The Nun II Opening
Camera Framing
The opening of The Nun II sets the scene for a eerie, mysterious setting. Our first character who appears not to be a main character, first appears as the screen suddenly pops into a long shot. This shows a creepy dark alleyway signifying a lingering sense of evil. It stays still at a longshot as the viewers watch the young boy kick a ball down the alley. The camera first starts to move as the boy gets closer to the camera it starts to pan slowly to a church at the end of the alley. Then the camera tilts up into a low-angle shot of the church as it dollies in. It cuts to a close-up of a church chalice that holds holy bread and wine. Quickly after it cuts to a wide shot of the priest, the boys father, and the young boy as he arrives home late. This sets the audience to feel a sort of tension that is hanging in the air. The shot stays still at a wide shot as the boy goes to the basement to get wine. As the camera cuts to a high-angle shot of the boy going down the stairs to a ground level shot of the boys feet. The audience feels a rush of fear as the boy quickly tries to get the wine and get out of there. After a few minutes of vague and repeated shots, there is a low-angle shot when the boy goes back to the basement after the church ceremony. The camera pans to the ball from earlier moving into a dark doorway and then panning back to the young boy. After there is a Steadicam close-up angle of the boy and you can faintly see the ball roll back to the boy in the background as if something had rolled it back to him yet he is unaware as his back is turned to the ball. The audience can see everything happening and this leads them to the edge of their seat as they try to figure out what could have possibly rolled the ball back. As the boy turns around, the camera cuts to a steadicam long shot of him noticing the ball and looking skeptical of the doorway in front of him. After a few repeated shots of him looking at the ball, eventually their is a low angle shot of him kicking the ball and then a close-up shot where you can see the wine mysteriously breaking behind him. After another minute of vague shots, the camera cuts to another low-angle of the priest and the boy as they go to the main entrance of the church the camera tracks as they move around. After a few seconds of the camera cutting from wide shots to low angles, the camera zooms into a close-up of the vessels that holds the holy water and it seems to be bubbling. At this point, the audience is starting to feel afraid and uneasy. The close-up then shows the water being sucked back down and smoke starts to come up. The camera tilts up to reveal a sinister looking nun behind the vessel. It cuts to a close-up of the priests bones starting to crack, and then a wide-shot to a high-angle shot of the priest being set on fire. This is relevant to the plot of the movie because it shows the reader the evil spirit of the nun is still alive and the main antagonist of the movie.
Editing Techniques
The Nun II establishes its mysterious dark tone through shadows and dark lighting. Bright colors are not seen throughout the movie to help commit to the sinister mood. The fog put over the street and the street lights that contrast with it help to show the audience that the movie will continue to be odd and scary. The scene opens with a pop in transition. It is sudden and helps capture the audiences attention. Post-production editing had to occur to make the footsteps of the young boy louder than the background to create tension. When the priest and the boy go to investigate the weird presence they believe has taken habitat in the church, they had to CGI bright eyes that pop up on the nun when she is revealed for the first time. It amplifies the sinister intentions that the nun has. After production they have to put in a make-shift fire around the priest to make him look like he's in fire. They had to edit in the fire because you can't actually light actors on fire. The fire is a way for the nun to show that it is an evil spirt and isn't there to play nice.
Sound
Throughout the first few minutes of the Nun II, there are many different sounds techniques that are portrayed. Right from the beginning there is a sound bridge when the sound from the credits fade into the beginning scene sounds. When the scene first opens there is a discordant sound effect that happens suddenly but disappears just as quickly as it was introduced. This tells the viewer that the movie isn't going to be fun and friendly but rather more of a disturbing mood. There is sound mixing between the footsteps, the ball rolling, low dog growls, and the chirping of crickets. All of these sounds work together to ensure the scene is being laid out thoroughly for the viewer. The viewer uses the sounds to put together that something is lingering in the air and it isn't going to be friendly. The sound effects of a church bell tolling and the footsteps of the young boy continue on until dialogue between the priest and the young boy starts. Through the dialogue the audience can figure out the relationship between the priest and the boy. In this case you can tell that the priest is the little boys father. As the boy goes down to the cellar the sound effects of his footsteps can be heard loudly. After a few minutes of dialogue, there is more sound mixing as the footsteps of the boy and the sloshing of the wine in a glass pitcher. Then there is a pause of creepy silence before a incidental sound as the glass pitcher breaks out of no where. It scares the audience as well as the boy in the movie. This is used to start the viewers heart rate to go up and make them feel worried about what's to come. It also keeps them watching and intrigued in the story line. As the priest and the boy search the church for the unknown entity there is dialogue between the priest and the entity, but since the entity is still hidden at this point it is like the priest is talking to himself. After a few seconds of footsteps, low groans, and dialogue, there is a discordant sound of the priests bones breaking and the crackle of fire as he gets lit up by the entity as it revealed himself. The scream of the young boy as he is watching his father burn is an example of sting in media. This works as a signal that the end of that scene is there and helps smoothly transition into the next.
Mise-en-scene
Throughout the opening of the Nun II, the lighting is dark and makes it hard for the audience to see or make out shapes that are in the scene. All through the whole opening scene, the lighting is very lowkey. This creates a sense of mystery as the viewers are trying to figure out what is lurking in the shadows and this creates a tension build-up. It highlights that evil lurks in the shadows of the church even if it is unknown to the priest and the young boy at the time. At the beginning and the end of the opening scene there is a use of chiaroscuro lighting when the camera is facing the church. Chiaroscuro lighting is used to help create and cast intense shadows over the church really highlighting that it is going to be a main intricate detail in the plot line. Colors used throughout the film were neutrals like browns, whites, blacks, and many shades of grey. These were used to signify realistic times in the 1950's where the scene takes place. It also creates a darker scenery for the horror contents to be prevailed throughout. The opening scene takes place in Tarascon, France 1956. Nun II came out in 2023, so this particular scene was set back 67 years ago. Often times in horror movies the longer the time frame from the year the viewer is in then the scarier the movie may seem. In 1956 civilization wasn't as modernized in technology as it is now, so that might make viewers really engage in how life was different. In the Nun II, the boy is wearing black shorts, a black long sleeve, short black boots, and long grey rolled down socks. The priest is wearing a traditional church clothing like a black cassocks, an alb, and a cross necklace. That helps the audience assume he is a priest and religious. Based on the sarcastic comments the boy makes when the priest asks him to go fetch the wine like, "why don't you go get the wine" suggests he is sneaky and sarcastic. Some props that are portrayed in the opening scene are a cross necklace, holy bread, wine, a church chalice, vessels, and the a small bell. These are all used to show the Catholic religion being portrayed by the church. It shows the boy and the priests lively hood with their religion. Although they may be religious, the ball that the young boy is seen kicking and later in the basement being rolled by a outside force is an example of how the young boy is still lively and energetic. Before the antagonist (the nun) reveals itself to the boy and the priest the ball is a symbol of the young boys innocence. The church from the outside is covered by shadows and unnatural yellow light coming from streetlamps. It creates a spine-chilling mood that the church isn't a normal place where people go to worship, but rather has a darker, evil secret.
Production and Distribution
The thrilling, bone-seeking movie, The Nun II had a budget of 38.5 million USD to create. It grossed 269 dollars worldwide. On rotten tomato The Nun II received a 52% on the tomatometer saying it is scarier than the first, and a 73% audience score saying it was better than the first. It was released on September 8, 2023. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, and the production companies on the movie were New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster, and The Safran Company. Michael Chaves was the director for the movie and cinematography was done by Tristan Nyby.
Opening Credits
The Nun II doesn't have opening credits but they have end credits. The text that appear in the end credits are centered in the middle of the screen. Fonts used were Sans and Serif to create a older and more of a creepy look. As the credits pop in and out there are images or live images playing in the background in black and white. Some of these images include a church covered in trees, steps going up to a church, nuns, children playing, and many more images that were relevant to the plot. It makes sure the genre of the movie was known and in this case the genre was horror. The end credits make sure the movie is creepy and chilling from start to end (opening scene to end of credits).
Awards/Nominations
The film was nominated in a Photoreal Feature at the 22nd Visual Effects Society Awards in the category for outstanding effects simulation. It was also nominated for the 2024 Golden Scythe Horror Awards for best original score and best adapted screenplay. I analyzed and researched "The Nun 2" because ever since I discovered the Conjuring Sequel back when the first movie came out in 2023 (The Conjuring) it has been one of my favorite horror universes. The Nun II was the most recent movie to come out from the sequel, so I wanted to dig deeper into that movie. When I had initially watched it I enjoyed it, so analyzing it was nothing but a breeze because I was immersed in it. If anyone is a big horror fan then I highly recommend watching this movie as well as the whole conjuring sequel.
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