throws a beer at one of the party-goer and we experience another slow-motion moment showing us the impact of the beer getting throw at the boy. The camera continues to track the party, and we are shown another main character, Ellie, where the camera follows until she gets to the top of the stairs where are shown another establishing shot of the party and we are introduced to another main character, Claire. We are then shown Cassidy again running up the stairs and the camera immediately switches into a medium shot and tracks her until she gets to a room and we are shown another main character, Jessica. Jessica invites Cassidy into the room where the sorority sisters do a ‘Theta Toast’. This shows the girls in a circle, away from the noisy party. As the girls go around the circle we experience some new shots used, such as two shots, close-ups and over the shoulder shots. The close-ups make it easier for the audience see the girls’ facial expressions as they go around telling each other ‘shout outs’. And two shots to shows the audience who they are talking to. Throughout the opening scene, there are some clues to the genre, such as the loud scream, the rustling trees and the glass breaking.

Macro- Analysis:

Throughout the party in Theta-Pi sorority house, the girls decide to play a prank on one of the theta's boyfriend,Garett, by faking an OD after taking pills and pretending to be dead. Her sisters Jessica,Claire, Ellie, Cassidy and Garett's sister,Chugs, decide to 'pretend ' to dump the 'dead body' at a lake nearby. Garrett starts getting anxious and nervous, so he decides to stick a tire iron through Megan's chest, which kills her for real this time. Cassidy then thinks it's time to call the police, although the other Thetas disagree which stops Cassidy from calling. So they decide to dump the body in a shaft hoping that no one finds out. Cassidy doesn't agree with this, but leader Jessica threatens to blackmail her (basically telling the police Cassidy did it all) which tears the group apart. However eight months later, in their graduation party, the sisters starts getting creepy messages like a picture of the tire that killed Megan. The messages start progressing, sending clues from the night. One by one, the sisters and anyone who knew their secret would get tortured then killed by the mysterious killer. Which only left a few of the sisters alive. Sorority Row is set in modern times, in a Theta House belonging to the sisters, Cassidy, Ellie, Jessica, Claire, Chugs and Megan. The characters in this movie are typical for a thriller/horror movie because the 5 sisters are victims and Andy being the killer. There's normally someone who is the hero, but in this movie the sisters defend each other.