'Candyman' Textual Analysis

'Candyman' is a 1992 horror film based around the idea of re-constituted urban legends and their realization in a contemporary reality.

What struck me about the opening title sequence was the use of one continuous shot. Instead of using a decisive succession of quick cuts and fades to present a motion of time in a film's reality the constant pace an tracking of the camera is a reasonable device to build tension when coupled with a dramatic change. The slow pace and apparent tracking of a vehicle is comparable to the motion of the female lead in 'Suspiria'. There is a sense of pace and accuracy in the performance form the actress whilst created with several shots that reverse and show point of view. The difference is the wideness of the exterior 'birds-eye' view in comparison to the seemingly close and narrowed shot in 'Suspiria'. The journey the audience are forced along in 'Candyman' is elegant and undeniably a metaphor for the effortless motion and strength of a character we are going to be introduced to.

The iconography of a long slow car journey is suggested although we are not even in a car, the longevity of the grey mass laid out before us is daunting, perhaps more so to an English audience due to the volume of road presented. It is clearly established as an American set film due to the block suggestion of the buildings and the width of the road. As subconsciously a road will represent a journey taken or not, the only lead to the meaning o this journey would be the environment the road is encountering. the fall form a tunnel, the bridge and its water bellow and the complex road junctions. The imagery of a tunnel is the illumination in learning something but in compensative use with the water's meaning of death and the imagery of a heart of cardio-vascular system the ideas of flesh and being form. Importantly a straight track is not followed the camera moves vertically aswell in a random fashion with an insecure pretense.

The striking thing to me is the use of a sound which can be presumed to be diegetic or non. There is a male voice heard which could correspond to the sound inside a vehicle or an additional sound exterior to the scene. As we have established no characters it should be taken as a non-diegetic sound coupled with the music. So suddenly we are presented with a combination of the static radio and gothic cathedral-esque music with a choir and organ. the amalgamation of prospective eras is relative to the folklore premise and story like realism of the film.